Literary Theory of Differences in Kinds of Books Men and Women Choose to Read - Coursework Example

Topic: Literary theory of differences in Kinds of Books men and women choose to read Name of Student: Institution name: Registration Number: Tutor’s Name: Nate of Submission: TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.Introduction 2 1.1.Background 3 1.2.Research Question 4 2.Literature Review 4 2.1.Differences in types of novels that men and women choose to read according to Bourdieu 4 2.2.Differences in types of novels that men and women choose to read according to Cixous 6 2.3.Differences in men and women that make the read different books 7 3.Methodology 8 4.Results 9 5.Discussion and Conclusion 10 6.References 12 1. Introduction Studies have been done to determine the differences in kinds of books that men and women choose to read. There are also many publications that have been made in an attempt to explain the impact of gender on the reading culture between men and women (Bourdieu Pierre-1664). Due to embedding of social organization on concrete institutions such as labor market and family that are both related with inequality that can be easily studied, the main focus of past research was on matters relating to labor and work. However, the impact of leisure has not been sufficiently studied (Harker, Richard, et al-123). Leisure pursuits have resulted into development of a number of traits among men and women such as aggressiveness and the pursuit of individualistic and self-inspired behaviors. These have impacted on confidence, self-esteem, goals and aspirations, characteristics that are strongly related to the realm of work. This paper provides an integration of there areas that affect the study of gender roles in the context of leisure and novel reading. This will assist in determining the relevance of a variety of ideas on the structure of leisure activities as well as trying to differentiate the factors that differentiate the books that women read from those that are read by men. These studies have revealed results that have to be considered by all writers in order to ensure their target audiences are reached. The main authors that have conducted extensive studies on the impact of gender on literary writing are Bourdieu and Cixous. The provide a discussion of the importance of identifying women’s writings from those of men and suggest rules that can be applied in writing novels that ensure the needs of readers are accounted for in terms of gender needs. They also provide cultural theories that have been used to explain gender inclination towards certain types of books. 1.1. Background The development of inclinations in reading culture between men and women dates back to 20th century where men were involved in working to earn income that assisted in providing the needs of their families while women were involved in taking care of children and homes (Calhoun, Craig, et al-110). These spheres of ideology have spilled over from the 20th century and have resulted into different types of leisure between men and women. Men have usually been involved in taverns, gentlemen clubs and dances while women have been involved amusements within the house such as playing the piano, reading, conversations and crafts (Fowler, Bridget-342). Thus reading among women was mainly focused on an activity that could be performed in private places within the homes but it involved the ideology of separate spheres. Many articles, in essays, magazines and journal put more emphasis on reading among women. On the other hand, men tended to read articles that were mainly related to the public realm while women used their identity as mother to read books that separated them from the public realm. This paper investigates the arguments of Bourdieu and Cixous who have done extensive studies in the differences in the nature of books read by men and women. It also provides a methodology that tries to examine whether women read more fiction than men as well as an investigation of the impacts of reading culture among women because of existence of plenty of time for reading. 1.2. Research Question This study tries to evaluate the following research question: Doe the gender of an individual determine the type of book that the individual reads? 2. Literature Review 2.1. Differences in types of novels that men and women choose to read according to Bourdieu According to (Bourdieu, Pierre-103) most men show lack of emotional responses. On the other hand, most women show deep feelings and make efforts to ensure they overcome the circumstances they are undergoing. Most women and men have reported that the novels they had read were aimed at helping them change their lives. Study was also conducted to determine the nature of novels read by men and women and it was found that there is no overlap in the novels that men and women read (Harker, Richard, et al-123). Women preferred a more diverse set of novels in comparison with men. There has also been a mix between present and classic works and among male and female writers. Men have also been found to be those who do not regard books to be constant point of consultation to challenges in life in comparison with women. During reading process, men read novel in a similar manner that they would read photography manual. On the other hand, women prefer to read books that provide inspiration to them during difficult times and emotional turbulence, and opted to use them during metaphorical need and provision of support and inspiration. This factor has made them prefer to read more fictional stories in comparison with men. According to (Bourdieu, Pierre -103) men on the other hand tended to read materials that touch puberty such as ideas that touch isolation and aloneness while women preferred old, well-thumbed paper materials while men preferred written materials that focus on fixation and have hard covers. These findings resulted into an observation of emergence of a pattern of gender cliché, where women explained emotional novels while men preferred novels relating to social dislocation and involving a solitary struggle. Furthermore, most male readers have explained that fiction does not make sense to them and most of them have explained that fiction does not make sense to them. Most men have also shown interest in non-fiction books and referred to them as watershed books, despite being asked for fiction books. Men who had read fictional books during their early years in schools had stopped reading them and started reading non-fictional books and have reported that the books are fascinating. Despite the high prices for non-fictional books in comparison with fictional books, most male shoppers have opted to buy fictional books. Generally, men between the ages of 20 and 50 do not read fictional books and this have had an impact on the sales of books. 