Women are Better Writers

http://www.grammarly.com/
At least that's what 3,000 writers said when they were polled by Grammarly, the world's best grammar checker.

But why are women better?

According to those polled, women are better writers because they spend more time developing characters, women like to write more about people rather than things. Women are even better writers because they like to write purple prose -- "long, descriptive sentences."

Or maybe this is just all a bunch of stereotyping?

I would really like to know what the internals of this poll are. How many men were polled? How many women? What were the ages of those polled?

If you look at the results of this poll (and it doesn't claim to be scientific), what would you guess about the internals?

Do you agree with the results? Do you believe women are better writers than men?

Who are some of the greatest writers of all time? Ouch, those are men, but is this the result of the male-dominated culture of the past?

Who do you believe is one of the greatest writers alive today? What makes he or she a great writer?

As you write your college essays, you may want to think about what makes a great writer and incorporate those techniques into your own writing.


Comments

  1. This poll reports what people believe, and as we all know, there can be a huge difference between public consensus and reality. The problem with measuring literary talent is that it is subjective and hard to define. What is good character development? What is the benchmark used to measure whether or not the writer "gets to the point" as fast as possible? How can one say that character development is what constitutes "better" writing? Perhaps men and women do express themselves somewhat differently on the page, but generalizing and using either as a benchmark to describe good writing doesn't make sense. So I cannot generalize and say that women are better writers than men. Instead, I think that women, often having been told that they are "naturally" better writers than men (and "naturally" worse at math) put greater emphasis on writing. Also, being characterized as the emotional and expressive gender may influence people's perception of women as being better writers. It is true that many of the greatest works in literature were written by men (and it might surprise us to one day discover that some of the "male" authors whose works we admire were women using men's pen names), but a lot of it has to do with the works of men being recognized as legitimate contributions to the literary tradition. Only 13 women have won the Nobel Prize in Literature, compared to 98 men. I do believe that this lack of recognition stems from the fact that women historically had fewer opportunities to further their education and reach a wide audience. Back then, what use was a well-read woman with literary talent, that is to say a woman who wanted to make a career from writing?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Are women really better writers? Were the writers judged worldwide or just in the US? What constitutes of a good writer? I think what makes a writer better then the next is if the material is interesting and well written. Does it matter women versus men? Maybe every writer should have a pen name, or a number. I wish a woman had written the bible if this is the case. The bible would be twice as big and we would have more detail of the characters. Also since they polled 3000 men and women on a list of what constitutes a good writer, is the calculation skewed? Shouldn’t the poll be based on the material of the writing, measuring it apples for apples? Harry Potter versus The Hobbit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. In my honest opinion, I don't agree with the results of this survey. In a way, the results make since because many assume that women are more emotional than men. This could help many to conclude that women are better writers, because they do take the time out to fully develop their characters and a little more emotion to their characters. On the other hand it is assumed that males use more of a "get to the point" approach in their writings. Thinking about the stereotypes that could have influenced the results of the survey, it makes me think about a few of my favorite authors. I honestly believe that one can determine the better writer by what type of topic they have more interest in.

