Discussion Posts: Is reading dominantly female?

Posted on by Ashleigh

is reading dominantly female

Week three of my discussion posts brings around another question for you all.

I’ve been thinking about this one a lot lately, so I’d love to hear your opinions on the topic too!

I’m asking you today…

Is reading dominantly female?

I remember last year, there was this…challenge (I think?) in the reading community to read more books written by women authors, spurred by the idea that male authors tend to be more successful in sales. And of course, it was a great idea…but it did get me thinking. I mean, most of the books I buy are written by women. And this isn’t out of choice – not at all. I rarely even take note of the author until after I’ve read or bought the book, all I base my judgement on is the story inside. But as I look around at my shelves I can’t help but wonder if women tend to write books more than men, or whether it’s just a coincidence that I like their stories more.

It’s not just authors though. There’s the readers themselves. Most readers are female, like me. Now that might sound a bit presumptuous of me, but hear me out.

Most of the people I know that read are female. Most of the people I follow on twitter that read are female. Most booktubers are female. Most bloggers that follow me are female. And most book blogs I follow are written by females.

Obviously there are male readers, booktubers, and bloggers out there. Of course I notice that I have male followers on here as well as female. All I’m saying is that in comparison, there seems to be a much larger female presence.

Maybe it’s just that women tend to talk about it more than men?

Either way, it makes me wonder why. I don’t feel like there’s anything about reading that is particularly feminine…I mean, everyone can read and enjoy words on a page. So I wonder why it seems to be a dominantly female hobby?

So now it’s your turn!

Do you think reading is dominantly female? Why do you think it’s this way?

Or maybe it’s just a case of women being more likely to talk about books in the case of blogging?

Share your thoughts down in the comments!

sign

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Come and visit me!

heart

My Instagram (Bookstagram)

My Twitter

My Goodreads

My Bloglovin’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

38 thoughts on “Discussion Posts: Is reading dominantly female?”

  2. I agree with all you said, most of the books I read are written by female authors, I don’t do it intentionally but it happens. Most booktubers and bloggers are female too. But as you said there are male bloggers, booktubers and authors just compared to female they seem to be minority. I don’t know why this happens but, I hope that changes too (or maybe I just need to follow more male booktubers,bloggers,writers,etc which is a possibility too).
    Great topic!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. Interesting point, Ashleigh. I remember reading somewhere that YA is dominated by female authors and since I (and perhaps you) mostly read YA, I ended up reading books written by female authors. However, some adult genres are still dominated by males, especially in bestseller list. Correct me if I’m wrong though.

    As for bloggers and booktubers, I noticed the same thing. It might be because the reason you mentioned that the ladies are more vocal when they like something. We like to talk more, maybe? lol.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. I completely agree with what you said, Ashleigh. I just think that TYPICALLY, females enjoy reading more than guys. A large majority of my friends who read, blog, and write, are females. Nice topic! ^.^

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. I think you hit the nail on the head with your question at the end–women are more likely to share their thoughts about reading through these platforms, I think. It may also be related to the genres and to whom they appeal.

    But there is also something to the fact that reading may still be dominated by women as a hobby in general. In the US, there is this culture that nerdism isn’t necessarily acceptable (though it is on its way to cool), and I feel as though the pressure is more on boys to do things other than read, whereas women aren’t pressured away from it as much (which could be part of the whole discussion on sensitivity and emotional expression). But that’s just something I’m mulling over.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    2. Yeah, I feel like blogging (for example) is accepted as a female hobby a lot more than a male’s. Not entirely sure why, since it’s just writing and sharing your thoughts, but it’s somehow worked out that way.

      That’s actually a really interesting way to look at it. I supposed with guys there IS a pressure to be cool, rather than nerdy. It’s strange how much things have changed. I remember in my English Literature classes we’d be told that in the Victorian ages (etc) only men would read and be praised for how intelligent they are for doing so, but it would be really odd for a woman to read…oh how the tables have turned!

      Like

      Reply

        1. -shakes fist at being unable to edit the comment- In Edwardian times, women were expected to read for their education and manners.

          And the novel was originally seen as a lower class and silly feminine thing. There is so much surrounding it and it fascinates me.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

  6. Most of the books I read are written by females too (though not that I notice or anything), but I don’t think there’re more female writers or readers. It depends on the genre we’re talking about. If you’re talking about YA, romance, contemporary, then yeah, I think that’s true, the same for fantasy. But when you cross to high fantasy or sci-fi, you start to have a few more male writers and a lot more male readers too… at least that’s what I’ve been noticing.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    2. I think it may SEEM like there’s more female authors just because of the amount of hype the YA genre has been getting lately. I definitely agree with what you’re saying. Most of my YA books are written by women, however when I look at the High Fantasy books, they switch to male authors (George RR Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson etc). So maybe it’s more to do with the genres than books in general 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  7. Yes I totally see the unbalance and how majority is female! Maybe that’s why I think males are hot when they read. But male authors are usually dependant on genres. I find them writing more crime, mystery, science fiction, and classic.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. That’s very true! It could just be that gender is more dependent on genre rather than books in general when it comes to authors – although I don’t know why that happens either!

      Like

      Reply

  8. I totally agree with your thoughts on this question. I literally only follow two male booktubers and three bookstagrammers. I feel like there are a lot of guy readers out there that read but, like you said, they just don’t tend to express their thoughts on what they read like us girls do. I do wish there would be some more guys talking about books like this though.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. I agree. Most of my book friends are female and most authors that I know are female. I don’t know if it’s just me though, but I noticed that some male authors and readers that I know are those people whose opinions I really treasure. Yes, there are some female friend’s opinion that I really listen to, but not much.

    If I have 10 male book friends, 8 of them are someone who I really listen to because we mostly have the same tastes in books. Same with male authors. Most books from male authors are my favorite..

    Maybe it’s with the genre? I prefer high fantasy like Mistborns compared to some “girly” fantasy books.. :/

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Everything’s to do with personal taste really. It’s true that high fantasy books tend to be more likely to have a male author, and guys are more likely to read them because of the action involved. So if you like to read high fantasy too, that’ll be who you trust to talk to 🙂 I love high fantasy too, but I really need to read more of it!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. I would definitely say that YA readers are mostly female, but not necessarily all readers. I think most of the guys I know who read just prefer adult literature, particularly fantasy and nonfiction. My husband exclusively reads graphic novels, but I say that still counts! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. I don’t know if readers are dominantly female but I do think that females talk more openly about it. Most bookstagram I follow are female (I think only 4 are male). I think that guys who read aren’t well accepted (which is sad). I remember ppl in my class used to make fun of this boy for reading Harry Potter. Sadly, reading isn’t very well accepted among teenagers, especially in guys. Which I think is really stupid and sad.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  12. Pingback: January Wrap Up | A frolic through fiction

  13. I was thinking the same thing. I am currently doing a challenge to read more books by female authors only to find out most of the books I read last year were by female writers. I think I will have to do one for male authors next year because I don’t read many books by men. Great topic.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. There are male readers but they don’t tend to open up much? And yeah, now I wonder why do I see many female authors? Not that I’m complaining about it!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment