After Gay Talese said something unfortunate regarding women writers—that none, apparently, had inspired him—a few weeks ago, the writer Ann Friedman put together a long list of writers he might go back and read, or maybe reread. I hope all my students will look at this list, from New York Magazine.
Image above of Mary McCarthy.
Wow, this is just wonderful. I’m excited to read and remember these female writers. It is such a shame that many female voices have been lost amongst their male counterparts. This also highlights the appreciation I have for your Tutorial Advising class, as we explored and encountered all female voices. I remember one day in high school when we were allowed to explore different books around the classroom for an assignment, and my male teacher had to impose on a girl to read another female writer’s work. Why didn’t she pick up a female writer’s work? I wonder if this “forgetting” has really just been years of conditioning from the school system. Much of what we read in our English classes from high school and below are heavily focused on the accomplished male writer (Shakespeare, Hemingway,Fitzgerald, Salinger, Conrad, Golding, Twain…) the list is endless. Maybe changing a syllabus is not as easy as it sounds as it goes under the heading “required reading,” but how can the U.S. say it is actively seeking to empower its women when we are only teaching children and teenagers (via exposure) that only men have real capability to achieve success.