Are you sexist as a reader?
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Original post by Deshi
I have yet to re-read a series.
Of course Pan was her daemon
If you had said its full name I would have got that 
No, just thought it odd.
Of course Pan was her daemon
If you had said its full name I would have got that No, just thought it odd.
I always re-read series. I've read the Anne Shirley books to the point I had to sellotape them back together
I have read that men find it harder to emphasise with female characters than women with male characters because men are seen as the 'default human being' whereas women are the 'Other' so are seen as different. For this reason most books and films aimed at both men and women have a male lead character and works that feature a female lead are often seen as women's books/films. I mainly read classics/cult novels which feature a male protagonist more often than not and I've never felt unable to empathise with them because I don't see men as different from me. I do love it when a book has a complex female protagonist though.
(edited 10 years ago)
Well, I'm definitely sexist. And ageist, racist and prejudiced in all manner of ways, only some of which are known to me. I might wish I weren't and try to think cautiously to mitigate it, but I do acknowledge I am this way.
With respect to authors, I think I'm liable to make assumptions that I'll be less likely to enjoy the book if it's a female author. I don't enjoy 'girly' stuff very much and it impacts my enjoyment of the book. For example, The Hunger Games was an otherwise strong trilogy, but the love triangle stuff was unfailingly annoying. I've never had anything like that from a male author. I'm not sure how much of this would be explained by past experience and how much from prejudice.
With respect to identifying with characters, I do think I empathise more readily with male characters. I think this is because I have less patience for stereotypically female concerns and behaviour, like love interests, indecisiveness, weakness of will, etc. I most enjoy characters whom I perceive to be worth emulating, and often female characters come across as weak and I don't empathise with them very well. I want them to be stronger, cope better and stop fretting about inane things that I, as a reader, don't care about. But these can be criticisms of characters that can be potentially male or female; I'm not sure if a character's gender alone would affect my ability to empathise with them.
With respect to authors, I think I'm liable to make assumptions that I'll be less likely to enjoy the book if it's a female author. I don't enjoy 'girly' stuff very much and it impacts my enjoyment of the book. For example, The Hunger Games was an otherwise strong trilogy, but the love triangle stuff was unfailingly annoying. I've never had anything like that from a male author. I'm not sure how much of this would be explained by past experience and how much from prejudice.
With respect to identifying with characters, I do think I empathise more readily with male characters. I think this is because I have less patience for stereotypically female concerns and behaviour, like love interests, indecisiveness, weakness of will, etc. I most enjoy characters whom I perceive to be worth emulating, and often female characters come across as weak and I don't empathise with them very well. I want them to be stronger, cope better and stop fretting about inane things that I, as a reader, don't care about. But these can be criticisms of characters that can be potentially male or female; I'm not sure if a character's gender alone would affect my ability to empathise with them.
Most, if not all, of my books are written by women. That's because they're mostly chick-lit and that attracts more female writers. There are male authors but I tend to avoid them, probably because I think it's easier to relate to a female character and it's more likely that the books written by men will have a male main character.
Sexist? Maybe. But I don't really care.
Sexist? Maybe. But I don't really care.
This world is now so anti male it's unreal
We are being persecuted for being superior.
so it's only natural response.
sloots gone sloot.
We are being persecuted for being superior.
so it's only natural response.
sloots gone sloot.
Original post by yaboy farewell
This world is now so anti male it's unreal
We are being persecuted for being superior.
so it's only natural response.
sloots gone sloot.
We are being persecuted for being superior.
so it's only natural response.
sloots gone sloot.
bro
I'd prefer them if they felt realistic to me. I don't find Katniss Everdeen to be realistic, I read/watch it feeling the other characters are forced to be useless or complete oddballs just to make her have some credibility.
I would love to see more books/films with female characters like Ripley from the Alien films, she was a real fighter, she often looked like **** just like everyone else, she was about getting on with it and wasn't plastered in makeup.
Personally, I don't think a lot of girls want a character like Ripley, they want a female character where all the men want to have sex with her.
I avoid or am very wary of fiction books with female protagonists, I don't think this is sexist it's just that they have failed to grab my interest. I will however continue to read WW2 diaries full of female figures that were real heroes that didn't look down on everyone around them.
I would love to see more books/films with female characters like Ripley from the Alien films, she was a real fighter, she often looked like **** just like everyone else, she was about getting on with it and wasn't plastered in makeup.
Personally, I don't think a lot of girls want a character like Ripley, they want a female character where all the men want to have sex with her.
I avoid or am very wary of fiction books with female protagonists, I don't think this is sexist it's just that they have failed to grab my interest. I will however continue to read WW2 diaries full of female figures that were real heroes that didn't look down on everyone around them.
Huh, I always thought Robin Hobb was male, wonder what that says about me.
