By now, you've probably seen it--the article in
Jezebel about V. S. Naipaul's comment, or the one in the
NYT, which mention the man's comment that he can detect the gender of a writer before he finished the second paragraph. In response, if you still haven't seen this, there's also
the quiz hosted by the Guardian so you can see if you're as "cool" as Mr. V. S.
I'm thinking one of those initials is a tad off.
Naipaul commented that this knowledge is based on how he (mis)understands women, because they aren't "Masters of their own house" and sentimental, and thus will never reach his personal greatness.
Anyone feel like boycotting yet? I have some ideas about what he can do with that personal greatness....
Of course I think he's wrong. In fact, I tried much too hard to look for these silly indicators when I took the Guardian's quiz, and only got 5 of 10 correct--which, if thrown into a probability meter, means that I have mastered the art of random guessing and no more. At least I've got that going for me.
Every writer has his/her own voice, which may lean toward the sentimental or the... what's the opposite of sentimental in this context? Analytical? Anyway, Each writer has her/his own leanings in how they want to narrate a story. Each voice is unique, with different levels of sentimentality v. the-opposite-of-sentimentality.
What do you think? Without foreknowledge, do you think you could tell the difference between men's and women's writing? Do you even care enough to try?
I wonder, however, how much our own experience and the societal limitations of our genders play into our writing. I only bring this up because I'm struggling with male-male dialogue. Frankly, and this shouldn't surprise you, I've never been involved in a conversation that only involved men. How could I? I'm not one. I pondered this on
Facebook about two weeks ago. Male buddies I haven't heard from in years stumbled from the woodwork to add their 2+ cents (really, their words were worth more than measly pennies). Of course, they're all different, too, so the answers conflicted, sort of. And perhaps I came out a little more confused than when I began.
So, despite the sexism that prompted me to write this,
do you think our genders and the social "restrictions" associated with them affect your work? How do you get around it? What do you do to make your characters' conversations authentic, even if your own gender isn't present for said chit-chat?
