Comments on: Gender Specific Freelance Writing Jobs: Apply or Avoid?

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:32:19 +0000

I don’t apply to gender-specific gigs. Honestly, if someone posted, “only white bloggers need apply” the outcry would be through the roof, don’t you think? So why do we accept that it’s okay for clients to demand a male or female? Yes, I understand about perspective, viewpoint, persona…but if you were applying for an in person job and found the employer discriminating based on gender, race, religion or sexual orientation, you’d have a court case. If I’m a woman and I can write clearly from a male perspective on a topic of interest to me, fine. If not, don’t hire me.

By: Terreece

Terreece — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:33:12 +0000

I agree people should avoid those gigs. If a gig was looking for a pregnant woman specifically, it’s with the understanding that readers what to read real world experience, not just theory or secondhand knowledge. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, it’s about targeting an audience.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:37:35 +0000

Good post and I agree. Sometimes you really need a gender-specific angle and there’s no way around it. As much as we may like to think that we’re versatile writers, writing from the perspective of a different gender is probably not in our repetoire. If it were, we’d all have a lot less arguments with the significant other!

By: Hazel

Hazel — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:39:07 +0000

I don’t shy away from ads looking for women, as long as it isn’t something like “Compliant Male ISO Understanding Female” to collaborate on a writing project!!

By: Damaria Senne

Damaria Senne — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:35:11 +0000

I’m currently working on a gig where i think a man’s perspective would really be helpful.

I realise that you don’t have to have killed someone to write about murder, or to be a man to be able to communicate the male perspective.

But if I was the site owner and looking for a writer, I would specify the male gender.

By: Erika K

Erika K — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:51:50 +0000

I currently do a gig that is for a site geared towards women. I imagine they could get some quality info from a man, but there are just “woman things” I’m able to expound upon (emotional stuff) that I know I guy just wouldn’t be able to do in the way they are after.

This site is meant to reach out to women, so a woman (in this case) will give that kind of voice. I think when clients ask for gender specific, they most likely have something pretty specific in mind that they need.

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:34:54 +0000

I often see interesting gigs that seem oriented toward a woman, but don’t mention a specific gender is required. As someone trying to break out of a male-dominated genre and tackle areas such as parenting, I’m interesting in successful pitch tactics.