“Are Female Readers Harsher Toward Other Women? The Role of Gender in Literary Criticism” > Likes and Comments

There’s a phrase I often use:

“Every book acts as a mirror for its reader; but the most valuable reviewers are those who can become a mirror for the book.”

Lately, I’ve been wondering: Are female readers more critical—or even harsher—toward other women? When it comes to low ratings or brutally honest reviews, could gender dynamics play a role? I’ve even heard of women authors removing their profile photos or using blurred/neutral images as a way of protecting themselves.

When we evaluate a book, are we truly reading just the text?
Or do the author’s gender, ethnicity, or worldview—consciously or unconsciously—influence our judgment?

For example, the same criticism can be expressed in two different ways:

“The lack of scientific references is a major flaw.”

“Including the scientific sources the author relies on would greatly strengthen the reading experience.”

Both point to the same issue, yet one feels dismissive while the other feels constructive.

So what do you think?
Can readers truly separate the book from the author?
Or are both the author and the text inevitably filtered through our own internal reflections and biases?

I’m genuinely curious to hear your thoughts.

I hadn’t really thought about this before, but the question made me pause.

Honestly, I’m not even sure what kind of reviewer I am. I write the way a book guides me while I’m reading it. So far I’ve mostly given high ratings, because if something doesn’t resonate with me at that moment, I simply don’t review it.

When we read, we bring our own experiences and expectations with us, and it’s hard to leave them at the door.

The same sentence can deeply move one person and mean very little to another — and that’s perfectly okay.

I’m not sure it’s possible to completely separate the book from the author. Maybe what matters more is noticing what comes from the text and what comes from within us.

And the way we express critique makes a difference — the same observation can shut down a conversation or open one.

I like discussions like this because they remind me that reading isn’t passive; it’s a personal relationship each of us builds in our own way.

Mehmet said, "Lately, I’ve been wondering: Are female readers more critical—or even harsher—toward other women? When it comes to low ratings or brutally honest reviews, could gender dynamics play a role? I’ve even heard of women authors removing their profile photos or using blurred/neutral images as a way of protecting themselves."

(So, I'm stirring the pot here, making things more complicated?)
It seems to me that there is more than one answer here, as you have introduced a bit of a conundrum:
1). when asking if "female" readers are harsher on criticizing others of the same gender, how is female or gender being defined? Are you including trans-fem?
(I'm not, btw, just curious who all is included under your label of who is criticizing who?)

Are others, who may fall somewhere else on this elusive sliding scale of gender and "female" included in your survey?

And: 2). over the years (as I'm sure you know) there have been many women writers who have chosen to use either their initials or a male-sounding pen name to camouflage their identity because there has been bias from publishers and from the public as to the value of a book penned by a perceived "male" writer vs a "female" writer, with the male writers given a higher "value". Maybe that's changing?
Witness: George Sands and JK Rowling, among many others, who thought their books would get more readily accepted by publishers and the public if the author appeared to be male, or at least ambiguous.

So this doesn't exactly answer your question because the question is a bit flawed, until you define "female".

Not that I'm criticizing or anything, lol.

That said, it's an interesting question you posed; sorry I have no answer, just more questions.

One more thing...
Yes, I do think that authors and texts get filtered through our own biases. How could they not?
All one has to do is read the reviews, where people reading the same book give wildly divergent ratings. I find this fascinating.

Shite, there are still books being banned and burned in this country (USA) because of personal prejudices, which
astounds me!

(sorry, I kinda co-opted your thread here...)

Choyang wrote: '' (So, I'm stirring the pot here, making things more complicated?)..... ''


Hi Choyang,

Please feel completely at ease — the last thing I would ever want is to limit anyone’s thoughts. The perspective you’ve brought into this discussion is truly meaningful.

Let’s see what kind of responses will emerge after my initial question, Claire’s input, and your widening of the lens to a much broader frame. I’m genuinely curious to see where this goes.

Best,
Mehmet

Thanks Mehmet, I'm a very curious person so it will be interesting to see more input on these subjects.

