TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: This is interesting... From:Emily Berk <emily -at- armadillosoft -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Fri, 08 Jun 2007 00:25:42 -0700
It's good to know that you, David, consider women (or at least one woman) to be better (or at least as good) writers than (some) men.
SAT scores are all well and good. But I don't think that even the ETS claims to be testing for good writing. (Even with their newly added essay portion...)
However, I would guess that if we could identify the most highly successful writers (in sales or earnings), we would find that the majority of them are still men. Wanna play? (No cheating -- no Googling.) Feel free to mention JR Rowling in answer to ONE of the following categories, no more.
Name the first horror writer who comes to your mind.
Name the first writer of political/spy fiction who comes to your mind.
Name the first non-fiction book writer who comes to your mind.
Name the first non-fiction science writer who comes to your mind.
Name the first highly successful science fiction writer who comes to your mind.
Name the first Pulitzer-prize winning journalist who comes to your mind.
Name the first screenwriter who comes to your mind. (One who's won an Oscar would be good.)
Name the first blogger who comes to your mind. (No, Peggy Noonan is NOT a blogger...)
Name a category of writing (fiction or non), in which women seem to predominate -- is it magazines of the Ladies Home Journal variety? Do you consider this the epitome of good writing?
Name the first writer for Rolling Stone who comes to your mind.
Name the first writer for Esquire who comes to your mind.
Name the first writer for Time who comes to your mind.
Name the first writer for New Republic who comes to your mind.
-- Emily
On Thu, 7 Jun 2007 08:26:43 -0500, "David Neeley" <dbneeley -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
>Emily,
>
>I respectfully disagree that "...in our society, good writing is
>considered to be a masculine characteristic." (Notice, please, I am
>*not* yelling!)
>
>Not only is it widely observed that girls tend to score higher on
>verbal skills testing than boys (fortunately with the occasional
>exception!), but there are many counterexamples.
>
>One who stands out is Peggy Noonan, who writes for the Wall Street
>Journal Online these days and was a speech writer for Presidents
>Reagan and Bush 41. The quality of her writing is so outstanding that
>I make it a point to read her column each week simply to enjoy the
>writing even when I do not agree with her. See, for example, her
>current column: http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/
>
>However, I do suspect rather strongly that there is a perception that
>science, engineering, and other technical subjects are more often the
>province of males--although of course that somewhat flies in the face
>of rising female enrollments in many of our technical programs.
>
>I would be quite interested in reading about the algorithms used for
>the determination tool, however, to find out the extent of gender bias
>they may contain.
>
>Personally, I find good writing from many people without respect to
>gender or other more or less superficial differences.
>
>David
>
>From: Emily Berk <emily -at- armadillosoft -dot- com>
>
>"My theory (and please don't yell at me -- I'm not saying this is how
>things ought to be) is that writings by many of us professional writers
>are "better designed" and, in our society, good writing is considered
>to be a masculine characteristic." ...
Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
