--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A book is not an example of 'women's…" description: "\"A book is not an example of 'women's writing' simply because it is written by a woman. Writing may become 'women's writing' when it could not have been..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/rachel-cusk-3482_because_a-book-is-not-an-example-of-women-s-writ_743346.png" --- # A book is not an example of 'women's writing' simply… ![“A book is not an example of 'women's writing' simply because it is written by a woman. Writing may become 'women's writing' when it could not have been written by a man.” quote by Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/rachel-cusk-3482_because_a-book-is-not-an-example-of-women-s-writ_743346.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/rachel-cusk-3482_because_a-book-is-not-an-example-of-women-s-writ_743346.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/rachel-cusk-3482_because_a-book-is-not-an-example-of-women-s-writ_743346.png) > “A book is not an example of 'women's writing' simply because it is written by a woman. Writing may become 'women's writing' when it could not have been written by a man.” [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literary value isn’t defined by gender; true distinction arises when a work could not be authored by the opposite gender. **In simple terms:** Literature transcends gender labels. Key Takeaway Recognize unique perspectives beyond gender. Themes gender literature authorship Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - book clubs - academic courses - writing workshops Key Concepts Feminist theory identity politics Questions to Reflect On - How does gender influence perception of work? - Can a text be genderless? A Different Perspective Risk of essentialist thinking about gender. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man/) [Romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romance/) [Woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woman/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [There are more and more women writing. And there are more and more good male writers who are writing and who learned and decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-o-hara/there-are-more-and-more-women-writing-and-there-are-more-and-more/) [Catherine O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-o-hara/) > [I'm not writing about things other women do. I'm writing for other women to have more self-confidence because I need it myself! And if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-sandberg/i-m-not-writing-about-things-other-women-do-i-m-writing-for-other/) [Sheryl Sandberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-sandberg/) > [It seems to me that 'women's writing' by nature would not seek equivalence in the male world. It would be a writing that sought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/it-seems-to-me-that-women-s-writing-by-nature-would-not-seek/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [“...But what is it all about, what am I trying to do, is there a message? Nobody knows, and I certainly don't. If one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/but-what-is-it-all-about-what-am-i-trying-to-do-is-there-a-message/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [I loved writing something I'd never written before, and I wanted to write not just about "true love" but also a human relationship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodora-goss/i-loved-writing-something-i-d-never-written-before-and-i-wanted-to/) [Theodora Goss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodora-goss/) > [“All my best writing was written before 1982, and then a significant event happened to me: I was born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/all-my-best-writing-was-written-before-1982-and-then-a-significant/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [The most important thing in writing is to have written. I can always fix a bad page. I can't fix a blank one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/the-most-important-thing-in-writing-is-to-have-written-i-can-always/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [I should say that I'm not conscious of any particular style or any particular literary device when I am writing. I have written 22…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/i-should-say-that-i-m-not-conscious-of-any-particular-style-or-any/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [“As a woman writing SF, I felt I had to think and write like a man in order to be taken seriously.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-ruby-miller/as-a-woman-writing-sf-i-felt-i-had-to-think-and-write-like-a-man-in/) Heidi Ruby Miller > [I was a woman writing at the early moment when small drops of worried resentment and noble rage were secretly, slowly building into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-was-a-woman-writing-at-the-early-moment-when-small-drops-of-worried/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [“I write about the emotional crises that we face in our lives. Readers tell me that they identify with my characters. They know them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-delinsky/i-write-about-the-emotional-crises-that-we-face-in-our-lives-readers/) [Barbara Delinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-delinsky/) > [“...a woman writing thinks back through her mothers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/a-woman-writing-thinks-back-through-her-mothers/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“The one thing a writer has to have is a pencil and some paper. That's enough, so long as she knows that she and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-one-thing-a-writer-has-to-have-is-a-pencil-and-some-paper-that-s/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [When you reduce a woman to writing, she makes you think of a thousand other women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-you-reduce-a-woman-to-writing-she-makes-you-think-of-a-thousand/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“The young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-young-man-or-woman-writing-today-has-forgotten-the-problems-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Rachel Cusk > [A creative writing workshop will contain students whose ambitions and abilities, whose conceptions of literature itself, are so diverse that what they have in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-creative-writing-workshop-will-contain-students-whose-ambitions-and/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [“If a man had a nasty side to his character, she wanted to get to it immediately and confront it. She didn’t want it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/if-a-man-had-a-nasty-side-to-his-character-she-wanted-to-get-to-it/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [If I know somebody is