Knitless Friday

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

It's an off week for While She Knits, but here's a question for you all, some of it taken directly from a discussion I had recently.

filkferengi posted about a site for book reviews of books written by women.  And there was a recent blog post about the disproportion of  male vs female Caldecott winners.  So, a question.

Do you select books by the sex of the author?  Often?  Rarely?  Ever?  I've never read for women-authors in my science fiction or fantasy.  How about you?  Do you pick something off the shelf saying to yourself, "Oh cool, a woman-written book about rockets, war, faeries, witches"?

Do you notice who the illustrator of a book is, much less what sex? 

Comments

[chocolatepot.livejournal.com]

I don't really often notice the sex of an author unless I look at the picture or make a note of the name to get another by them, or something like that. It just doesn't occur to me.

I notice who the illustrator is if it's Trina Schart Hyman or Charles Vess. But they're the only ones. :D

[parron.livejournal.com]

To me, it doesn't matter - but I remember I used to have a friend who would specifically chose women writers, artists, etc. If we had to do a project on an artist, she'd pick a woman - if we had to write an essay on a book, she'd pick one written by a woman. I don't know why she did it, but I remember how annoying I found it - personally, I like to choose literature and art based on the quality, not the gender of the creator!

That said, though, I admit to having a kind of bias. Mostly due to years in fandom, I tend to work under the general assumption that men write better epic plots, with twists and turns and lengths and story - but are weak with characters and dialogue. And that women write better dialogue, character, and character based drama, but flounder a bit with epic plots and grand scopes. Silly, I know.

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

I tend to work under the general assumption that men write better epic plots, with twists and turns and lengths and story - but are weak with characters and dialogue. And that women write better dialogue, character, and character based drama, but flounder a bit with epic plots and grand scopes. Silly, I know.

I wouldn't call it silly at all--I would suspect it is, in fact, very true. Just from my own experience. I mean, it obviously doesn't hold true for all, and there's a fair amount of leeway as to how weak they are on one thing or another, but I would say at a basic level, it goes back to how men and women function--men generally on a more analytic level, women on a more emotional/character-driven level.

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

Um, no? I don't think I ever do? I mean heck, I never did figure out Avi's gender. I guess for me the author's gender only comes into effect when the subject of gender is an important one in the book--not just in a defying stereotypes, but more in a male-author-writes-female-character-poorly way, I guess? But that's something I'll notice after the fact.

I usually don't read books with illustrations anymore? Just doesn't happen.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

(Avi's a man, if you want to know)

[adalanne.livejournal.com]

Interesting links, especially the illustrator one. Reminds me of some issues with the comic book industry (http://ratcreature.livejournal.com/175099.html?format=light).

I've never picked books based on the author's sex, but I think that's probably because female authors are just as (if not more) prevalent as male authors. (Side note: Anyone else notice that's it's fairly common to hear people say "women authors" or "women doctors", etc., but no one says "men authors" or "men doctors"?) I mean, finding a mainstream movie directed by a female director is like a needle in a haystack, but female authors are everywhere.

I definitely do judge authors by their sex sometimes, only if they force me to. ^_^ If I'm reading and think, "This female/male character just does not sound right," I'll check the cover, and if the author is the opposite sex of the character in question, I'll have my answer. I've yet to have a book do that to me and discover that the author is the same sex, though I expect to some day. And then there's the books that make me feel like the author is hitting me over the head with their sex. (Wow. That didn't sound as dirty before I typed it.) I'm all for omniscient narrators with a definite gender, but if it starts distracting from the text, I get frustrated.

I think the only illustrator I know is Mary Grandpre, and that's because I was completely engrossed in anything Harry Potter. Funny, because I honestly will buy a book just if I love the cover; you'd think I'd notice the creators a bit more.

[avian-xj.livejournal.com]

I do notice the gender of an author, but I don't usually pay much notice, and I'm fairly certain I don't make any assumptions from it. I know I've never chosen a book just for the author's gender.

I guess I agree with Jade in what I do notice from the author: when someone mentioned to me that at the time Jane Eyre was written, most people just kind of accepted that the pen name was male so a male wrote the novel, even if it was scandalous or whatever, and my reaction was "HOW COULD ANYONE READ THAT AND THINK A GUY WROTE IT. THERE IS NO WAY!" XP

I notice the illustrator of a book just like I notice the author. If I like an author's work, I'll want to remember the name to find more work by him/her. Same with the illustrator. Can't say I pay any more attention to gender than for author's either.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I read books by either men or women, but I find that I tend to enjoy books by women more. The difference is not great: but it's enough to make me extremely conscious of whether I am picking a male or female author at any give time, and why.