This isn't something I've considered. Looking through my bookshelves, I admit my author list is predominantly female. I think that's just a taste thing, not to say men can't write the genres I prefer.
Women judge women, regardless if it's in a literary capacity or what you wear to work. They can be nasty...but also incredibly supportive. Like any situation, people are people, and gender doesn't necessarily have as large of an impact as some may think. Just my 2 cents 😁

Hi everyone,
I find this discussion fascinating because it touches on something deeper than just gender — it’s about perception and bias in general.
I’m not sure it’s only about women being harsher toward women. I think readers, regardless of gender, often project their own expectations, experiences, and insecurities onto what they read. Sometimes we’re not reacting to the text itself, but to what it represents to us.
As for separating the book from the author — I think it’s difficult. Even when we try to focus purely on the text, context inevitably shapes interpretation.
Maybe the real question isn’t whether women are harsher, but whether we are aware of our own filters when we critique.
Just my thoughts.

Vasyl wrote: "Hi everyone,
I find this discussion fascinating because it touches on something deeper than just gender — it’s about perception and bias in general.
I’m not sure it’s only about women being harsher..."

Hi everyone :)

The words of this wise man resonate with me, what about you??

"Men are by nature merely indifferent to one another; but women are by nature enemies".

-Arthur Schopenhauer

But human nature is full of contradictions, and whilst girls make the meanest bullies in high school, they also grow into self-sacrificing part of humanity, do they not..? As another great man attests:

“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?"
- Mahathma Ghandi

Gender fluidity... if you feel that most of your "life energy" is female, then womanly characteristics would probably apply to you, and vice versa if you feel predominantly male.

As for whether woman is the harshest literary critic or not, its probably to do with emotional reaction. If a woman reads a book that feels " emotionally good, AND emotionally correct", she is likely to give a great review bypassing any "annoying details" such as "not enough scientific evidence". But if your book had happened to hurt her emotions/was not emotionally intelligent, the review will not be a kind one, whatever are its other attributes.

:)

Jasmine

I agree with you Jasmine. I feel like with even myself my emotions will come out in my review. Although I do make it a point to be respectful in my reviews because one as women we should stand together and not forcefully bring each other down with hateful words or actions. Two I may not like the book or the writing style...but I couldn't do it so I'm not going to dump on a person who got out there and did it.

Yes I agree that we as women are much more critical especially towards each other.

Choyang wrote: "Mehmet said, "Lately, I’ve been wondering: Are female readers more critical—or even harsher—toward other women? When it comes to low ratings or brutally honest reviews, could gender dynamics play a..."

I totally agree with you Choyang. We need to first define what you mean by 'female' because not all heterosexual so called females feel or act in the same way as defined stereotypically by society.

And as you rightly said Choyang, trans-women would also fall into this category & many (I can add from the Indian perspective) transgender, transsexual & even many intersex people that I know also personally & who are my best friends & even many drag queens could vaguely fall into this category from India - because they just feel comfortable there rather than be defined as the third gender in my country. Because they identify primarily as female & their sexual orientation is still towards or being attracted towards males alone.

We have Third Gender categorization, most intersex & trans people & many gays & lesbians opt for that gender - but some just would rather prefer being identified as female - & it is their personal choice. So - we need to first define what you mean by 'female' before this topic can proceed - I agree totally with the LGBTQIA+ perspective of Choyang & support it.

Let us not forget that in India, our Third Gender LGBTQIA+ friends have lost their rights as a Third Gender totally recently on paper & they are fighting for it & much more. And such social issue fiction writers like me with them. Especially our Kinnar community which I also do a lot of social work for since the year 2012. So...they would then after losing that gender 'typification' on paper would next opt for 'female' - so are you including them too in this discussion. Because then the whole conversation changes or shifts to 'what do you mean by female'?

Do you mean cisgendered females? A generalization of the word 'female' coming from antiquity? Heterosexual females which would only involve sexual orientation but not exactly gender identification? Are you talking in a generalization context about women & not considering hard-core feminists who refute these generalizations etc.

