Are Men & Women Writers Being Treated Equally?

There’s no doubt that humanity’s history shows women being overly oppressed and their worth being heavily suppressed.

But, in our “Modern” world, are the creative writers who are female getting the attention they deserve?

A female writer from Australia, Jane Watson (who’s been interviewed on this blog), sent me a link to the article, A Woman’s Place, from The Age.

The article discusses how women are treated by the major literary publications, including the London Review of Books, the Times Literary Supplement, and the New York Times Book Review.

While looking at whether the reviewers are men or women and whether more men are being reviewed is important, this type of analysis only shows the issue from the perspective of traditional publishing. I would love to see figures (if they exist) for self-published authors; though, they still seem to be ignored by major review publications.

The Age article cites a study done by VIDA, an American organisation for women in the literary arts, called The Count. Fifteen major review publications are included.

The results are very graphic—all one has to do is scan the page and look at the red sections of the pie-charts, the number of men—and it becomes blindingly clear that men are receiving more coverage than women.

There are certainly a number of questions to be asked:

Are the number of reviews in the traditional publishing arena a fair view of the status of women writers?

Is the sex of the reviewer important?

Are women writers being published less often than men?

Still, the article in The Age brings up another concern…

Even if women writers are being systematically ignored, is it somehow wrong to make a big deal out of it?

From the article in The Age: “…Australian writer Kirsten Tranter has said: ‘It’s become possible for respected critics to openly admit — not just when they’re drunk at a party but in public, in writing — that they think issues of gender equality are dated and irrelevant and that women who complain about it are privileged whingers.’”

Another important excerpt from that article:

“Women write about half the books published. Sixty-two per cent of publishers are women (although most senior roles are held by men). Women make up 80 per cent of fiction readers. And according to British research, they buy almost twice as many books of all kinds as men do.

“And yet there remains a perception that compared with men, women writers and their works, both past and present, are far more often marginalised, belittled, pigeonholed, dismissed, ignored.”

Perhaps this post can help a bit…

Perhaps the innovations in self-publishing will empower readers to select and review more women writers…

In case you’re curious, here’s a list of women who have made an impact through their fiction or journalism or poetry in the 20th Century.
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