Can a Woman Be a "Great American Novelist"?
If you doubt unconscious bias exists, you live in a man's world.
An article after my own heart. I was thinking of this somewhat when I wrote my last blog. Personally I do believe there is a bias and women buy into that bias. But I also believe that women read more than men and tend to gravitate more towards women writers so perhaps womens works are being read more.
Of course the power, at least in the literary world, belongs mostly to old, white men stuck in their ways so of course good writing by men is heralded more. I suppose men's writing is less sentimental, less touchy feel-y so it tends to be seen as 'great' while women are seen as more emotional and as writer of more personal, 'smaller' concerns - a lot of people don't understand or are scared of anything 'emotional'. Plus people tend to think 'big' when they think of a 'Great American Novel' - a story of epic proportions, high drama but stark of emotion.
No comments:
Post a Comment