Gender Doesn’t Matter for Good Stories
Is the main character male or female? In the book world, the assumption has long been that men prefer male protagonists — but a new study shows that this isn’t true. Men also enjoy reading books about women. Photo: Unsplash
Do men prefer stories about men? Publishers and older studies have long assumed exactly that. But a large new study has now overturned this belief.
When it comes to good stories, the gender of the characters doesn’t matter. What matters is how engaging and well‑told the story is. This holds true for both men and women.
Researchers at Cornell University recruited nearly 3,000 participants for their study: 1,490 men and 1,490 women. Each person read the beginning of two stories, one with a male main character and one with a female main character. The names were neutral (Sam, Alex); only the pronouns revealed the gender.
For half of the participants, the main character in the first story (about a hiking trip) was male. The second story (set in a café) featured a female protagonist. For the other half, the genders were reversed.
And the results may surprise publishers.
A Good Story Beats Gender
Most men in the study preferred the hiking story. It made almost no difference whether the protagonist was male or female. In fact, slightly more men (76 percent) chose the version with a female main character than the one with a male protagonist (75 percent).
Among women, the difference was a bit larger: 77 percent preferred the hiking story when Sam was a woman, and 70 percent when Sam was a man.
"Readers are pretty flexible. They want to keep reading if the story is interesting," says study author Matthew Wilkens of Cornell University.
Findings Could Lead to More Female Characters
Co‑author Federica Bologna hopes the study will lead to more books featuring female protagonists. The long‑held assumption in publishing that male main characters sell better has proven to be false.
This is also a signal to authors. For a very long time, most books were written by men and featured mostly male characters. It wasn’t until 2020 that women, for the first time, wrote half of all published books.
It’s quite possible that we’ll now see even more female protagonists in fiction. Because, as the Cornell study shows, gender is secondary. And: stories set in nature seem to resonate more than those set in a café. Hiking beats coffee drinking — at least when reading.
University Now Wants to Study Video Games
The researchers note that future studies should also examine whether the gender of the author influences what readers choose. A Goodreads analysis from 2014, cited in the study, found exactly that: 90 percent of books read by men were written by men, and 90 percent of books read by women were written by women.
The team also suggests looking at other media, for example, the gaming industry. There, too, the assumption is that men prefer male characters. Stories today are told across many formats, Wilkens says. "Storytelling is becoming more important in games as well. We don’t know whether our results translate directly to video games, but it’s important to question and study that."
The message of the Cornell study is clear: good stories work regardless of the protagonist’s gender. At least when it comes to reading. And likely also in games, films, series, and any other medium where stories are told.
Sources
Anthology of Computers and the Humanities: Causal Effect of Character Gender on Readers’ Preferences
Cornell University News: Readers just want good stories, regardless of character’s gender
Poetics: Gender and reading
Reddit: Does the main character's gender matter for you to read a book?
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