I'm getting ready to do a series of articles for a new website .. for women. The content is more about perceptions and psychology than "how-to's". So I'm wondering if women would rather read something that has been written by men .. or written by women .. or does it matter? Please give your reasons.
I don't think it matters, as long as you don't go out of the way to bring attention to it. I mean, if you were talking about something like an advice column, I'd probably prefer a woman who's been in similar situations. If you were talking about women's health issues, their sex wouldn't matter in the slightest as long as they were a qualified medical professional. If you're having an actual psychologist write for you, their sex shouldn't matter. If you're looking for Joe Schmo writers with no qualifications to analyze, your best bet may be to go with more than one - someone of each sex. Maybe even have them give their different perspectives on the same issues - debates are good for traffic and discussion-building anyway.
As long as the man/woman knows what he/she is writing about, then I don't see a problem. But as jhmattern said: if it's about personal experiences than a woman would seem more suited in my humble opinion
I don't think it matters. As long as the articles are interesting, who cares whether the writer is a man or woman.
Doesn't matter for me as long the article been well written by the copywriter. I believe writer is the most skillful person who can write good in any topic so gender doesn't matter much.
I think NATURALLY, women are going to be better at writing to women. However, that doesn't mean men can't go through and understand how to get in a woman's brain via books like "The Female Brain" by Louann Brizendine.
I would agree cosminx if he were asking in a completely generic sense of one sex being better than the other. But that's not the case - he's asking about a specific type of writing for a specific gender-based audience, and whether hiring a male or female writer might make a difference. That's a very valid question.
I would always be interested in reading something that women wrote. But it would also be nice to read something from a man's point of view. Regardless, as long as it is entertaining and informative, I don't think it matters.
It dont matter, aslong as the writer is familiar with the content, both genders will provide sufficient work.
Thanks ever so much for your enlightened response. And the issue is complicated by the fact that .. at least I think .. I can write several of the articles myself. However, I doubt very seriously if my narration can pass the gender test of a discerning reader. Mostly, I'm concerned about believability, trust, etc. If someone cannot see the value of believability of content on a web site .. well ... $2 per 500 words springs to mind. Expanding a bit on this concept, how overtly do you like to see the writer's gender expressed? And is there a "you just lost my attention, trust, etc .." risk if the author does not at least hint at his gender early on in the article.
what matters is really the content of it. although most of us writes "he" when it come to the anonymous character in an article.
I think if it mattered, there would be no male gynecologists. It's the only analogy I can think of--it's about the knowledge and bedside manner (i.e. voice) of the writer, not about the gender.
I'd say there's a difference between a women's anatomy (which anyone can learn) and the psychological side of things. Sure, a shrink can look at things from a textbook kind of sense, and for a strictly professional piece, a male would be fine. But I wouldn't want to read a lifestyle piece targeting the women's perspective from a male 99% of the time.