Does anyone know or what would your best guess be when it comes to the ratio of male/female readers of Sci-Fi/Fantasy? I would think fantasy appeals to more women whereas sci-fi appeals to more guys. I ask because my brother who is out of the nerd loop due to raising teen girls was telling me about an article about N.K. Jemison he read that was hyping her as the biggest name in sci-fi today and he was surprised since he felt she just peddles the usual left wing nonsense in entertainment. I then told him about the sad puppies movement and to avoid modern sci-fi and fantasy like the plague.
I am a huge reader and there are a lot of women who read heavily but like everything certain genres appeal to men more than women and vice versa.
I always use literature as an example of women taking over when they’re ACTUALLY more interested than men are. Women just read more novels. If they were more interested in gaming, they’d have taken over that business long ago, but instead we get stories of “toxic gamers” driving women out. But the reality is that men just play more games. I believe women have taken over almost all literature except sci-fi, which is why this genre is still considered “toxic”.
That’s what I have realized as well. I’m a heavy reader thanks to my mother insisting we read a lot when I was a kid but I would agree that the majority of heavy readers are women. Also as a Star Wars EU fan I remember quite a few women in those late 90s early 00s fan forums. Sci-Fi is generally male and stuff like Tom Clancy novels.
Many of the writers who I’d say appeal more to men, like Tom Clancy, have now passed away sadly, Wilbur Smith being a recent one. One of my favorites was James Clavell who I definitely think would be considered “problematic” today.
What has he written? I’ll check him out
Shogun is Clavell’s most famous novel, but I think my favorites are Tai-Pan and Noble House.