In illustration - most of my familiarity with illustration is in the comic book industry, where there are so many men in the business and so few women. Trina Robbins, perhaps? It's not that I would choose female illustrators, given the choice; it's that I don't see much choice there.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

Nope, never. The name of the author is usually the last thing I look at on the book. I've had pretty equal positive/negative experiences with both male and female authors, so it doesn't make much of a difference to me.

[cleo]

It honestly depends on what I'm reading it for.

If I'm reading for me, the gender of the author is not something that I look at. I read the back of the bok, read a few pages to guage the style of writing, and then I either pick it up or leave it. Really, the style is the biggest thing for me. I don't read the Harry Potter books because JKR's style really turns me off.

But as far as my academic work, I generally look at the sex of the author. My undergrad institution was a women's college; so, female authors were important to the curriculum. I look at the sex of the author because I write a lot about gender issues.

The only sci fi I've ever written about in the academic world is by a women--an African American writer by the name of Octavia Butler (I highly recommend her work, btw).

[hikari-cyhan.livejournal.com]

I don't notice the author until I read the book, unless the author is someone I know and like or dislike (I'll throw myself at a book by Diana Wynne Jones, but am very prejudiced against Stephen King).

[abhyastamita.livejournal.com]

I don't consciously seek out writers of one gender or the other, but considering that the four books I got at the library today were all by women, I probably do pay more attention to it than I thought I did. They were, by the way, Francine Prose, Nancy Kress, Connie Willis, and Jo Walton, and I almost got a book by Diana Wynne Jones as well, but decided that four books in three weeks was probably going to be plenty, since I'm supposed to be paying attention to grad school. But I definitely go through phases of male writers as well.

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

I don't pay any attention to the sex of the author, and I don't think it makes any difference. In fact, it would be hard to think of a sillier reason (apart from Lexile level) to choose a book.

Since I deal with children's books a lot, being an elementary school librarian, I notice illustrators. Again, I look at the pictures as pictures, and don't care two hoots whether the artist is a man or a woman. (Often, it's both: there are some excellent husband-and-wife teams whose art I love, like the Krushes, and the Provensens, the Haders, the d'Aulaires, the Petershams). Vera Williams and Lane Smith have both won Caldecotts; and I think both of them make really hideous illustrations. Their sex is irrelevant.

[agentmaly.livejournal.com]

Ah, Lexile level. I understand the desire in elementary schools to have some sort of wide-based system by which one could determine which children are most likely to do well with which books, but couldn't they just hire kind and well-read librarians instead?

[gauroth.livejournal.com]

I hadn't really thought about my selection of books, but looking at my bookshelves, women authors considerably outnumber men. I think it's because on the whole women write about women better (I'm sorry, David Eddings, having your Polgaras and Ce'Nedras throwing tantrums and breaking things is just not good character development.) The books I keep and re-read are those which have decent prose, as well.

Hmm. I must consider this. *goes off to cogitate*

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

It would be interesting to compare the bookshelves of men who read a lot vs women who read a lot, and see if there is an author gender difference.

I don't seek or avoid authors because of the author's gender, but I find the majority of the books I like are by women.

*goes off to look at the gender of authors on my son's bookshelf*

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Now you know why Mary Ann Evans chose to write as George Eliot, and E. Nesbit didn't go by Edith. Or, for that matter, why J.K. Rowling clung to her initials.

In children's writing circles (they let me hang out on the fringes of these), it's often pointed out that the field is overwhelmingly female, and yet the award winners are disproportionately male. I don't think for a minute that men as a group are better writers, or that women are, either. It may be that there's a nebulous sort of "male perspective" that is more valued in our culture, and because it appears more rarely in children's books, it's likely to be noticed and acknowledged when it does appear.

I have no idea what a "male perspective" is, however.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Now wait a minute. The Caldecott award winner (for picture books) are overwhelmingly male, but the Newbery (middle grades novel) winners are overwhelmingly female. If you meant picture books, it's accurate, but for all of children's books, maybe not.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I would have said that I never choose books by the gender of the author, but then I remembered there was a time when I discovered hard-boiled detective stories with women main characters, written by women, and I devoured them. Authors like Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky, Linda Barnes, Carol Higgins Clark.

I don't usually notice the sex of illustrators, or even if I've seen other books illustrated by the same person, though I did recognize when I read The Invention of Hugo Cabret that it was done by the person who did Andrew Clements's fabulous book covers.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I'm surprised that no one yet seems to disagree with hinikuish's broad statement:

I tend to work under the general assumption that men write better epic plots, with twists and turns and lengths and story - but are weak with characters and dialogue. And that women write better dialogue, character, and character based drama, but flounder a bit with epic plots and grand scopes.