    ReplyDelete
  4. In my opinion, I don't think that women are better writers than men. I think everyone is a good writer in their own way. I think that it all depends on what they're writing about. Someone can be a great writer, but can have a weak paper when writing something that they're not interested in. I feel like survey's aren't always accurate. I do believe that women can write more than men because I feel like women have more of an opinion on things and they tend to explain more. Then again, it goes back to what they're writing about. Same goes for men. Men can be just as passionate as women when it comes to writing too! A person may think that a certain writer may be good, but someone else can think otherwise.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The conclusion of this poll may be biased, based on who was surveyed for the results. If, say, the majority of those who were polled were female writers, they could be answering the questions with personal experience rather than from an outside standpoint. Or, the subjects could have been a collection of uneducated people who were merely repeating previous stereotypes they had heard over the years. That being said, I believe that other archetypes relating to women had an impact over this study. For example, the common idea that women are more emotion-based may factor into the idea that women spend more time developing characters rather than plot or action. The article also addresses the premise that some of the greatest writers of the past have been men, but female writers, such as Fanny Burney or Sarah Scott, were immensely popular in the 18th century, they are just not as remembered today. One of the most celebrated authors today, J.K. Rowling, is female and her works tend to stand out because of her ability to develop characters and write lengthy stories. However, another extremely popular author, J.R.R. Tolkien, published works that match Rowling's in terms of character and story telling, but he is male. That being said, the great authors of the past and the present have been a mixture of male and female with no definite ranking. The results of this poll were based on the opinions of the public and may not be entirely reliable.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am not sure if women are better writers than man. I never took that in to consideration when reading. I feel like women would be better writers because I am a woman. Besides, I would not be the best source since I have a clear bias. I do not feel like men would be incapable of creating a detailed characters like women. Yes there is a slight language barrier between men and women and i would need to know who was surveyed for the results to be trustworthy.
    Me personally I do not like writing a lot. I hate going in circles to say one thing. I prefer straight to the point writing, because I do not like reading for long time periods. Based of this blog then I would like men writers. I do not think it is even necessary to have this blog to say who is a better writer. Men and women have equal chance in the writing fields and we should not disrupt the balance.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This idea that women are better writers compared to men could be right at this time in culture. Time is very important. When the writing world was dominated by men a long time it was because they could write about their experiences and adventure. Now that females have the same freedom as men there could very well be a rise in a new writing style that appeals to people a lot more now. Especially since today there is a heavy focus on arts for passionate young people, but to say male writers are obsolete to women because they don't expand on characters is a pretty vague reason. What if that takes away from the reader imprinting themselves as the character of the book, thus leading to a less relatable experience. While I think people may view women as better writers, I think it is all dependent on taste and the time it was written.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I don't want to state that I believe that women are better writers than men are, because I don't have enough experience reading I do, however, agree that they do a better job at developing their characters. As well as going into detail on how things occur in their books. Women tend to have a better understanding of how certain characters would feel in certain situations. They put themselves in the shoes of their character and often tend to see both sides of the story, in my opinion better than a man can. But that doesn't mean that men aren't as good at it. That's only my opinion because I tend to enjoy books written by Nicholas Sparks, mainly because I read the book then go watch the movie. But personally, as a woman, I know I'm not a good writer. But just cause some guy in my class is better, that doesn't make men better writers either. I guess it just depends.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I personally cannot say whether woman or men a better writers because all depends on the type of book and the opinion of each reader. Every person has a different opinion when they are reading different types of material so it is very hard to say. It is true that back in the day all the famous books were written by men because woman were not seen as fit to write. Woman still wrote back then but it was unknown that it was from a woman. I read a quote online that said "For most of history "Anonymous" was a woman". Even though this may be true, in today's time woman are seen as worthy so there are a lot of female writers in the world. I stick by my idea that there is no right answer to whether women or men are better. However, I will say that I am a HUGE book nerd and my top four favorite book series are all written by women.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I personally cannot say whether woman or men a better writers because all depends on the type of book and the opinion of each reader. Every person has a different opinion when they are reading different types of material so it is very hard to say. It is true that back in the day all the famous books were written by men because woman were not seen as fit to write. Woman still wrote back then but it was unknown that it was from a woman. I read a quote online that said "For most of history "Anonymous" was a woman". Even though this may be true, in today's time woman are seen as worthy so there are a lot of female writers in the world. I stick by my idea that there is no right answer to whether women or men are better. However, I will say that I am a HUGE book nerd and my top four favorite book series are all written by women.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel like both women and men are great writers. Both women and men can be good at writing about a certain subject of their opinion. Personally myself, when a subject is my favorite to write about I can go through the deepest information I can write about. When those times the subject isn’t my choice or not my favorite at all I get stuck and just write unnecessary things just to fill up the paper. But in some points women could be better writer of the way they naturally can talk about every little bit of the emotions or experiences they have that makes the writing more interesting. And on the other hand men don’t like to talk about their personal experiences as much so their writing might seem not friendly enough but could be strong enough according to their writing style in some points.