So as Choyang said rightly - yes, we need to first define - what do you mean by the term 'female' first.

Because otherwise I personally can give you many examples of heterosexual males & who identify as the gender male & who act equally 'critical & harsh' or mean as your 'females'; if not more than their female counterparts! You see, you only see the reviews of my books here on GR & Amazon from international authors, you've not seen the reviews in my national magazines & journals & newspapers from my many male counterparts (for my books & shorts like 'Caste Metal', 'My Sweet Lord', 'Until Death Do Us Unite' & my multiple award winning LGBTQIA+ book 'The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name' & my multiple-award winning & critically acclaimed memoir 'Scenes of a Reclusive Writer & Reader of Mumbai') - these very male author or review colleagues of mine in their reviews have:
1. Decided to rape me or gang rape me to shut me up would be the best option to stop me from writing my 'garbage'.
2. They give death threats to me on a daily basis - one came in through the mail just a minute ago! So charming, the gentleman even signed his name in his own blood!
3. They threaten to beat me (in the book reviews) & then they actually do so! But I get up after my beating, bandage the wounds at Baba Hospital or KEM Hospital & continue with my social work & social issue fiction writing. These will be Roman Catholic males only by the by - priests & their Catholic goons - also male only. Men in petticoats. Let us not forget that I am a Roman Catholic nun & practicing Theologian by the way - Benedictine - the highest religious congregation for Roman Catholics & in the Vatican.
4. In their reviews these 'males' denounce me, call me a witch, call me a female dog, call me a female dog on heat, call me of 'unclean blood' (my father was Islamic), call my mother a whore, call me a whore (I am a virgin by the way but I do see their point - there are many virgins who are whores too - but then the nest question then becomes is 'how do you define a whore!?!'), they call me a circumcised whore (I am not! I am alluding to the former! It is the 'dad' angle! My poor deceased Dad!), call my cat Lopez a whore (!!! - she is sexually emancipated maybe!?), say that only something done to Cacchar's female family members (refer to 'Caste Metal' for more information) should be done to me to keep all my orifices shut up for good........etc.....& all these are only male book reviewers. Catholics. Educated men. Many are priests. They say Mass everyday. They distribute Communion everyday. They then become Bishops.....then Cardinals....

Harsh or brutal enough for you?! I got a bump on my head last month itself while travelling in an Uber taxi - it was by a male book reviewer - from his baseball bat. He bought it specially from Amazon just for that purpose - he informed me while bashing my head after which he took off. It hurts. It is a BIG bump. I was 'bumped' apparently because I won a national journalism award by the Roman Catholic Church in the year 2024 especially for my book 'The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name: Short Stories' (basically pro-LGBTQIA+ book) in the year 2024 & my being promoted to the position of veteran Catholic Journalist extraordinaire at the age of 34 only (then!) & being a stellar Catholic investigative journalist since age 18 etc, etc, etc. Late reaction, don't you think!? My attacker was Roman Catholic too, but not a priest. Just a very devout Catholic & male.

Well, I prefer the females then. No female book reviewer has ever bashed my head or beaten me up at least in these parts. Only the males do it. :) :D

Thanks Choyang for putting forward this perspective. Pathan salute & nun's blessings to you today! :) :D <3

Fascinating topic, and great commentary.

Truly, I don't think that it has ever crossed my mind to take note of the gender of an author. Same with race and origin. I wonder if I should start doing so. Maybe it will enrich the reading experience.

Thanks Fiza, for your wonderfully insightful comment!

Fiza wrote: "Choyang wrote: "Mehmet said, "Lately, I’ve been wondering: Are female readers more critical—or even harsher—toward other women? When it comes to low ratings or brutally honest reviews, could gender..."

I would file a complaint with Uber.

Thomas wrote: "Fiza wrote: "Choyang wrote: "Mehmet said, "Lately, I’ve been wondering: Are female readers more critical—or even harsher—toward other women? When it comes to low ratings or brutally honest reviews,..."

zing!

