Women-writes in english literature

Academic writing[edit]

In academic writing, there are marked differences between them in syntax and structure between women's writing and men's writing.^{[citation needed]}

Children[edit]

In addition, the article "Gender Differences in EFL Writing" states that "research on gender differences in writing have mostly been conducted among children. Punter and Burchell’s study (1996) on the GCSE English language exam in the UK primary school discovered that girls scored better in imaginative, reflective, and empathetic writing while boys scored better in argumentative and factual writing",^{[citation needed]} which provides evidence for the stance that there is an ingrained difference in the writing of men and women, one that starts very early on in life. This, however, is not the case for everybody, as shown by Alice Sheldon's "The Girl Who Was Plugged In," which was believed to be written by a man based on the type of language used. Further evidence for the difference between written word of boys and girls is provided in Written Communication. Analysis of the assignments of eighth graders shows that the girls consistently scored higher on their assignments than the boys, even when the boys showed an increased or above average proclivity towards writing. The article even states that the writing behavior of girls are "more desirable" in the public school setting.^[15] The studies show that when all factors are the same, including learning behavior and attitude, girls are still more successful in writing classes.

Creative writing[edit]

These "more desirable" traits extend on into adulthood, as study in the use of creative or emotional language in adults shows the same results. Examination on the differences in description of color shows that women have greater "emotional" regards to it. Women generally use more descriptive language than men. Men used less, and are referred to be less "emotional" overall. There is no correlation between being emotional and age for men, but it is there for women. This supposed ingrained difference between men and women is supported further by the fact that there seems to be no difference in different countries/cultures. "Interestingly, such results have been reported across many cultures. Yang (2000) studied male and female Chinese speakers who were undergraduate English majors and found women possessed more color vocabulary (both in English and in Chinese), were more elaborate in the Chinese translations of the color words." While this may have something to do with the supposed superiority of women in identifying shades of color, it also shows that the language they use to describe it is more vivid and detailed with "emotionality," and this difference persists throughout races and cultures.^[17]