Mikey_C Wrote:
> Put me in the "nurture not nature" camp. I've
> read HPL and CAS stories to my partner and she's
> enjoyed them immensely. She admits, however, that
> she likes to read books she can share with her
> friends, and they would think her "weird" for
> reading such things!
You seem to be arguing that male nurture is the standard to which women should aspire. Also, if nurture explains our tastes in literature, presumably your partner, Maryanne and other female CAS/HPL fans all had a male nurture like male fans. If not, then nature must play its part too and because male and female nature differs, on average, we would expect precisely what we get: more men than women interested in CAS/HPL.
> There seems to be quite a few female contributors
> to the discussion boards on www.conan.com, so if
> women can enjoy REH's testosterone-drenched
> adventures, I see no reason why they shouldn't get
> into CAS as well!
There is no reason, because there are women who are into CAS. Your attitude smacks disturbingly of male cultural imperialism, because the much bigger problem is in fact that of male readers avoiding female authors, not vice versa:
Quote:But a gender gap remains in what people choose to read, at least among the cultural elite. Four out of five men said the last novel they read was by a man, whereas women were almost as likely to have read a book by a male author as a female. When asked what novel by a woman they had read most recently, a majority of men found it hard to recall or could not answer. Women, however, often gave several titles. The report said: 'Men who read fiction tend to read fiction by men, while women read fiction by both women and men.
'Consequently, fiction by women remains "special interest", while fiction by men still sets the standard for quality, narrative and style.'
[
observer.guardian.co.uk]