I
t’s interesting that I immediately know
what you mean by a ‘feminine’ book,
despite the changing cultural attitudes
towards sex and gender. We still have
traditional (kneejerk?) preconceptions of
what constitutes masculine and feminine
writing and can be repelled by or attracted
to either, depending on our predilection.
Stereotypically ‘masculine’ writing is
seen as strong, serious and action‑led,
while ‘feminine’ writing, to many, focuses
on relationships and emotions and is more
sensitive. It’s unfortunate that, despite all
the advances in gender equality, using
a female nom‑de‑plume still taps into
these old assumptions, and signals to the
reader what they can expect. Becoming
‘Briony’ would make you part of these tired
stereotypes: how do you feel about that?
Gender politics in the literary world is
extremely complex so let’s try to tease out
some of the main concepts.
There are many male writers who have
used female pseudonyms – Iain Blair
became Emma Blair and Dean Koontz
wrote as Deanna Dwyer – but the crucial
factor is that it was only when they
wanted to dabble in romantic iction.
A quick Google for contemporary
male authors who have used female pen
names in other genres and you’ll notice
the search results are scant. Mohammed
Moulessehoul used his wife’s name,
Yasmina Khadra, for The Swallows of Kabul
(and I bet the reviewer who described
his writing as the ‘authentic voice of the
Arab woman’ is cringing now) but his
reason was to avoid the censorship he had
received in Algeria when writing under
his own name.
Of course, there’s a historical precedent
for female writers using male pseudonyms- the Brontë sisters and Mary Ann Evans/
George Eliot perhaps most famously –
but rarely is the opposite found. Sexism
in the book world is still very much alive
and it starts young: JK Rowling used her
initials rather than her irst name so boys
were not discouraged from reading her
Harry Potter series.
In a disheartening experiment, writer
Catherine Nichols discovered how being
female put her at a disadvantage. When
she submitted her irst book to 50 agents
using her real name, she received just two
manuscript requests; when she used a
male pseudonym she received 17 requests.
The same covering letter, the same novel,
just the gender of the author had changed.
‘The judgments about my work that
had seemed as solid as the walls of my
house had turned out to be meaningless.
My novel wasn’t the problem, it was me- Catherine,’ she writes in an essay for
http://www.Jezebel.com
This gender bias is relected on the
literary awards circuit too. Between 2000
and 2014, nine of the 14 winners of the
Booker Prize were men writing about
men. Publishing expert and author Danuta
Kean, interviewed in the Guardian said:
Should I change sex?
I am struggling to ind a publisher for
my novel and a friend has suggested I try
submitting it under a female pseudonym.
It isn’t a particularly ‘feminine’ book but it
does have a female protagonist. What do
you think?
Brian, Monmouth
MOTIVATION
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Emily Cunningham helps
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