Men who read fiction written by women

[KiwiKola]

Why is this so attractive?

My husband reads fiction written by women and finds it a relief that the female characters breasts aren't described like they almost always are in (particularly Sci Fi or fantasy fiction) by male writers. He's said he gets sick of reading about a characters "small breasts" and I've started noticing it too.

Wouldn't say its an attractive quality in him per say, but pleased he sees the casual misogyny even in some hallowed male authors 😅

DH reads fiction by women. He likes family stories, as well as the usual detective stuff. We have recently discovered Val McDiarmid and both love her books.

Why wouldn't they? I don't see what the sex of the author has to do with anything.

Do you mean Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Jane Austen, Mrs Gaskell and George Eliot?

This reminds me of a description in one of Sue Townsend’s Adrian Mole books: “her breasts were slightly larger than Jaffa oranges, but not quite as large as Marks and Spencer’s grapefruits”. Perhaps she was parodying the male gaze of the greatest self-proclaimed intellectual, who once believed that Evelyn Waugh was a woman.

Do you not want them to read womens fiction? Should I stop reading male authors too?

Prepare to be shocked OP. I read fiction written by men and women🙄

My husband mainly reads novels written by women, just as he almost exclusively listens to music made by women. This has been his preference since his early teens. He just says he feels more of a connection to art made by women.

What a bizarre question.
What on earth does the sex of the author have to do with it?

My OH loves reading Marjorie Allingham, Dorothy L Sayers, Agatha Christie, MC Beaton, JK Rowling etc.
He also reads male authors, is this ok?

DH does. He reads anything he can get his hands on. But he started reading Maeve Binchy and Marian Keyes when I said I liked them. He prefers Maeve Binchy on the whole. Also reads the classics. He has no sense of snobbery about books. I like it alot, because he will as comfortably talk about anything from Binchy, to Pilcher, to Pratchett to PG Wodehouse to Wilkie Collins (We both love The Moonstone as our favourite book). I find it attractive that although he is very intellectual he is not an intellectual snob.

Just to say- there have been alot of studies that show that many men refuse to read women authors. So it's nice to see on the tthread so many MNetters DHs are not so narrow minded.

My DP listens to audio books (due to his eyesight finds books a challenge) by female authors. He reads what's sparks his interest.

I think the world might be a better place if more men read female authors and fiction.

Is it attractive to you, OP? Unattractive? Neutral?

It is rather isn’t it

We unconsciously stopped reading fiction written by men in this house. I felt like I’d read one too many “bestsellers” whereby sexual assault and rape scenes - sometimes of children - were written like porn scenes. In one book that did really well a father raping his 14yo daughter had a description of an “her engorged pussy”. I was furious but going online apparently I just don’t understate nuances of aaaaaart 🙄

Women never do this.

100% agree.

I have only had the misfortune to read one Martin Amis book (book club choice) but had to stop it when he made the most disgusting incest joke that it sickens me to even recall it.

It was detested by our book club- except for the sole man in it who said that it represented a 'powerful account of the ennui of modern life'.

Nup. It was just fucking awful.

ugh. Creepy men pop up in the most annoying places

Yes the book I read - I think it was called My Absolute Darling - apparently had sexual description of child rape because “Its a conflict between the confusing desire of sex in adolescence and the painf and trauma of an abusive father”

As a CSA survivor I found it beyond offensive and hated that it was such a popular book

God, there are some snippy responses on here.

Yes, it is very attractive, because a lot of men won’t do it. Having grown up with a dad who used to say he didn’t find women comedians funny, would refer to certain films as ‘women’s pictures’ and regularly ask my DSes if they had any female teachers at their school and express surprise when they said yes (despite me, his daughter, being an actual teacher), I find it very refreshing when a man doesn’t dismiss women and their endeavours out of hand.

I was coming on here to say- DH reads Val McDairmid! As do I!

Lord. Just shows you how many men think.

(Yes, NAMALT blah blah... but to even sort of legitimise it by putting it in a book tells you something)

I was just going to say the same thing- no idea why so many posters are being such dicks about the question, it’s a very interesting topic as it’s widely recognised that it’s an issue.

It's attractive because it demonstrates that they believe women are real people with rich internal lives as valid as their own, and the unspoken secret of society is that a lot of men don't believe that. My partner reads loads of fiction by women, and doesn't read fiction by men that dehumanises women.

It's incredibly sexy.

What's surprising is that anyone still reads for pleasure at all.

Why would that be surprising?

This. I write women's fiction (and am read by men and women) and you would not BELIEVE how many men say 'oh, I picked this up, but it was just women's fiction'. There is definitely a subset of people (and they aren't only men) who dismiss anything labelled as women's fiction (or, even worse, romantic fiction) as pure fluff for the girlies.