Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Sex Bias in Reading

In putting together this blog I got to thinking about who my favorite authors are. I love fantasy so it's no surprise that names like Anne McCaffrey, Melanie Rawn, and C.S. Friedman come to mind. I also love classic literature including works by Betty Smith and Jane Austen. And when you scan by bookshelf for books centered around my chosen profession in the natural sciences you'll find names like Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall, and Temple Grandin. Picking up on a theme yet?

It turns out, all things being equal I tend to gravitate toward female authors. I have no idea why this is. I don't actively seek out women writers nor do I avoid their male counterparts. I certainly don't scan the shelves at the book store looking for feminine names. Oddly enough, I didn't even know C.S. Friedman (author of The Coldfire Trilogy) was a woman until partway through the 3rd book! Even the blogs that I have listed here are (at this point) all written by women. To have such a noticeable skew to a sex ratio seems kinda strange. But what can I say...I love the ladies.

How about you? Have you noticed any gender preference in your reading?

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