Reflecting on Women’s History Month: Reading Female Writers
Do you know why I’m the worst? Because I went to the bookstore yesterday, bought three books, and they were all by men.
Photo by @radu_marcusu from Unsplash.
“In politics, If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.”
Okay, it’s not that it was intentional. I bought a book by my favorite author (Number9Dream by David Mitchell), a book by Haruki Murakami that incorporates magical realism (Kafka on the Shore), and a book that sounded interesting (Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima). And two of those books are by people of color (albeit, men).
So what’s the big deal, you may ask? Does it matter that I’m reading three books by men in a row? Well, considering that I just finished reading Trevor Noah’s memoir and am halfway through Exhalation by Ted Chiang, there’s probably a problem.
It’s super important to have a diverse reading list. Especially as a writer. When we only read books by men (and mostly white men - though on my list, there’s only one white man), we’re faced with a serious problem - a limited point of view.
It’s not that men are better writers than women or vice versa. It’s that different life experiences influence their voices. There’s one writer/blogger I can’t stand (who will, for now, remain unnamed) because his voice reeks of white male privilege. Also, men don’t always do the *ahem* greatest job of writing about women, especially female anatomy or certain realistic *cough* experiences. There’s even a whole Reddit thread about it for those interested in reading some hilarious examples.
But I digress. I’m not a particularly voracious reader (which is bad given my desire to be an author, I know). I go through maybe three books a month, at most. It’s been taking me a bit longer recently because *depression*, but I’m a bit disappointed in myself looking back at my reading list. The last book I read by a woman was The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, and that was three books ago!
That’s not to say I don’t read books by female authors. I do. I actually read a lot of women authors because it’s important. This is why we have to be intentional about the books we read. I picked these books because I’m doing research for a new book I’m planning out, but it’s important I have a diverse perspective and breadth of work to examine during my planning. I can’t rely on only male authors to inform my research period.
There’s a lot to go into with author choice (something I’m trying to convince my boyfriend more since he reads one specific genre that’s typically written by white men), that spans more than just gender. So, drop me a comment or shoot me a message with your book recommendations by women authors! (especially women of color!)
Here’s a list of books by female writers I’ve read recently I think everyone should check out:
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Before We Visit the Goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Power by Naomi Alderman
Past Lives, Future Bodies by Kristin Chang
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Here’s a poem:
The god of found things
A flower is dead or dying when the water it drinks
turns piss golden, when the arterial webs in its
leaves stiffen, but in reality, a flower is dead or dying
as soon as it’s pulled from the ground, & I’ve killed
so many things now.
A daughter looks like her mother, & a son looks like
his father, & my face has taken the shape of a parent-
less thing so I walk between the cracks in the sidewalk
to stop myself from falling through. More than 600,000
Americans go missing every year, & if my face is a blank
slate, where have I gone?
My roots have been ripped from the ground, & if I’m dead
or dying now, where have I gone? Who will find me
when all is over, or will I wander, jumping from missing
thing to thing, my face not a face, my skin a shifting shade of
daytime, my name a memory as distant as the place I grew
my roots to begin with.