      Delete
  11. I think woman are better writers than men because they take more time, focus more on every detail, and know how to attract the audience flawlessly. This is not to say that men cannot write good essays. The level of organization should be looked at very carefully. In this case, small scale comparisons are important since we know who they are taking about. Often times our writing either reflects on us or someone else. The amount of effort we put in is usually what determines the effectiveness of our essay. Unfortunately, character development and sentence length can be a big blow for the audience. Also from past experiences, I tend to like woman writers better. They go through a whole narrative and does not let you down. But men still have great writing skills; their ability to excel is simply based on statistics. After analyzing the issue I have to give the women a winning score.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Women are not better writers than men. It usually depends on the person themselves to write better. I do not like writing or reading and when I write and when my brother writes, he does a better job at it than I do but that does not mean men are better writers than women. I do not like reading but when I do read, I read a lot of books that are somewhat girly and most of which women wrote. I think women develop their characters and plot more than men do. There are a few than men wrote that I enjoy because they are relate to me.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I disagree with this article because men and women have different writing styles. Men will write better on a subject that interests them that would not interest women. Same goes for women when they write on a subject that would interest them and not men. It all depends on your interests. This does not mean that women are better writers than men, it just depends on what subject you are writing about.

    ReplyDelete
  14. In my honest opinion I dont believe that women are better writers than men. Men and women both have different types of interests in writing. When writing about certain topics both men and women tend to express themselves in different ways.This doesn't mean that women are better writers than men . Not all surveys are accurate and some tend to focus of different topics that both men and women aren't as interested in. I guess it all depends on the persons interest.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Does it really matter that women are better writers or men are better writers? If you read books, sometimes you cannot tell which gender writes books. We assume that a woman writes the book, but sometimes it turns out a man writes the book. If the book that whatever you read has a good story, you would not care about which gender is a better writer.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I disagree with the statement, Woman are better writers than men. Just because you'r e a certain gender doesn't mean that you're going to be better than another gender. Everyone has their own weakness and strength. To some people their strength is in writing but that's because they might focus very well or they are just very captivated by writing. One shouldn't be classified by a gender, that's the last thing we need in this earth.

