By Nick Sweeney, Grade 11I feel totally dirty after that.
Now I feel like getting Mr. Smith in trouble. So I will.
You know what he said to me the other day? This was after a few comments were made on his the why chromosome blogs -- comments from his readers (Mr. Smith mostly disagreed with) who said that YA was marketed only to girls and that publishing was dominated by women, who kind of acted like gatekeepers to perpetuate the double-X control over literature.
Mr. Smith said he came to an epiphany one day when he was talking to an author friend of his -- one who happened to be an XX writer. He told me he realized that it was true that schools seemed to push this idea that reading and writing are feminine pursuits, so boys are frequently turned away and discouraged from finding their male voices in literature.
But, Mr. Smith also said to me, "Nick, did you ever realize that most YA is written by women? In fact, most novels these days are written by women. Did you ever wonder why that is?"
I said, is it because boys don't want to write after they go through school?
Mr. Smith said that was part of the explanation. But lots of guys want to be writers, he explained. One of the main reasons why there are more novels being published that are written by women is the economic reality of being a writer. Mr. Smith said that being a writer is a hard living, and since society puts so much pressure on males to be the breadwinners and have jobs -- careers with consistent paychecks -- that pay the bills and maybe also include health benefits for their partners and kids, men are pressured out of trying to write by the gender expectations of society and the economy.
He said that it's easier for women -- in general -- to become novelists because there is not as much external pressure on them to go out and be providers and breadwinners. It's more "okay" for a woman to stay at home or work only part time than it is for a guy.
At least, that's what he told me.
Now, go get him.
He deserves it for making me pee outside. Well, it wasn't really outside. It was in his greenhouse. But I'm still deeply damaged psychologically from the experience. I think one of his horses was staring at me.
And I want to go home.
-- Nick S.
5 comments:
I've interviewed easily over 100 children's authors and illustrators for a couple of different books. And I kept coming across this same thing, over and over, to the point where it formed this pithy advice: "Do you want books? Marry a lawyer!"
Seriously, it's so important to have that TIME to write away from financial pressures. The spouse earns a good living, the kids go off to school, and some of these gifted, talented writers are given that most precious commodity -- time to write, to learn, to grow away from the demands of the marketplace.
When you look at Malcolm Gladwell's excellent book about success, OUTLIERS, he forcefully makes that point. It's not just talent, it's talent combined with opportunity.
Nice article, very well written. Now go marry a lawyer! Wait, finish high school first.
Oh, I always forget to sign my name on these things.
James Preller
That's a load of BS.
Yes, it takes time to write. But I'm a woman who works over 40 hours a week and finds time at night and on the weekends to write. And what about 50 years ago when publishing was completely dominated by men, even though males were even more the sole breadwinner? How did those men find the time to write, but today's man can't?
That's what I say, too, Megan. Mr. Smith has a full-time job and another side-job, too, so he "works" more than 40 hours per week, too, which is why he gets up before 3 a.m. to write, and he still manages to produce two novels per year. That's why he should be kicked in the nuts. We really need to stop playing all these pre-conceived gender roles. But, maybe that's what he's been saying all along with the whole "why chromosome" thing. Doesn't matter, he's an ass and I am peeved at him, anyway.
-- Nick S.
If you were correct Andrew then wouldn't the identical financial pressures keep men out of writing movies, TV, comics and games? They're all high risk occupations financially.
Make a list of the male writers in all age groups who make serious money. Now pick out all the ones who don't include violence, action, sex as major components of their writing.
Make a list of female writers who make serious money. Show me the ones who don't include violence, action and sex as major components.
Group B is bigger than Group A.
I think many successful female writers write action, but almost all successful male writers do.
Male writers -- whether in adult fiction or YA fiction, in movies, in comics, in games, in TV -- are much more likely to gravitate to and profit from violence/action/sex.
Women writers have an easier time it seems covering the entire range from G rated to R rated, while men tend to cluster closer to the R rating. Given the predisposition of editors, teachers, librarians and assorted social scolds to want to keep YA skewed to the G rating you're going to find more female writers. And inevitably more female readers.
I don't think it's economic pressure, I think it's topic preferences. Men I think have a hard time writing unless we have a lot of plot to play with. Plot ends up meaning action/violence/sex. I think male readers/viewers/players have essentially the same preferences as male writers, but those preferences are seen as inappropriate for teens.
But only in the book world. In the movie/TV/game universe predominantly male writers have no problem at all reaching a male audience.
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