Women have been writing throughout the history, yet often remained anonymous. It’s not surprising then, that the Bible –one of the oldest books in history that was widely known to be written by men, turned out to have at least one female writer. Richard Friedman in his book, “Who Wrote the Bible,” suggested a well-educated matron Priscilla as the one who authored the Book of Hebrews.
The artistic journey of female writers has been characterized by lots of challenges and restrictions. Successively, men have been defining the writing realm, getting more recognition, shaping the space and agendas and setting the course. This has made it impossible for many women to get many writing opportunities, unlike their male counterparts. That is why dedicated spaces, platforms, and websites like WomenWriters remain necessary to even the chances and encourage women who live by their pen.
Many discouragements continue forcing many female writers to quit their endeavors and venture into other areas where they would get more appreciation. Some of the roadblocks for many modern female writers are listed in this article.
Relentless competition with male counterparts
Writing has been viewed predominantly as a man’s occupation for centuries. In the past, an educated woman of upper classes writing for pleasure was more or less tolerated. However, the notion of a woman earning her living by writing was scandalous, and works written by women were usually slighted. Let’s not forget, that as recent as in 1997, Joan Rowling was advised to go as “J. K.” on the cover to mask her gender because teenage boys, supposedly, wouldn’t want to read a children’s book written by “mere woman”.
Women writers are just a handful and some of them confess to going through tumultuous times to get their art to a state of recognition. The world generally takes time to accept women who venture into male-dominated fields and writing is surely one of them.
Competition from male writers remains a real threat to women writers because critics, reviewers, and publishers are still predominantly male. The bias against female writers persists. Things are, however, gradually changing for the better.
Misogyny and sexual harassment
One of the most common abuses that women face all over the world is sexual harassment and misogyny. In spite of the many efforts championed by human rights activists and like-minded organizations to protect women against sexual abuse, it is still prevalent. In July 2018, the Writers Guild of America stated in a survey that 64% of its female members had reported sexual harassment in the workplace. This is an alarming rate especially is we consider that it’s going on today.
Notably, women have always experienced such prejudices in their workplace, in politics, media, etc. Being still a minority, women writers are easilynoticed and attract unwanted attention from people who have no interest in what they write. This sexism has killed the enthusiasm of many women writers because the industry expects them to offer certain favors in order to get them recognized or have their works published.
Glass ceiling
Traditionally, women writers have been expected to lose the touch with their passion after they marry and to make home and family their priorities. Many people still believe that a woman’s life is defined by her family. Her interests and creativity should always come second. That is why women are reluctantly promoted to positions of power and are paid less – decision-makers believe that it isn’t worth the trouble, since she is going to quite eventually.
Nevertheless, many women are not only balancing family and work, but also carve out time to pursue their passions. All these with no dedicated space and means to produce artistic work. A little encouragement and provision of a room for growth can make a great difference in writing career for women.
Bias and discrimination
Female writers everywhere fight a hard battle before they can finally have their work recognized. Their stories don’t get picked for review and they don’t get chosen for discussion panels because they are consistently underestimated. Female prose is seen as “less serious”, more emotional and is marketed as entertainment. In contrast, male writing is still seen as more factual, serious, and culturally significant. Works by men are more likely to be included in high school syllabuses and get the literary awards.
People don’t take women writers seriously especially when they write about misery, poverty, and horrors of war, because that is expected to be a male niche. If they write about such things, they are regarded as unrealistic. Instead, women are expected to write in certain ways and explore a limited set of themes. They are dismissed and criticized for writing the same things that men are praised for. This, of course, is very discouraging.
Bottom line
The roadblocks listed above have shuttered many dreams. Innumerable female writers opted to give up their passion for writing.
This notwithstanding, many women succeeded to rise amidst strict restrictions to compete with their male counterparts in this field. They are coming out in large numbers to express their views and write on a wide range of topics.
