“When I was growing up I loved reading historical fiction, but too often it was about males; or, if it was about females, they were girls who were going to grow up to be famous like Betsy Ross, Clara Barton, or Harriet Tubman. No one ever wrote about plain, normal, everyday girls.” IfsGirlReadingGrowsFictionGrowing UpGrowingNormalFemaleHistoricalMalesEverydayHistorical FictionClaraBetsy Ross Author:Kathryn Lasky
“There are two races of people -- men and women -- no matter what women's libbers would have you pretend. The male is motivated by toys and science because men are born with no purpose in the universe except to procreate. There is lots of time to kill beyond that. They've got to find work. Men have no inherent center to themselves beyond procreating. Women, however, are born with a center. They can create the universe, mother it, teach it, nurture it. Men read science fiction to build the future. Women don't need to read it. They are the future.” PeopleMenNeedsTwoMatterMotherPurposeUniverseWomenBornRaceFictionTeachMen And WomenNo Matter WhatScience FictionMalesMotivatedToysInherentNurtureTime To Kill Author:Ray Bradbury
“The 'enduring theme' [in fiction] of male competition and female competition for the hero/survivor has taken us from the fittest surviving to the brink of no one surviving. Sex roles have gone from functional to dysfunctional almost overnight. This is why the enduring theme must be questioned now.” SexFictionRolesGoneTakenHeroFemaleCompetitionEndureMalesThemeSurvivorSurviving Author:Warren Farrell
“It is a sad paradox that when male authors impersonate women ... they are said to be dealing with 'cosmic, major concerns' - but when we impersonate ourselves we are said to be writing 'women's fiction' or 'women's poetry.” WritingSaidFictionMajorsConcernMalesParadoxCosmicImpersonate Author:Erica Jong
“In the publishing world, most editors are probably women. So I don't see the publishing world as a male-dominated one, especially within fiction.” WorldFictionMalesEditorsPublishing Author:Emma Donoghue
“I find that in the science fiction world, you have almost more women fans than male fans and I think it's because there's been such a shortage of strong female characters.” ThinkingWorldCharacterStrongFictionFansFemaleScience FictionMalesShortageFemale CharactersStrong Female CharactersStrong Female Author:Katee Sackhoff
“The first movie my dad ever showed me was Predator - I was five. And I think the second one was Jaws. I've has this understanding of fiction for a very, very long time but I've also had this thing where I've idolized the male action heroes because that's what I watched with my dad.” ThinkingFirstsLongActionUnderstandingFictionFiveHeroDadLong TimeMalesMy DadPredatorIdolizedAction Heroes Author:Katee Sackhoff
“I grew up reading crime fiction mysteries, true crime - a lot of true crime - and it is traditionally a male dominated field from the outside, but from the inside what we know, those of us who read it, is that women buy the most crime fiction, they are by far the biggest readers of true crime, and there's a voracious appetite among women for these stories, and I know I feel it - since I was quite small I wanted to go to those dark places.” KnowsFeelsStoriesWantedReadingDarkFictionMysteryCrimeFieldsGrewReaderGrew UpMalesAppetiteCrime FictionDark Places Author:Megan Abbott
“I think the great unspoken theme in noir fiction is male self-pity. It pervades noir movies.” ThinkingSelfFictionMalesPityThemeSelf PityUnspokenNoir Author:James Ellroy