the value of reading the opposite sex

odd title right?

I agree with your male professor who sometimes gets just a little sick of reading all male writers. But what it still strange (but maybe not) is that I relate to and am more affected by texts that are written by men, for whatever reason (the obvious one being that we are both men). What I enjoy about female authors is that, though I cannot relate to them as well or see myself in the author or characters shoes, I get as close to a female perspective as I can, which makes these texts more valuable for my personal enlightenment. Sometimes the train of thought is almost identical to how I would perceive and judge things, at other times it is completely different. I learn a lot more about what, how and why I think by reading along with a text composed by a female mind (if there is such a difference). And if there is such a difference I wonder how much of it is innate and how much is cultural and then i get myself dizzy because I really don't know. The other thing is I'm not even so sure that it is always a "gender thing" that accounts for the differences between how I would think and say something and how the female author does. It could just be that the author and I think about things in very different terms, with gender playing no role in it. Still, though, because I can relate to and follow texts by male authors much more often and easily than those by females, I feel that there must be something to it.

I can also relate to your teacher's secret writings, in a indirect way. I did not have to write really in secret, because my mom and dad always supported me in writing (my mom thinks i'm going to be a grisham or something). But I see the sort of stigma being a "man writing" has taken on. Since most of my English teachers were female (who were excellent), and now most of my English classmates being female (who are also brilliant), it becomes almost effeminate for a man to write, particularly in the perspective of men involved in business or (especially) labor. *Most* guys I know are more concerned with the disciplines of logic (math, computers, etc.), and think English is kind of sissy-ish or flowery (I'm sorry if this sounds like a stereotype, I have had many conversations that back this up when I've told guys my major), but still love to read male writers. I think it comes from the fact that it is not straigtforward and not directly related to a "normal" occupation (or maybe there's too much bad "Chicken Soup" out there, which is usually perceived as "women's reading," it is really just mostly garbage). Again, I'm not sure exactly why, and I know it's definitely not true of many men, but from my personal experience, writing and English has not been seen as a "man's thing." I'm sure other men have had different experiences though so I do not intend this as a generalized conclusion, merely what I have seen.