Gender Imbalance
In a guest post on The Brooks Review, Pat Dryburgh mentioned that he doesn’t regularly follow any blogs by female authors. That got me to thinking, how many women am I following? Suffice it to say the answer is embarrassing.
What could be the reason for this sad state of affairs? For one, I follow a lot of tech focused blogs, a field in which women are underrepresented. I don’t think that’s the whole answer though since I read more male authors even when it comes to novels and non fiction books. It could be that I relate more to other men’s sensibilities and so gravitate toward their writing. It could mean that male writers are overrepresented when it comes to the kinds of material I read. Whatever the reason I’m not satisfied with the result.
One the one hand it really shouldn’t matter what the gender of a writer is when it comes to enjoying his work. On the other hand I can’t help feeling like I’m missing out on an important perspective (or rather group of perspectives) by reading predominantly works by men. So I’m going to make a point of seeking out more women to read. I hope this time next year my mind will have been opened just that much more.