By Giorgia Caso
In the last decade, most best-sellers are written by female authors: Rebecca Yarros with Fourth Wing, Kristin Hannah with The Women, or even Frieda McFadden with The Teacher (according to the New York Times Best Sellers 2024). It does not matter what genre they belong to but across all of them there is a certain increment in women writers. But why are we talking about it on this particular day? Is it because it
shows a new achievement regarding gender equality? Or is it because of the milestone it represents since the dawn of literature which was dominated by men?
In recent years there has clearly been an increase in female successful writers but that does not mean gender equality is a solved problem. Six years ago, there was an article by The Guardian that announced that books written by women were sold for 45% less than those written by male authors.
Moreover, last year there was an article by iNews stating that female non-fiction writers are paid less, on average 16.6% less, and they’re told to avoid important subjects as they are reserved for male authors. Now that we are in 2024 this news is quite shocking. How can it be that even after the Second Wave of
Feminism there are still so many issues related to gender?
It is true though, that classic female writers are becoming more appreciated and valued, especially those like Jane Austen, Charlotte Brönte, Emily Brönte, or Mary Shelley. Even modern classic authors from the last century like Maya Angelou or Virginia Woolf are back in fashion and their works are studied again. According to Virginia Woolf in her famous essay, all a woman needs to write is “a room of one’s
own" - but is it enough nowadays?
At the same time, this increase is also a source of criticism of how women are stealing the thunder of young male authors who find it more difficult to get published. There is another article by The Guardian going back to 2021, which talks about women writers and how they are earning more literary prizes and awards. Young male writers are less likely to write in the first place as they are focused on other
interests and read less. It also touches many other subjects like social classes etc. These contrasting articles show how complex gender equality is and how far away we are from achieving it, even though some progress has been made in the last few years.
On the whole, International Women’s Day is not a celebration of feminism, at least that’s what I think. It is more a celebration of being a woman in this society which has often been judgemental and degrading towards women. Personally, I think it shouldn’t be just one day a year that we celebrate women but it should be normal to celebrate women every single day, as cliché as it may sound. I still think it is
important to remember how far we’ve come with gender equality and how far we are from a proper resolution. In the meantime, I leave you with this wonderful stanza from ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou…
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
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