Male vs Female?

Recently I caught an interesting discussion on the website of SFX Magazine ( UK ), re: the imbalance between their reviews of books written by male authors as opposed to those written by women authors. A rather lively discussion ensued, some of which I subscribe to, and some, I do not.

Traditionally in genre fiction, male writers have outnumbered female for a great variety of reasons. The ratio, however, currently stands around 55% to 45%. This is probably more even than it has ever been. But I do believe that CERTAIN male readers/reviewers ( not all! ) still exhibit a sexist bias, perhaps subconsciously.

This is one reason that I joined the Broad Universe Literary Coalition. The aim of this organization, which is not limited to women, is to promote the work of female authors, especially in regard to genre fiction: fantasy, science fiction, horror, etc. I've never heard of any organization devoted to the promotion of male authors, have you? One doesn't seem to be necessary.

Personally, I've observed a few male readers who picked up a book, briefly scanned the back blurb, realized it was written by a woman, and promptly rejected it without further investigation! ( There may also be women who do the same with a book written by a man, but I've never personally observed reverse bias. ) People like this, of either gender, do female writers a gross injustice by assuming that no woman could write as well as a man---or write a book that THEY could be interested in. How far from the truth!

There are plenty of women authors out there who write fascinating science fiction, heroic fantasy, gritty urban fantasy, horror that would curl your toes, and bloody crime fiction, These aren't pieces you would stereotypically expect to be written by "ladies"! I've read a great many books by male authors; never once have I assumed that I couldn't be interested in a book written by a man. Am I equally interested in books written by any and all female authors? Of course not.

To coin a phrase here, don't judge a book by the gender of its author. Open the dang thing and actually read a few pages before you dismiss a book!

All the pulpit-thumping for now,

MRTighe