Why don’t men want to read more books written by women?
In a recent study, the top 10 bestselling female fiction authors had a male readership of only 19%, compared to the bestselling male fiction authors who are estimated to have a much larger, 55% male audience. This is also seen in non-fiction books sales, as women are 65% more likely to read non-fiction books written by the opposite sex than men were.
So, why is this the case?
Mary Ann Sieghart’s The Authority Gap (2021) provides a startling perspective on the unseen gender bias in literature as well as at work in our everyday lives. She reveals the scale of the gap that still persists between men and women.
Sieghart’s study reveals that men still have a bias when it comes to literature. Surely it shouldn’t matter who wrote a book, whether fiction or non-fiction, so long as it’s a good read?
I remember trying to get my boyfriend, at the time, to read Jane Austen and Mary Shelley. I fawned over their mastery of prose, only for him to tell me he doesn’t read books at all and the last time he did was in year 11. As a student studying English literature at the time, I was shocked.
This man clearly liked science fiction films, but wouldn’t read Frankenstein, a book that brought to fruition the genre he admired. I had to question whether or not it was because it was written by a woman. He also said that Jane Austen didn’t deserve to be on the five-pound note, so let’s just say I don’t talk to him now, and being a ‘reader’ is on the list of qualities I think a partner should have.
For the so-called ‘male feminists’ do you read books written by women? When you are looking at books in Waterstones, do you pick up We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates or Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit? If not, why not? These non-fictions books are a good start in learning how to respect women and undo your own gender biases.
Being a feminist is to constantly undo sexist biases that are prevalent in society.
If you’re not a fan of non-fiction, there are plenty of fiction books. If you don’t like reading, there are always audio books. You can have your cup of tea or coffee, sit by a cosy fire and listen to the gripping, horrific and fantastic journey of Noemí Taboada as she treads into unsettling territory in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic.
It is important to read. It doesn’t essentially have to be books, but actively reading benefits both your physical, and mental health. Reading is not just an enjoyable hobby, Rebecca Joy Stanboroguh notes that brain scans show that when you read, brain connectivity increases. ‘Especially in the somatosensory cortex, the part of the brain that responds to physical sensations like movement and pain.’ (2019).
Stanboroguh goes on to say that reading increases your ability to empathize. This is so important on a number of levels, as a way to become an ally, whether it be for feminism, for the BLM movement or for the LGBTQ+ community, is through connection and the ability to empathize with another human being.
I would argue that empathy is an extremely important trait for men to possess. A conscious way of ending sexism is to read about the world from a woman’s perspective.
However, many people disagree, believing that the women dominating literature are driving men out. In a Daily Mail article, Boris Starling writes that ‘…male authors are being written out of fiction…’ (2021). Forgetting that women have often been written out of history, literature, and the sciences, I clutched my pearls in shock and horror at this revelation. Starling examines the changing literary landscape through-out his article and I just have to question: why is this change in literature and the publishing world such a big deal?
For hundreds if not for thousands of years we have seen men dominating literature. In the past, we studied the greatest male authors, poets, filmmakers of all time, in both university and schools. But now things have evolved, in University, when one studies literature, they are given a wide range of authors from different backgrounds, races and gender identities. Male authors are no longer the go-to masters of modern literature.
Is it such a surprise then that women are now writing and getting published more than men? This a step to a more equal society, if people are reading a wide range of authors, it enables them to see different perspectives and ideas.
Starling continues to say that if fewer men are reading books then there are going to be less male authors writing books. A YouGov poll in 2020 showed that, 27% of men do not read or listen to books, although 53% of men do still read physical paperback books. From those, only 19% are reading books written by women.
However, Starling does make some good points about how the publishing world is slowly narrowing their perspective to being ‘white, middle-class [and] left-leaning’ (2021). The publishing world needs to be more diverse and more welcoming to aspiring writers. But as any writer, myself included, will say, it’s incredibly hard to write and get published.
Can we just take a step back and look at how far women have come. We are now making men possibly go illiterate, as some wouldn’t dare pick up a book that wasn’t written by a man. We are, according to Starling, ‘feminising the fiction market’ but that means we’re less likely to be taken seriously.
Why is this so-called ‘feminisation’ a bad thing?
It is important for women’s voices to be heard after a history of slipping through the cracks. It’s time for men to read books written by women.
Edited by Charlotte Lewis (Editor-in-Chief)
image courtesy of tumblr
Sources:
Sieghart, M. A (2021) ‘Why Do So Few Men Read Books By Women?’, The Guardian, [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/09/why-do-so-few-men-read-books-by-women [Accessed 05 November 2021]
Sieghart, M. A (2021) The Authority Gap, London, Transworld Publishers Ltd.
Stanborough, R.J (2019) ‘Benefits of Reading Books: How It Can Positively Affect Your Life’, healthline, [online], Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-reading-books [Accessed 08 November 2021]
Starling, B (2021) ‘Why male authors are being written out of fiction: As a female writer sparks a storm by saying too many novels are penned by women, best-selling writer Boris Starling exaimes the changing literary landscape’, The Daily Mail, [online] Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10129903/Best-selling-writer-BORIS-STARLING-examines-male-authors-written-fiction.html [Accessed 05 November 2021]
YouGov (2020) ‘Books and Reading Results’, [online], YouGov.co.uk
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