I'm not sure what I think about this. I think hinikuish may be right. Some of my favorite authors (mwt, LMB) are accomplished at both. And I can think of some male authors (SciFi, especially) who stink at writing female characters and don't give much depth to their male ones, either.

Does anyone disagree with hinikuish?

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

I've no idea, because I don't analyze books according to who wrote them, just whether I like them.

As far as the Newbery books, if you look at both Medal and Honor books, in the first 15 years of the awards women outnumbered men 50-19. (I happen to have a complete list handy, and I just now counted). For the last 15 years it's 41-20 in favor of the girls.

[peanut13171.livejournal.com]

I hadn't noticed I had a sex bias until I posted my favorite authors to a list and the moderator commented that I seemed to favor female authors. Then I thought about it and realized that I'm much more likely to pick up an unknown female author than a male, because IMO females focus more on characterization, which is the most important leg of the character-plot-worldbuilding triad for me.

Also, in SF, male writers have a bad tendency to get all techy and info-dumpish (yawn). I agree with hinikuish that generally women write better dialogue, character, and character based drama. I avoid epics so can't say whether men are better at writing them. I don't have time for door-stopper books that go on for decades.

[sclerotia.livejournal.com]

The name on the jacket may have very little to do with the gender of the author. I used to read pot boiler Regency romances by the bucket load and I know some of them were by men despite the female type name on the cover. I'll bet if you knew the gender of the folks who write westerns it wouldn't be all men, but the covers all have men's or gender neutral authors' names.

I only pay attention to the authors name if I liked a book and want to look for more by the same author.

The most reliable way I have determined to pick out books "cold", that is without already knowing something about the book or its author, is by the cover art and then the blurb. On older library books without jackets or with library bindings I have to read part of the book to determine if I am going to check it out. I can guarantee that I have never impulse bought a book that didn't have a cover that was appealing and that said to me "This is a genre you like and the type of book you like to read" (so it is a good thing that I had heard about The Thief before I saw the jacket and loved The Thief before I saw the cover of QoA).

Regarding picture books, the pictures I found most appealing as a child were the ones with either cartoonish drawings that said "this is going to be a funny book" or beautiful, elegant, rich illustrations. Anyone else?

Picture books

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

re: picture books, the ones I remember as favorites from my pre-chapter book days had cartoonish drawings. The ones I've purchased as an adult for my own pleasure have generally been the ones with "beautiful, elegant, rich illustrations" (eg, The Name On The Harp). I rarely note the illustrator's name, much less their gender.

I was sorting through the bazillion picture books we'd accumulated, trying to weed out the "non keepers", and asked my kids (then both in middle school) to pull out the ones they wanted to keep. They put almost all of the ones with simple illustrations or photographs in the "to keep" stack, and almost the ones with beautiful, elegant, rich illustrations in the "to go" stack. Go figure. To be fair, the ones with the beautiful illustrations were not the ones I read to them when they were small, as we read mostly board books together. Needless to say, few were eliminated.

[agentmaly.livejournal.com]

I don't select books by the sex of the author at all, but I do notice the sex of the author. Usually it doesn't make any difference in my reading, but occasionally the writing style will strike me as very male and then I'll look at the cover again and go 'Oh, wow, this was written by a woman, really?' Or vice versa. I recently read a book by a man which contained a lot of detailed descriptions of clothes, which surprised me.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't really notice at all. Maybe I'm just oblivious.

~Feir Dearig

[sylvesterhiss.livejournal.com]

You worry about men and women, but there is worse discrimination going on. How many cockroaches have won literary awards? (And don't tell me about archy, he couldn't even capitalize, and his poems were just pathetic. "Free verse," hah. That's an excuse for creatures who can't rhyme).

How many books are there that really delve beneath the protective carapace and reveal our characters, so different, each unique?

Don't talk to me about discrimination until you've had to skitter under something to avoid The Shoe.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I am gratified that a Giant Madagascar Hissing Cockroach has joined our group. Welcome, Sylvester. We value diverse opinions and thank you for sharing yours.

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

I don't consciously think about the gender of the author of the books I read, but as I go through my list of favorite authors in my head, I find that most of them are female. I won't not read a book if it's written by a man, but I do seem to prefer books by women.

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty female-heavy, but it's not because I do it on purpose. The books I tend to LoVe, lOvE, LOVE are just written by females. Pride and Prejudice, The Topical Books, Beauty, Daughter of the Forest, Middlemarch, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell...

I like Eoin, Garth Nix, Shakespeare in a different way.

But Tolkien, George MacDonald, C.S.Lewis, Phillip Pullman, and Walter Scott rank with those women, too.

I will read a woman I haven't heard much about more easily just because I feel less likely to be soaked in blood, doused in bodily humor, or whiplashed by action. Especially with the adult fantasies.
But that's just a guideline I work around.