Written by Maria Pilidou
Oh dear males, please read literature again.
P.S. The world needs it.
International discussions have arisen regarding the female dominance of fiction and literature, and to be honest, it hasn’t been long since it caught my attention. Personally, I have been involved with books since the beginning of my life and haven’t stopped reading ever since. As a teenager and later as a young adult, I participated in book clubs and creative writing seminars, so yes, literature has managed to become a special part of my daily life. I know this isn’t the case for the average young adult or adolescent, but I hadn’t given it much thought, let alone the statistics, until recently. Regardless, most of the greatest classical writers are men.
It was during one book club meeting that another fellow (female) reader stated a “did-you-know” fact: “70% of fiction buyers are female!” Whether true or false, I haven’t decided yet, probably because my research was poorly conducted, relying on online news articles. But this eye-opening piece of information sparked a lot of thought. Surely, there must be men who read, and read a lot, and women who don’t find fiction appealing. But literature is merely the case study here. The real issue is that when women enter a field that was previously male-dominated, the same field is often considered less important once women engage with it.
No, this article isn’t written out of some weird Stockholm Syndrome, where we women feel incapable of functioning in a female-dominated space and seek men as saviors. Rather, the discrimination of art subjects as “girly” and not vital is a true thorn in modern society. In general, anything associated with women in some magical way is immediately degraded in the eyes of the public (cooking at home is considered feminine, but when it comes to restaurants…).
The eclipse of art in our daily lives plays a fundamental role in how society functions. From the workplace to conflicts and, ultimately, dating (@hotdudesreading has 1.1 million followers on Instagram 😉 ), creating and enjoying things for the soul is what’s missing in a society that over-consumes goods for the flesh. Exploring new worlds through fiction and literature, engaging in an endless game of words, makes humans more creative, more empathetic, more human. These are qualities missing from the modern (corporate) world, regardless of what the fragile egos of certain popular tech CEOs may suggest. And don’t get me wrong—I’m a computer science major myself (and yes, I’ve been told many times that I should become a teacher).
Despite what many may think, feminism isn’t just about “freeing the tit” and creating a men-free world. It’s about freeing the world from gender stereotypes and discrimination while creating a safe environment for everyone. Revenge is not the priority; healing the community is. And that can only happen if we stand united, not as men and women, but as humans.
Nevertheless, our world wouldn’t be where it is today if, for even a moment, we stepped back and collectively appreciated life and artistic expression a little more. For once, should we, as a society, put a halt to this nonsense of categorizing and endless stereotyping?
Humans, let humans just be humans!
Maria is an ambassador in the WE ARE HER ambassadors network .
WE ARE HER is an Erasmus+ project, co-funded by the EU, which started in December 2023 and finishes in November 2025, with the following participating countries: Belgium, Greece, Turkey, Albania, Egypt and Lebanon. The aim of this two-year project, in line with EU policies, is to contribute to the empowerment of women, girls and young people to fully realize their rights and increase their participation in politics, economic and cultural life. The project seeks to address the structural causes of gender inequality and gender discrimination in different and diverse regions of the world. A total of 100 young people, 20 from each country, will participate in local networks as Ambassadors, and will be trained to design and implement activities in the city, taking a leadership role in local communities, especially in the field of gender, equality, women’s empowerment and inclusion.