    ReplyDelete
  17. If women are supposed to be superior writers to men, then why are most of the writers that are considered the best all male? I wonder if in the past men have always been viewed as better because of stereotype and because men have always been viewed as doing everything better than a women in the past, and still a lot to this day. A lot of people were a part of this study, which makes me want to believe that what they concluded with is true; that women are better writers then men. But honestly I think your a good writer it doesn’t depend on someones sex, but on their talent, drive, and individuality.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Given the sample size of this study I can see that the results are in a way accurate. However what I am concerned about is the methodology of this study. first of all where was this study conducted? I get the feeling it was online, if that is true should we not first ask ourselves if creative women are more likely to take an online survey? If this essay was not online we could run into other problems an example of this would be if the demographic was skewed we do not know if they surveyed 2999 men and one woman. As for the survey itself, we do not know the questions that were given, so we cannot be 100% sure that they were fair. So while I think that it is probable for this survey to be accurate in proving women do more character development, it leaves plenty of room for skepticism. Therefore i do not believe they are justified in making the claim that women are better at writing, since such a claim would require substantially more proof.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I believe that the results are accurate but may contain biased. It really depends on who conducted the survey. Although I do agree with the fact that woman are better writers than men because they like adding more description and providing visual imagery of their topic/ subject. Men on the other hand, I feel have a struggle while writing. One of the greatest writers I’m familiar with is Edgar Allan Poe. He provides visual success and makes you feel like you’re in the characters shoes. Maybe men were more dominate in the past because women didn’t have much rights but as times changed the women started dominating in writing profession. I’m not a fan of reading so I really don’t know who one of the greatest writers alive is.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I want to know when and where this survey was conducted to make sure this survey is not biased. I feel like it is a sterotype saying that women are better writers and are more creative because they express their feelings and thoughts more than men. I have read article saying that men are actually better writers than women and this article also states that the greatest writers of all time are men. I know that Edgar Allan Poe is a good writer his writing are really mysterious which keeps his readers hooked on.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I do not believe that you can pinpoint a gender to be better at a certain activity. For one thing every person as an individual has their strong points and their weaknesses. I do believe that women do tend to go more in-depth in detail because we notice a bit more than males so we have a little bit more to talk about. But I don't believe that makes them weaker in writing or a stronger. Another factor of this poll is who is judging them and how are they judging them for example what are the guidelines. I would really be interested in finding out how they ran this and maybe I would have a different opinion. One of my favorite books is written by mail and I ta and maybe I would have a different opinion. One of my favorite books is written by a male and I notice I tend to gravitate more towards male writers just because they get to the point faster and I don't like to read a bunch of irrelevant sentences that are spent describing things I don't care about. How over someone else who likes to know what everything looks likes and the scenery and wants to read like they're actually in the scene may gravitate toward a female writer. It all just depends on your preference.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Gender does not determine a writer's ability, but it can affect an author's rationalization of a topic when writing. Of course, equating their abilities to their sex is nonscientific and does produce a bias among the poll administrators. Woman were voted by users inclined enough to make a profile and use the website "Grammmerly," which I have personally never heard of. The formation of closer personal bonds with a character pulls a reader in and forms a relationship to suck the pathos out of. A well written death of a beloved character sparks tears and outrage, but a random death especially in a book is meaningless. Woman might have a brain specificity that inclines them to formulate characters better or it's just that they individually write that way. The article cited how the best voted author is a male, but we lived in a male dominated society as we still do. Males comprise the majority of authors and no, a male is not voted best, but Harry Potter was very good. The fact that the first 4 voted authors on a random google search are half female means nothing other than they wrote well.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I would have to agree with the article when it talks about maybe the only reason why the people that are considered great writers is because of the male dominant mindset that swept through that time period. and maybe women have been better writers all along they have just been forced to be the shadowns of men they received no recognition for the great works they did simply because it went unnoticed. But before we attach successful writing to a specific gender I think we need to understand what qualifies as successful writing . What are things that we look for that would comprise of a successful paper or article. I think this is important to understand because the minds of men and women are very different, especially when it comes to analyzing and interpreting concepts.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I think there should be some theory or reason behind this research. I agree men are different than women, like how they act, think. So, sure, men and women have different writing style, I total agree with it. But, it doesn't mean women write better than men. I think it really depends on what he/she writing on, what king of stuff he/she is writing. If women would spend more time on developing a character and writing a descriptive sentences, women maybe better on writing a novel. However, if we are writing a proposal, a report, a argument. It is better to write a short sentence and get in to the point as soon as possible. So, here, men is better writer than women. I am not try to determine men and women are better in different area of writing, but i am trying to said, different people has different writing style, they might good at different king of writing. Not all the men use a, the, some. But, also, not all the women use he,she, we. So, there is not better writer in gender, it just depends on what kind of writing you are good at.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I never think that who is better and who is not. I always think that they all are writer as man and woman all are same here. https://www.professionalresearchpaperwriters.com/writing-guide-from-professional-research-paper-writers/the-difference-between-thesis-and-hypothesis-statement-from-professional-research-paper-writers/ you'll be get more ideas about the writing help.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Sometimes you have to let the problem of life goes with a little smile and with keep silence in toughest situation as it will give you the power of controlling. try this one which is for the students that is very helpful for the writing services.

    ReplyDelete
  27. being evil and doing all those works cannot be blamed for any circumastance it is you who choose this side and doing those things. check more info to find out more helpful tips on writing.

    ReplyDelete
  28. They are because they can concentrate on their learning and they do not distract as well so they try this and that to learn new things and try that in their writings as well.

    ReplyDelete
  29. A blog of the State University where you can get the answer about your Associate Degree before a Bachelor's Degree. Get your link with site and enjoy the real path of your life from this zone of the happiness.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Superpower Would You Choose?

Ancient Rome: When Being a Teen was Tough

The 12 Types of Procrastinators and Kittens