Personally, I never judge a book by its author, gender or creed, but I am sure that there are some out there who do, and, yes, I believe that women can be harsh critics of their own sex at times.

I agree with Jasmine in the sense that women's reviews are often influenced by the way they resonate with a book on an emotional level, whether it be in a positive sense or that there is something which they might find triggering that can cloud their view.

Thomas wrote: "Fiza wrote: "Choyang wrote: "Mehmet said, "Lately, I’ve been wondering: Are female readers more critical—or even harsher—toward other women? When it comes to low ratings or brutally honest reviews,..."

Roman Catholics, Muslims & other minorities in India & their complaints are not payed attention to by the majority community in India. India is a Right-Wing state right now. The Police officially do not take the complaints of Minority community members of India. You all keep on forgetting that this is India, not the USA. There is a fundamentalist & totalitarian form of political behavior in the country where even getting lynched on the street or gang raped on the street does not call for alarm, let alone a police compliant. Lower Castes, Minority community members, so called dissidents get lynched, gang raped, murdered, kidnapped, run over in accidents, bombed etc., all the time here.

Remember to be sensitive to different conditions of different countries. That is the rule of this GR Group. The USA is NOT India.

Well.....not yet.

But I have heard from the international press that you in the USA also do not mind killing, lynching, gang raping & then disposing, immolating, gunning down, crucifying, disgracing, tormenting etc., Black Americans, American LGBTQIA+ personalities, Latin American Citizens, Asians, Africans, People who are not White, non-Christians, immigrants, migrants, communists - & if nothing else random people & kids in schools etc. And nothing is done.

So we are not so different after all.

Try being sensitized to foreign conditions for once Americans, especially to the conditions in Third World Countries. There it is a dog eat dog world. You have to live here & be a minority member to see it in action. We 'the others' cannot talk about things openly, then the police read our online messages & put us in jail & then 'throw away the key' & we never come out. The police openly abuse & disregard minority community members & 'the others' like Kinnars, Tribals etc., in this country. Get educated. Get sensitized. Don't make fun of our condition, lest your own God teach it to you through 'practical instruction.'

Yes, I get beaten often because I support Catholic LGBTQIA+ individuals & their rights, & because I fight for justice for the sexual abuse victims of the Catholic Clergy & Religious like children, women, other religious, LGBTQIA+ individuals, seminarians, special needs individuals = & now to the list have been added animals - yes, Catholic priests don't even leave animals not only in India but even world over. And I fight for justice for these voiceless victims & get beaten brutally for the same. And I DO give them justice & get the guilty defrocked by Rome with my Data & proof of their villainy. No one should use their authority & power to subdue innocent people.

Yes I get beaten, because I support the rights of women & female Catholic religious to become Catholic Theologians in India - where currently it is banned. I get beaten because I fight for justice for sexually abused Catholic Nuns by men of the cloth & the children arising from the same. I make the priestly fathers aware of their responsibilities & that it is easier to preach to a whole Cathedral full of fathers about fatherhood than to ACTUALLY be a father & actually having to earn one's own living while doing so.

Yes I get beaten - time & again - because I work for the LGBTQIA+ Catholic community not only of India but the world - & because I support their choices wholeheartedly & because I am TOTALLY PRO-LGBTQIA+ & I as a accomplished Catholic Theologian can & keep on proving that even the Catholic Church in their own Theology believes in the same in my speeches, talks, sermons etc. And that is so ironic! And so pathetically sad. AND mind you - I am NOT an LGBTQIA+ personality, I am heterosexual & identify as a cis-gender woman.

Then you will say - why do I support the LGBTQIA+ community?
Do you have to be a women by gender or sex to support women's rights? No right. Most of you here today are male & yet you support women's rights. Because it is the right & just thing to do. Similarly, to support the LGBTQIA+ cause is the right & just thing to do. That is all.

