A reflection on women's writing

Since we live in a world that is still very patriarchal, at all levels and in evident and hidden ways, it's not surprising that women's books are not as well received as they should be. Part of the problem is institutional: men are more likely to land in the powerful positions that determine taste and popularity. They are more likely to edit the popular and classroom anthologies, to sit on committees that give prizes, to run publishing houses, to run state and federal agencies and foundations, and to write criticism in high circulation publications. That's not to say women aren't present in those positions, but the proportions are important, because they lead to a certain cultural drift and slant. Part of the problem lies with writers and critics. Given that more literary criticism is written by men, the topics that seem important to men will be given closer and more positive attention. As Virgil told us long ago, it's more important to write about war than to write about love (or agriculture). So even though some women write about "masculine" topics now, most women writers are concerned more with the domestic and interpersonal than the political, military and foreign. Their writing might be of a very high order, but male critics will read it as less serious and important. What should we do? Go on integrating our professional and personal lives in novel ways that always need to be invented; write about what we think is important; support each other; make "masculine" bias a matter of public reflection; and stay optimistic.

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Comment by Emily Rolfe Grosholz on December 2, 2009 at 3:27pm: Thanks, Sarah! I liked what you wrote, too. Thanks, La Tonya, for your thoughts. I agree that we need to support our fellow women writers by buying and reading their books, and by reviewing them, as well. In the realm of poetry, it's also important for women to become the editors for anthologies, which have an enormous impact on the visibility of poets and poems.

Comment by LaTonya on November 28, 2009 at 10:14am: Emily, I agree with much of what you say here but I disagree about women's interested in the political and foreign. Anyone who reads feminist writings or otherwise women's lit is concerned with the political. And as someone who wholeheartedly believes the personal is political, I don't know how we can argue that we are not concerned with politics, war or foreign affairs.

While we certainly need allies among men, we also need women to more aggressively support each other. I see a very interesting dynamic in this community even in its infancy that I have observed else on the Internet: Everyone is writing and talking but who is reading? Who is listening?

We have 5000 plus members. How many of us are actively commenting to articles here? How many of us are visiting member's individual sites/blogs? If we look over our personal libraries, how many of our books are by women?

In virtual communities, commenting is a critical gauge of how robust a community is. Interaction determines if a community will thrive. Everyone is asking everyone else to visit their links, read their books, but how actively are we engaging each other in this space? Didn't we join She Writes to connect?

I'm all for holding those who have the power accountable. I'm also for us being agents of change among ourselves. The more we support one another the greater force will become. Let's start in our own backyard.

Comment by Sarah Glazer on November 28, 2009 at 9:11am: Great blog, Emily! I knew Virginia Woolf once said men considered war a far more important subject for writers than domesticity--but count on you to trace it back to Virgil.

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