Time and again, we have been witness to the bias against female authors, especially when writing anything other than the romance reads expected from them. This bias is evident not only in media coverage but also in readers’ choices. Most readers, when asked about how many women authors have they read, are left fumbling for an appropriate response.
Similar is the treatment towards women authors from within the publishing industry. Women authors find an unusual resistance when they writing features crime and violence.
To delve into this deeper, Tanushree Podder, popular crime author, tells us what she thinks about the bias against women authors.
I call myself a maverick writer because I love exploring various genres of writing. Constantly in search of fresh challenges, I like trying my hand at writing different sorts of books. Having written several books in various genres that include historical, campus, and romance, I was keen on exercising my grey cells with something different. So, I decided to move on to crime fiction.
The announcement brought unexpected reactions from my friends and acquaintances. We love the historical and the campus fiction you write, why would you want to switch to crime fiction, they said. Haven’t those two genres fetched you enough readerships?
Although I was taken aback by the comments, it set me thinking. The comments had come from genuine well-wishers. So, why didn’t they want me to write about crime?
I realised that women are not expected to write thrillers. No blood. No gore. No violence and no suspense. Leave that to the men. Light, fluffy romance is what women are good at, people say. Those are more suited to the delicate feminine sensitivities. Stick to romance, chick-lit, and what have you. Why bother stepping into the male domain? It boils down to gender bias.
Gender bias is not something that’s thrown in someone’s face. It comes across in a subtle manner, from various quarters. For a woman author, it’s the discrimination she faces right from publishers, to stockists and retailers, to media coverage and marketing agencies. And I am not speaking of readers here. That’s a different ball game altogether.
I decided to ignore the comments and go ahead with what resonated with my heart.
The first book I wrote was A Closetful of Skeletons. My protagonist, a retired army officer, was an intelligent man with sleuthing abilities. To my delight, the book found favour with a publisher and I signed a three-book deal. That was the beginning of my tryst with crime and thrillers.
Before you Breathe was the next one in the series, and it roused enough interest in readers to sell reasonably well. Colonel Arjun H Acharya’s sleuthing skills had made a mark. The third book is in the series will be out soon.
Motivated by the cheering response from readers, I set out on an ambitious path. On my radar was a book about weather warfare, because the topic was very relevant. It was an ambitious project for two reasons. One, climate fiction is a relatively unknown term in India. Second, I decided to tell the story in a thriller format. It took several months to complete the research and the framework of the story. And Decoding the Feronia Files was born. It received the distinction of becoming the first Climate-fiction (CliFi) thriller in India.
The premise of Decoding the Feronia Files was the fact that the nation that controls weather, will control the world. Bigger and more powerful than nuclear weapons, weather is set to be the most lethal weapon of all times. Scientists and researchers agree that weather modification has the ability to destroy the world. Climatic manipulations could enable derailing of economies and destabilization of countries. There is evidence to suggest that both Russia and USA are involved in a covert race to control weather.
The story was interesting and the format more so. The book intrigued the readers. Cli-fi is a novel concept for most of them. Yet, it caught the attention of the very man who had invented the term cli-fi. Dan Bloom congratulated us on the book.
So where does gender bias come into the picture?
The remarks that came my way set the ball rolling. For long, women writers have been discussing the existence of gender bias in publishing. This time, I decided to do a bit of research on the subject, and what the results were worth deliberating upon.
The Emilia Report, named after Emilia Bassano, England’s first published female poet in 1611, conducted a research in which they compared media coverage of some male and female writers. The report discovered a marked bias towards male writers. The female writers received only 44% media reviews as against the 56% received by male writers.
Gender bias is the reason that dozens of women authors have chosen to write under male pseudonyms. There was nothing new in the phenomenon. The Bronte sisters had done it way back in 1846. Their poems were published under the pseudonyms of Ellis Currer and Acton Bell. Mary Anne Evans repeated the feat by using George Eliot as her pen name. There were several women writers, who found acceptability after adopting a male pseudonym. Perhaps, the norm of Victorian times necessitated such steps.
According to another study carried out in the USA, sci-fi has been largely a male bastion with hardly any women writer stepping into it. In the suspense genre, the percentage is bestselling books tell a strong story. Although most genres started out as heavily male-dominated, a slow change has been noticed in few. Suspense fiction, spy and political fiction, adventure fiction, fantasy and science fiction, and have all been male-dominated since the very beginning and continue to remain so. A best-selling female fantasy or sci-fi author is rare. Surprisingly though, horror and paranormal genre is now equally balanced between the two genders.
The only redeeming fact is that mystery fiction has seen a healthy balance of male and female writers. Right from the 1920s and 30s, an era dubbed as the “Golden Age of Detective Fiction,” is the only genre that’s played fair to women authors.
Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, Dorothy Sayers, Josephine Tey, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy B Hughes, Caroline Graham, Ruth Rendall, Anne Cleaves, Jacqueline Winspear and Sue Grafton, are some of the most popular crime writers in English language. In fact, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L. Sayers and Margery Allingham have been known as known as the Queens of Crime. The list of successful women crime writers is long and impressive.
Yet, none other than JK Rowling chose to write a new series of books using Robert Galbraith as her name. There were others like Erika Mitchell, Nora Robert and Phyllis Dorothy masquerading as EL James, JD Robb and PD James. Most of these women authors went under a male name or adopted a gender-neutral name by using their initials. The use of initials made it difficult for the reader to guess the sex of the writer.
Interestingly, a survey carried out in 2010 found that there were more women readers of crime fiction than men. Yet, various studies have proved a gender bias. They have revealed that women face huge psychological battle while trying to establish themselves as crime writers.
Finally, as a woman, is it easier to continue writing historical fiction or romance? Only time can answer that question.
In the meantime, I will continue to take my chances.
About Tanushree Podder
A well-known travel writer and novelist, she is passionate about traveling and writing. Tanushree has written ten novels. Among her books are Nurjahan’s Daughter, Boots Belts Berets, On the Double, Escape from Harem, A Closetful of Skeletons, Before you Breathe and No Margin for Error.
Decoding the Feronia Files, written by her, is the first Indian Cli Fi thriller, and The Teenage Diary of Laxmibai is her tenth book.
Two of her books, Boots Belts Berets and On the Double are being adapted as web series.
She lives with her husband at Pune.
INCREDIBLE WOMEN OF INDIA 