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Even in the 21st century, women writers are often consigned to what American novelist Meg Wolitzer has called \u201cthe second shelf<\/a>.\u201d Women\u2019s novels are designed and marketed with a female audience in mind and publishers still presume that novels about women won\u2019t appeal to male readers. Unfortunately, even in 2021 there may be\u00a0some truth to this presumption<\/a>.<\/p>\n This sexism can be seen in the continued speculation that female-identifying novelist Elena Ferrante is\u00a0actually a man<\/a>.\u00a0Vanity Fair<\/em>\u00a0contributing editor and book columnist Elissa Schappell summarized the assumptions behind the speculation: the novelist\u2019s prolific output of\u00a0\u201cserious\u201d books that interweave history, politics, violence, sex and domestic life, while \u201cunflinchingly showing<\/a>\u00a0women in an unflattering light.\u201d<\/p>\n Books by female-identifying authors are also less likely to be reviewed in prestigious literary magazines.\u00a0In 2019<\/a>, more than 60 per cent of reviews in magazines including\u00a0London Review of Books<\/em>,\u00a0The Atlantic<\/em>, and\u00a0Harper\u2019s<\/em>, were of books written by men. This is actually an improvement\u00a0since 2010<\/a>, when between 69 per cent and 80 per cent of reviews in these magazines were of male-authored books.<\/p>\n The popular #readwomen hashtag\u00a0on Twitter<\/a> has been one response to the marginalization of women authors or sexism about their work. The social network website Goodreads can also provide insight into what women are reading.<\/p>\n Happy International Women\u2019s Day!#ReadWomen<\/a>#IWD2020<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/yWtKvPtEBM<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ukamaka Olisakwe; Or, Ngalakwesili (@MsOlisakwe) March 8, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n