Lest we forget the pervasive nature of the patriarchy, the hashtag #ThingsOnlyWomenWritersHear is trending to remind us all of the misogyny, from microaggressions to overt sexism, that female writers face daily.
Here are 6 things writers who happen to be women are sick of hearing!
1. Being told they write great books for women is clearly irksome.
Twitter had a lot to say about the men who read books by female authors and compliment the authors for writing good books for women. Hey dude, you clearly just read it!
2. Being told they shouldn’t use their full name is so 1800s.
Pen names are cool and all, but are you really suggesting writers have to pretend to not be women if they want a broad audience?
3. Speaking of broadening audiences, being told their audience is only people of their exact demographic is ignorant AF.
Some men like sci-fi, some like historical fiction, and others still like a good personal essay. Women, on the other hand, like books by women, because ‘books by middle age women’ is a genre, right?
4. Telling women to stick to writing female characters is microaggressions 101 for male writers.
So men can write a full cast of characters, but women only understand women. Typical.
5. Conversely, being asked why you always write about women is just as dismissive.
You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
6. No, it’s not just a hobby.
We don’t call a writer who is a father a house-husband and writer, so why are writers who are mother’s always a writer second?
Image via Wikimedia Commons
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