Tai Carmen is a guest blogger in the column written by Melissa Corliss Delorenzo for March 9, 2011 at her circle e-zine. Carmen writes about being a woman writer and reflects upon what this means. She challenges the reader to consider whether gender/sex is significant (and whether it should be) for writers. What does it mean to be a woman writer? Aren't we just writers like men? Do men consider themselves "man" writers?
This connects to my recent reflections on The Handmaid's Tale and its consideration as part of the canon of dystopian literature. Here is most of my comment posted in response to Carmen's article:
As someone defining feminism at "mid-life" and as a writer, I find the distinction fascinating. My husband and I talk all the time about our collection of books and how they are mostly male-written, how most of our favorite writers are male. We struggle with this as it is not a conscious choice. It's not even "unconscious" but rather the result of actually picking up a book and reading the synopsis and/or reviews. I am a bit put off myself about Woolf's call to the androgynous mind. I've asked myself quite recently why writing from the sex/gender of half the population is so isolating? I wonder if part of it is actually biological. Is women's experience of life with internal sexual organs, pregnancy and birth so unimaginable to men that this is where the difference lies in writing? Why does our anatomy influence us so? And, let's not forget to ask, why shouldn't it?
Laura Cude, who writes a blog on this site about feminist literature, asked why "The Handmaid's Tale" is not usually found on lists of dystopian literature, especially in college classrooms claiming to study the topic. I had not read the book myself at that point. Being a fan of dystopian literature, I ran right out to read the book and discern if there was a reason this book was passed over in favor (inevitably) of male writers in the genre. What I discovered was this: in Atwood's book, we get an entirely female viewpoint of our world gone wrong. We see what it is for a woman to engage in sex without a relationship, without passion. We see the jealousy of women who cannot conceive of those who can. Atwood certainly does not intimate that the male involved seems to derive any more pleasure from the impregnation "ceremony" as it is called, so we cannot believe this "world" is any more pleasant for men, per se. As I read the book and considered it from a male viewpoint, I can see how its appeal might not be as universal as the dystopian novels of Huxley or Orwell due to the female bodily experience featured so prevalently.
I am still asking myself why this is. Is the male writer actually the more "androgynous" as Woolf claims women writers need to be for the appeal to be present? I will have to re-read "Brave New World" and "1984" with this question in mind to get a more definitive answer. Having re-read another favorite book recently, "Fight Club," I believe this is written from an entirely male perspective. I cannot imagine the book being written by a woman. Its appeal to me is the feminist principles of questioning gender roles imposed by society and the characters' growth stemming from relationship. This leads to me ask whether women read literature written by men to understand the human condition itself and/or to understand men better, and to ask why men do not seem as interested in understanding women better through reading women writers, especially those who are writing from a female viewpoint. Of course, I ask these questions from my own experience, not with any assumption that this thought process applies overall. Yet, when we look at the best-seller list, we must determine what the books that are selling are about but more importantly, we then have to ask who is buying and reading these books? It's the sales figures that will tell us the answer to the underlying question. Are men buying those six books in the top ten list written by women? If they are, in equal or greater numbers to women, that tells us something. Which books of the six are being bought by men and which aren't?
I am interested in thoughts and views on this. While I myself hate those "name your top three favorite books" or "which three books would you need on a deserted island?" questions, I ask you to consider the books that speak to you on a deep and profound level. Mostly, I suppose I ask you to consider which fiction you feel says something in a way that means something to you. Once you torture yourself over which "three" (o.k., three to five, or just one is fine, too) are your "favorite," then please share why and if you'd be so generous, consider whether you believe the books are written from a male or female viewpoint and whether they'd be (in your opinion) appealing to both men and women. Oh, and while you're answering that, might I ask you to share why you believe this?
I know it's a lot to ask. However, I'm quite sincere and earnest in my interest! Feel free to comment below or to send an email directly. If you comment on FB or via email, let me know if you are comfortable with me sharing your response via this blog, too, as I'd love to present different viewpoints on this topic in the future.
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