海角大神

We鈥檝e heard about gender bias in literature, wherein men have enjoyed disproportionate representation and recognition, both as reviewers and as reviewed.

But of course, there鈥檚 one field where women rule 鈥� children鈥檚 books. Right?

Wrong.

Audiences have long assumed that children鈥檚 books were the domain of women, a lone segment female authors could call their own in an industry often dominated by males. But new data released by literary organization VIDA show that though women authors do indeed outnumber men in the arena of children鈥檚 books, male authors continue to garner as much attention, awards, and accolades as their female counterparts.

In other words, men enjoy disproportionate representation and recognition even in one of the few segments women rule.

鈥淸I]t's true that being female is not nearly the barrier to initial publication for us that it often is in the adult literary landscape, but as this year's pie charts demonstrate, being male still seems to carry some particular advantages when it comes to recognition, prestige, and awards for literary merit,鈥� VIDA's Kekla Magoon writes in a blog post. She adds, 鈥淔or a relatively small percentage of our authors, men are very well represented among our award winners and list-mentions.鈥�

In order to consider gender parity/disparity, VIDA counted ten of the most prestigious awards in the industry going back five years, as well as seven of the most prestigious Best Books lists for 2013.

(The organization said it was unable to accurately count all children鈥檚 books titles published in the past year, and thereby tally all authors, male and female, for comparison鈥檚 sake.)

It found that most awards, like the Printz, National Book Award, and Schneider Family Book Award are at parity (though women did outnumber men for the Newbery).

Best Books of the Year stats fared similarly, with some booklists giving roughly proportional representation, while others, like Publisher鈥檚 Weekly and New York Times, choosing roughly equal amounts of male and female authors as Best Books 鈥� even though women vastly outnumber men in the industry.

(See exact counts at VIDA鈥檚 page.)

While at surface the results may not seem very dramatic, the impact is.

As FlavorWire鈥檚 Elisabeth Donnelly said, 鈥淸E]ven when men make up a tiny slice of the pie, the industry is paying more attention to their work than other authors.

鈥淭his could be a problem because聽awards mean attention; attention means booksellers, librarians, and parents know these books exist; these books get聽increased sales and prestige; and it gives authors a chance to have a career. It鈥檚 important to look at the gender disparities in the business and execution of children鈥檚 media, as these stories help shape聽how kids perceive the world.鈥�

As Donnelly pointed out, it鈥檚 about more than book sales, recognition, and writers鈥� careers 鈥� all of which are significant advantages men are currently enjoying in the field.

But perhaps the greatest impact is that the folks who write books ultimately mold our perception of the world, a phenomenon that is magnified for children whose world often revolves around the stories they read.