2.2. Differences in types of novels that men and women choose to read according to Cixous According to (Cixous-1942) there are also other factors that have been explained to contribute to a variation in preference for the novels that are read by men and women. For instance, it has been argued that men do not usually like to read novels written by female authors because most female authors tend to focus on abstract topics while men have a preference for factual books that have fewer female authors. On the other hand marketers target female buyers who have strong influence on the market. As a result, most book sellers opt to sell fictional books. According to (Donna -2190) the re is also a tendency among the readers to believe that male authors are more likely to be feted in comparison to female authors and there are few female authors who are praised for their contribution to the literary world. This has resulted into the belief in the culture that books by male authors are preferred for both female and male readers while those written by female authors are recommend for female readers. However, this belief has been challenged by certain authors who have opted to use approaches that disguise their identity. As a result, it has been possible to market these books in the same manner as those written by male authors. Many responses have been made why male readers do not like reading books written by female authors. For instance, it has been explained that like other areas where the work of men are regarded more important compared with the work of women (Calle-321). In a similar manner, literature written by men is regarded more important than those written by women. Studies have been conducted to compare the books read by women and male readers. The classification process involved categorizing the books into fiction and non-fiction books. It was found that the books from female readers were mainly fictional books (Conley-765). There are a number of arguments that have been made to support the culture of reading fictional books among women. These include the following: Fictional books are books that require extensive reading and female readers are more capable of reading in comparison to male readers. The main books of focus for men were biographical and historical books. The scientific explanation for the reading prowess in women is that they have larger quantities of mirror neurons that are activated during a specific action or when a person is watched performing an action (Wilcox, Helen et al-789). The role of the neurons is to put the person in another person’s situation and tie them to the situation. This is the reason why women have the ability to empathize with fictional characters because their mirrors neurons allow them understand the journeys of characters. Furthermore, the act of reading for pleasure is becoming less popular with the emergence of technology since most people especially the male members of the society are applying technology such as the use of internet to pass their time rather than reading (Schneider, Joseph-987). In addition, most people spend at least two hours a day watching television and a few minutes reading. This is contrary to the demands of fictional stories that require long hours of dedication to read. Thus it has been difficult for male leaders to read fictional novels in comparison with female readers. 2.3. Differences in men and women that make the read different books There are differences between men and women that make their understanding of different situations different. This applies during the reading process and thus a difference in the types of books they read. For instance, women tend to be emotional and personal compared with men (Fowler, Bridget-342). They show more interest in people and building relationships while men mainly focus on practical activities that are understandable through logical deduction. This makes men avoid reading materials that are not practical in nature such as fictional books. Men also focus on overcoming challenges and ensure they get dominance; hence their strong focus on books that talk about events such as sports or football and boxing. On the other hand women tend to buy books that focus on maintaining relations and providing relaxation. Furthermore, men tend to be less focused on maintaining relationship with God and building intimate relationship with others (Cixous-1942). However, women have been active in maintaining these relationships. Consequently, most women tend to buy marriage books and books that tend to bring relationship with God. The focus of female authors is more inclined towards exploration of individual emotional interiors in the article. This trend has been observed in both fiction and non-fiction books. For instance, it has been observed that most male poets do not write about women and love in comparison to female authors (Conley-786). This results into the tendency of most poem readers to be those who like the poems written by women who are actually women themselves. These poems written always focus on healing broken hearts methods that can be used to heal the situation. This is an issue of gender because most male readers are not concerned with love issues in poems and would not want to buy or read the poem (Donna-2220). Furthermore, most novels written by women are focused on romance while those written by male authors are focused on creating suspense. Thus readers will tend to associate novels written by women to be focused on romance and avoid buying them or reading them and opt for those written by male authors that are believed to bring suspense. 3. Methodology In this survey, respondents were asked to explain how they had participated activities such as classical music, plays, arts museum and literature. The survey was conducted on monthly basis and equal number of respondents was interviewed. During the surveys, each participant spent an hour responding to a number of tasks and questions relating to their demographic characteristics, levels of education, reading practices and relevant areas to literature. During the study, the dependent variable was fiction reading while respondents were required to answer yes or no to the questions whether they read any plays, novels, or short stories in the last 12 months. Control variables during the study involved level of education, gender, age and natural log of income. In the model that tested the impact of reading ability on the types of books read, the control variable was English language skills while in designing models that studied the impacts of leisure activities on the type of books read, the control variable was leisure. 4. Results It was found that girls are most likely to be encouraged to read fictional books by their parents. 