Gender Gap in Book Blogging

[Skip O'Neal]

I think most of us have noticed that a great majority of book bloggers are women. I did a little survey and some thinking about the phenonmenon on my own blog, but wanted to see what the book blogging commmunity thinks causes such a disparity?

Any great ideas?

Thanks,

Skip

The Reading Ape 

[Skip O'Neal]

I guess the thing I am interested in is captured by your phrase "they most often do not feel they need to record their thoughts." I don't think the gap is really due to time or interest in reading (though the latter contributes).

It seems to me to be about some attitude toward reading and discussing books. I still don't understand it, but the above point about the aesthetics of book blogging is interesting. I know that I choose an aesthetic to my own blog in part to separate it from the predominant "scrapbook" look of book blogs (which I don't think I need to say at this point is mostly women). Does this aesthetic say something about MY approach? Or something about how my male perspective influences my blogging choices? I don't know, but I do think it's worth thinking about.

Skip

The Reading Ape

[Lisa Almeda Sumner]

Skip, I think your distinct aesthetic is one reason that I read your blog on a regular basis. I do see what you are saying about the "scrapbook" look of some blogs, and those do predominate. When I first started my blog, I knew almost nothing about book blogs, and didn't read any blogs on a regular basis, so I had no preconceptions. Once I started reading around, I noticed the predominance of YA and genres such as romance. I tend to seek out and read blogs that have another kind of focus. For what its worth, I don't know if gender is the decisive factor, but one of many. As you say, it is worth thinking about.

[Lisa Sheppard]

Blogging is also very much a social thing--despite the fact that we're all sitting in our own homes by ourselves. Men are probably much less likely to decide they want to set up a medium that will allow them to talk to other people about books--they don't, after all, join book clubs in the same numbers as women.

[Terry L. Raimey]

Well Skip, I have a simple answer to your question; women read more than men, and they also happen to be more opinionated. Women also tend to be more transparent about their feelings towards - well, everything. Us men don't generally sit in front of computers and type out our thoughts and feelings - I don't know why that is, guess it's just the way God wired most of us.

Terry L. Raimey
Author - Knights
of 2nd Earth
Experience the Urban Epic!
Knights of 2nd Earth Online
[e-mail]

[Skip O'Neal]

As I wrote above, women do read more than men, but not in a ratio that explains the 10-1 gender spread in blogging about books. And men sit in front of their computers and talk about their thoughts and feelings ALL the time, just look at sports sites political commentary online, and a host of other things.

I read a stat recently that 58% of blog readers are male, so I don't think some inherent gender difference about "sharing feelings" is the answer here. Not that I know what it is.

Cheers,

Skip

The Reading Ape

[Terry L. Raimey]

You know what Skip, I totally forgot about sports blogs. You certainly are insightful! I guess dudes would rather blog about sports then books... why? I dunno. I'd personally rather discuss the themes of a good book than sports.... By the way, you can add video games and movies to that list of things men like to blog about ^_^

Terry L. Raimey
Author - Knights of 2nd Earth
Experience the Urban Epic!
Knights of 2nd Earth Online
[e-mail]

[The Girl from the Ghetto]

Ah, I was just talking about this on my blog. (But just in the comments of a post. Nice to see you did a survey.) One of my readers had an issue with me pointing out something obvious. I attended the 2010 Book Blogger Convention, enjoyed it, had a great time, but one of the other attendees seemed bothered that I even mentioned the panel she spoke on was all white females of the same age. She defended it by saying most book bloggers are young white females. Since the panel was discussing content building, I thought the panel should have had diversity.

Personally, I want to read book blogs by people who are either nothing like me, or ones who review all types of books like I try to do. How else can I find out about "different" types of books? I wish more men and other YWF bloggers would make their presense known. Plus, I have nothing to say when I visit a blog and read a review about a book that sounds just like a 100 other books I've already read and/or commented on over the past few years of blogging.

I think the gender gap (and ethnic, racial, sexual preference, etc.) comes into effect because many publicits and publishing houses are buying into that whole "mommy" blogging movement. I met many publicists who are also YWF, and they gravitated to their same demographic. And, many of them are pushing the YA, Romance and Fantasy books, or at least many of the publicists I met were. 53% of YWF bloggers do the whole social media thing. I'm not sure what the male and other statistics are, as those are much harder to find. Niche bloggers aka male (and all other kinds) bloggers don't fit into the existing molds. I believe until someone breaks the book blogging mold, it is going to stay exactly the same.

[Skip O'Neal]

These are really interesting points. You mention that the kinds of titles publicists push to book bloggers tend to fall somewhere in the YA/romance/chick lit triangle and that reflects my experience as well, though based on my brief survey of who is blogging about books and, judging from the comments on those sites, reading them, I can't blame the publishing side. That three-headed genre dominates book blogging.

It strikes me that the content and tenor of book blogging might itself be a reaction to established modes of reviewing and writing about books in mainstream publications. I mean, can it be a coincidence that the most books most discussed online are precisely the kinds of books that would have a damn near impossible time being included in the NY Times, The Washington Post, etc? This might help explain why so few men blog about books--male-oriented book discussion already HAS a venue.

This might also true, though to a lesser extent, about books that discuss racial and class issues; even these types of books are more likely to garner mainstream attention. Perhaps as the center of the book discourse world moves online, as it surely seems to be doing, the diversity you and I would like to see will finally develop. And I guess it's up to us to help shape that shift.

Skip

The Reading Ape

[Enbrethiliel]

+JMJ+

Ah, the "mommy blogging movement"! It certainly explains an earlier observation that so many book blogs have a a "scrapbook" look and feel.

I occasionally check out custom design blogs, another segment of the blogosphere that seems dominated by mommy bloggers. I'm almost always frustrated by what I find because the warm palettes and patterns that they show off in their portfolios don't capture the aesthetic I want for my own blog. This might have something to do with the fact that I'm neither a mommy nor a YWF, but I'm not sure how much of a factor that is.