Yes I GET BEATEN. Brutally with my Dalit brethren when we have meetings, talks, peaceful gatherings to discuss Dalit literature etc. Why? Because the people of India believe that there is nothing wrong about the Caste System & that there is nothing to change about it. It is Divinely ordained. And I get more of a beating - because, again - they feel that after myself being a chaste upper caste Brahmin, I should be more than just ashamed of myself for supporting lower castes. So they beat me more brutally, & then walk away as if nothing ever happened.

Yes I am beaten. I am not ashamed to say it. Are you ashamed to hear it?!

'I always preach the Gospel, sometimes I use words.' (attributed to St. Francis of Assisi)

- Fiza Pathan :) :D

Dear Members,

I have been closely following the direction this discussion has taken. First of all, I want to thank Fiza for sharing these shocking and courageous experiences. She reminded us, in a very stark way, that in some parts of the world, writing is not just a hobby but also an act of physical bravery. We have all grown up in different geographies and cultures. What is ordinary and natural for some of us may carry much deeper meanings for others.

The mental exercises we engage in on this platform, under various discussion topics, are intended to help us see each other’s different perspectives and develop a more inclusive outlook. In this context, I would like to thank once again all the members who have participated in this discussion.

Best
Mehmet

Mehmet wrote: "Dear Members,

I have been closely following the direction this discussion has taken. First of all, I want to thank Fiza for sharing these shocking and courageous experiences. She reminded us, in a..."

Hi Mehmet :)

Truly , its fascinating how the chats often progress from the very first post to the last one- in an unpredictable manner..!

A testament to us all living in different cultures and geographies, as you say- and yet our core essence as the writers, is the same- we don't mind putting in thousands of hours of unpaid work, as long as we are all trying to build a better world :)

Jasmine

Dr. wrote: "Mehmet wrote: "Dear Members,

I have been closely following the direction this discussion has taken. First of all, I want to thank Fiza for sharing these shocking and courageous experiences. She re..."

True Dr. Jasmine! There is a Cognitive Psychological Experience, then a Sociological Experience from a Emile Durkheim point of view, then an EQ view according to the writings of Daniel Goleman then there is the LGBTQIA+ view, then a Liberation Theology view - various perspectives - one reality. Incredible!

I've noticed that my readers primarily are male or at least identify as male. I don't know what that is supposed to mean - maybe I get along better with males even though most of them (in my offline world) don't really appreciate me. But I have noticed even there, we somehow get magnetically attracted to each other for good, worse or worst! (not romantically, just - we understand each other) I rarely attract female readers, literary critics, reviewers - very rarely. I have PLENTY of LGBTQIA+ friends & reviewers & one of my best friends is a transgender individual (she accepts the pronoun 'she/her') whom I met in the year 2014. But - most of my other friends are only male or identify as male. No females since 2011, just two college female friends - distant because they are in their own romantic relationships.

Are women or females harsher as book reviewers in their reviews to & for me - if you generalize them & NOT look at the LGBTQIA+ perspective or the Feminist Perspective - no. In my case the males are worse. Deadly. Violent. Brutal. Unforgiving. Blood-Thirsty.

Females or those who identify as female, including trans-women from Choyang's perspective are actually great supporters & allies for me. When the men attack me in reviews in magazines, females usually come out to defend me & my thoughts & books & articles. Some at first judge me, but 'when I make them see sense' through my writings again only or my speeches, I disturb their thought processes & then manage to convince them effectively that my perspective may not be right, but it is valid enough to be taken seriously.

So in my case, I guess they are allies. Protectors. They want change. They don't like their lives, so they like my short stories, my books & my journalistic articles. Though the men review, the women are the ones who support. When the time comes to the crunch with me, the males back out totally or start trying to manipulate me into thinking otherwise. If not, they try seduction & romance which is stupid because I am as romantically & sexually inclined as an iceberg since toddlerhood. Then they start the violence & swearing words & threats.

Nuns too judge, even try to hurt me. But then when I 'open their eyes too with my words' they too 'wake up' & then become my staunchest followers & supporters, more than secular females or even the LGBTQIA+ sisters I know & who read & review my work.

More thoughts on this GR Group members. :) :D