I'm not intentionally sexist, I guess books I read do tend to have female authors but that's down to my love of chick lit which is predominately female (can't think of a male author for that actually). If you take away that group it's probably split pretty equally between the sexes.
I enjoy male and female POV equally. Though saying that I'm definitely tired of the love triangle theme in every YA book with a female author right now. Sure there wasn't this many when I was younger? I blame twilight.
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I'm not intentionally sexist, I guess books I read do tend to have female authors but that's down to my love of chick lit which is predominately female (can't think of a male author for that actually). If you take away that group it's probably split pretty equally between the sexes.
I enjoy male and female POV equally. Though saying that I'm definitely tired of the love triangle theme in every YA book with a female author right now. Sure there wasn't this many when I was younger? I blame twilight.
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Original post by Genocidal
I can think of nothing that matters less. I read for the plot and nothing more. I saw this similar argument in an article in The Guardian (I believe) a year or so ago and I couldn't help but wonder how people like this get employed.
The same here! I couldn't care less about whether the author or the protagonist is male or female. As long as a book is well-written and the story is interesting, I will read it.
Original post by Jezebelle
Huh, I always thought Robin Hobb was male, wonder what that says about me.
I'm not intentionally sexist, I guess books I read do tend to have female authors but that's down to my love of chick lit which is predominately female (can't think of a male author for that actually). If you take away that group it's probably split pretty equally between the sexes.
I enjoy male and female POV equally. Though saying that I'm definitely tired of the love triangle theme in every YA book with a female author right now. Sure there wasn't this many when I was younger? I blame twilight.
Posted from TSR Mobile
I'm not intentionally sexist, I guess books I read do tend to have female authors but that's down to my love of chick lit which is predominately female (can't think of a male author for that actually). If you take away that group it's probably split pretty equally between the sexes.
I enjoy male and female POV equally. Though saying that I'm definitely tired of the love triangle theme in every YA book with a female author right now. Sure there wasn't this many when I was younger? I blame twilight.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Indeed, and let's not forget about Fifty shades!
Original post by ArtGoblin
I have read that men find it harder to emphasise with female characters than women with male characters because men are seen as the 'default human being' whereas women are the 'Other' so are seen as different. For this reason most books and films aimed at both men and women have a male lead character and works that feature a female lead are often seen as women's books/films. I mainly read classics/cult novels which feature a male protagonist more often than not and I've never felt unable to empathise with them because I don't see men as different from me. I do love it when a book has a complex female protagonist though.
That strikes me as bull****, to put it bluntly. Women are better at empathising than men are in general. Most men will have trouble emphathising with a character that is too different from themselves.
Original post by awe
No. Have you read Garth Nix's Old Kingdom books? I would give the first, 'Sabriel', a go if I were you. (: And what about Pullman's Dark Materials? These are two male authors with strong and original female protagonists.
To be fair to Pullman, he has an equally important male protagonist.
And no OP, I'm not 'a sexist reader'. A lot of the times when I pick up a book I don't even know the author's gender, and the main protagonist's gender never affects my choice.
To be honest I feel equally comfortable reading work from the POV of a male or female character; in the Game of Thrones books (which I read way before the TV show started) my favourite POV was Daenerys, followed by Arya. As another example, I really enjoyed Feist's Empire Trilogy which was entirely driven by one female protagonist. Character development and plot are the only things that matter to me.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by ClickItBack
To be fair to Pullman, he has an equally important male protagonist.
Who, Will? I don't think he's equally as important as Lyra. He doesn't even enter the story until the Subtle Knife, right?
Original post by StrangeBanana
Who, Will? I don't think he's equally as important as Lyra. He doesn't even enter the story until the Subtle Knife, right?
Yeah Will. Lyra doesn't figure in the second book for about half of it, and the whole plot is very much about them as a pair. Plus, Will's dad is a really key figure in the story (as is Lyra's dad to be fair).
Original post by ClickItBack
Yeah Will. Lyra doesn't figure in the second book for about half of it, and the whole plot is very much about them as a pair. Plus, Will's dad is a really key figure in the story (as is Lyra's dad to be fair).
Meh, I guess.
Yeah. What you gonna do about it?
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Nope, I find both PoV's interesting. For examply, I liked If I Stay which is for girls but I also loved the Enemy and Gone which are both pretty much aimed at boys
Original post by Robbie242
The argument for being sexist as a reader is about as unimportant as the argument being sexist as a gamer
The two are nothing similar. A good many gamers are quite sexist and derogatory. If you are a female on an online game then you can get a lot of harassment from other gamers purely because you're a girl. I was good friends with a girl who played regularly on Xbox Live and she would not use voice chat on general online anymore because as soon as other gamers heard a female voice they would start harassing her in messages and so on.
Being sexist as a reader does seem a very strange thing to me though, as I do not pay attention to the name of an author past whether it was one I recognise, and unless I have read a previous book in the series generally know nothing about the protagonist and their gender.
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