43 per cent of girls responded that they were encouraged to read fictional books by their parents compared to 32 per cent of men in the study. It was also found that 35 per cent of men were not encouraged to read fictional books by their parents during their childhood. Those who were encouraged to read during childhood were most likely to read fictional books than those who did not get encouragement to read. There is also a decline in gender gap when parental encouragement is maintained. The baseline showed that women were 2.3 more likely too read fiction compared with men. Questions relating to leisure activities were asked and respondents were required to explain their participation in textile activities or gardening. Men who responded that they participated in gardening were less likely to read fictional books compared with men who did not. It was found that there was no statistical significance between textile arts and reading fictional materials. Prose literary was measured by the extent to which respondents identified various parts of a passage and integrated it into information related to the text. It was found that reading ability has a strong relationship with the likelihood of a person to read fiction materials. Those who had reading abilities were more likely to read fictional materials and people with the highest levels of proficiency were more likely to read fictional books than those at the lowest literary levels. It was also found that women scored an average of seven points higher in literacy compared with men but the decline in the gap between men and women was not significant. It was also found that males who are good readers are able to overcome gender stereotypes and become proficient n reading fictional materials. However, for those who reading is difficult, it was found that gender stereotypes play a role in determining whether they read fictional materials or not. Thus it can be explained that as person gains more proficiency in reading, the more he is likely to read fictional materials. It is observe that as men and women gain literary skills, they use these skills in a variety of ways such as reading fictional books in case of women and reading historical books and books relating to current events such as daily newspapers. Furthermore, as proficiency in reading increases, reading gap in present affairs books and newspapers increases. According to this finding, reading fiction in specific rather than general reading is ‘feminine’ among readers. 5. Discussion and Conclusion This paper provides a study of arguments that explain why women tend to read certain types of books while men read other types of books. The results of the research process shows that women tend to read more fictional books than men. This is explained by the fact that women develop cognitive skills that are important in reading at an earlier age than boys and maintain the level of proficiency throughout their lives. Thus they read more fiction because they get the encouragement from their parents and teachers. These are explained by the theories of socialization and cognition. It is also found that in order to read certain types of books such as novels, a lot of time Is required and it is women who usually have a lot of time for this activity. The findings of the research process are supportive of the socialization theory but do not support the cognition theory. Girls also get experiences in the fields of arts that are more related to fictional reading for men than women. Participation in arts activities such as textiles is a stronger prediction of fictional reading for men than women. Fewer evidences were obtained to support the argument that women are better readers because they do not have work full-time in the labor force. Negative impacts of working full-time on fictional reading are more limited to jobs that are less gender-sensitive on male occupations. Generally, it was found that variations in gender role stereotypes and childhood socialization explain the impact of gender gap in fictional reading. While there is no link between stereotypes and practices to explicit ideology of different spheres, the idea of the recommended or non-recommended leisure activities for boys and girls has an impact on cultural norms that is based on separate spheres. It is also agreed that reading provides an avenue for social, intellectual and personal gains. Thus in the process of reading, a number of advantages and skills are obtained that are mostly missed by boys counterparts. The contributions of Bourdieu and Cixous show that writers have to recognize that men prefer to read only certain types of books while women also tend to read mainly specific types of books. The methodology section provides a proof that women like reading fictional books in comparison to their male counterparts while me like reading historical books and news articles more than women. The study of reading culture among men and women help writers in coming up with ways in which demands for books need to be determined so that their marketing can be effective. For instance, the understanding of the types of books that women like will enable writers write those specific books and enhance their marketing. Likewise the understanding of the nature of books demanded by men will enable writers’ specialize in books that are pleasing to men. This will ensure sales of books are based on the existing niche in which marketing takes place. 6. References Bourdieu Pierre. The Rules of Art (1979 pp.1664-1680. Harker, Richard, et al., eds. Introduction to the Work of Pierre Bourdieu: thepractice of theory. London: MacMillan, 1990.pp 123-230 Calhoun, Craig, et al., eds. Bourdieu: Critical perspectives. Cambridge: Polity,1993.pp 110-120. Fowler, Bridget. Pierre Bourdieu and Cultural Theory. London: Sage, 1997.pp 342-346. Brown, Nicholas and Szeman, Imre eds. Pierre Bourdieu: Fieldwork in Culture. Bourdieu, Pierre. Rules of Art: Genesis and Structure of the Literary Field. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1996.pp 103-109. Cixous Hélène, “The Laugh of the Medusa” (1975) pp.1942-1959 Donna Haraway, “A Manifesto for Cyborgs” (1985) pp.2190-2220 Calle, Mireille ed. On the Feminine. Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press, 1996.[in particular, “Cixous Without Borders” by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak; “Hélène Cixous: initiatory readings, centrifugal readings” by Lynn Kettler Penrod; “Hélène Cixous’s Writing-Thinking” by Mireille Calle.]pp. 321-342. Wilson, Emma. “Hélène Cixous: an erotics of the feminine” in French Erotic Fiction: women’s desiring writing 1880-1990. Ed. Alex Hughes and Kate Ince. Oxford; Washington D.C.: Berg, 1996.pp. 456-467 Conley, Verena Andermatt. Hélène Cixous: Writing the Feminine . Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984.pp 765-786. Wilcox, Helen et al., eds. The Body and the Text: Hélène Cixous Reading andTeaching. New York: St Martin’s Press, 1990.pp 789-794. Bell, David. Cyberculture Theorists: Manuel Castells and Donna Haraway.London; New York: Routledge, 2007.pp. 674-698. Schneider, Joseph. Donna Haraway: Live Theory. London: Continuum, 2005.pp 987-1004. Read More