coming 'round, it is incredibly difficult for me to work because I'm waiting for this interruption - even the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/if-i-know-somebody-is-coming-round-it-is-incredibly-difficult-for-me/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [I felt that I could swim for miles, out into the ocean: a desire for freedom, an impulse to move, tugged at me as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/i-felt-that-i-could-swim-for-miles-out-into-the-ocean-a-desire-for/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [The creativity of childhood was often surrendered amid feelings of unworthiness. So the idea that others are demanding to be given it back -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/the-creativity-of-childhood-was-often-surrendered-amid-feelings-of/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [A neighbor is something that belongs to the stable world of home life, the thing that lives next door to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-neighbor-is-something-that-belongs-to-the-stable-world-of-home-life/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [Help is dangerous because it exists outside the human economy: the only payment for help is gratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/help-is-dangerous-because-it-exists-outside-the-human-economy-the/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [A feminist man is a bit like a vegetarian: it's the humanitarian principle he's defending, I suppose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-feminist-man-is-a-bit-like-a-vegetarian-it-s-the-humanitarian/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [Feminism remains something that needs to be explained to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/feminism-remains-something-that-needs-to-be-explained-to-people/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [“At the time, he had got rid of her so efficiently and so suavely that she had felt almost reassured even as she was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/at-the-time-he-had-got-rid-of-her-so-efficiently-and-so-suavely-that/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [“From the distance of England the Italian cuisine seems to be all things to all people. It does not expect you to bend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/from-the-distance-of-england-the-italian-cuisine-seems-to-be-all/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [You could time a suburban story by your watch: it lasts as long as it takes a small furry animal that's lonely to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/you-could-time-a-suburban-story-by-your-watch-it-lasts-as-long-as-it/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [It is expected that a children's story will raise a difficulty and then resolve it: increasingly, this resolution is so prompt and so resounding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/it-is-expected-that-a-children-s-story-will-raise-a-difficulty-and/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [Human beings have a need, generally, to destroy things. The Freudian principle of civilisation is correct. There's always, always a difference between the family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/human-beings-have-a-need-generally-to-destroy-things-the-freudian/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [I don't think I knew that you could be a novelist. I think a lot of my students are in the same condition. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/i-don-t-think-i-knew-that-you-could-be-a-novelist-i-think-a-lot-of-my/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) [Explore all 128 Rachel Cusk quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) ## More Because quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [I gave my archive to Emory University because there's a really dear friend who teaches there, Rudolph Byrd, and he's the editor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-gave-my-archive-to-emory-university-because-there-s-a-really-dear/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. Hollywood loves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-s-goyer/i-love-casting-against-type-and-doing-things-you-wouldn-t-expect/) [David S. Goyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-s-goyer/) > [There were songs that we cut out after we chose the name, because 'Praise Break' turned out to be an underlying concept that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-caesar/there-were-songs-that-we-cut-out-after-we-chose-the-name-because/) [Daniel Caesar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-caesar/) > [It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. I like to bang the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/it-took-me-20-years-to-buy-an-electric-typewriter-because-i-was/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [I was also known as Frodo because I was an early adopter of 'The Lord of the Rings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/i-was-also-known-as-frodo-because-i-was-an-early-adopter-of-the-lord/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [I believe in taxation and health care that is outside the usual libertarian mandate, because I don't want people to have to suffer. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-peart/i-believe-in-taxation-and-health-care-that-is-outside-the-usual/) [Neil Peart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-peart/) > [It's like saying French shouldn't be taught because you don't understand it because it's new. Shakespeare is just like learning a new, exciting language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-barnett/it-s-like-saying-french-shouldn-t-be-taught-because-you-don-t/) [Samuel Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-barnett/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-ripken-jr/whether-it-was-little-league-or-playing-with-your-brothers-or-sisters/) [Cal Ripken, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-ripken-jr/) > [Sometimes, when full and in fear that I will continue to eat unwanted food just because it's staring at me, I will place my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-nichols/sometimes-when-full-and-in-fear-that-i-will-continue-to-eat-unwanted/) [Rachel Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-nichols/) > [I didn't want to do 'Fashion Police' because I thought, 'This is stupid, this is beneath me, who wants to talk about fashion?' It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/i-didn-t-want-to-do-fashion-police-because-i-thought-this-is-stupid/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [I was contacted by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, MP, through the Pune Film Institute and offered the post in the NFDC. I accepted it for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suresh-gopi/i-was-contacted-by-rajyavardhan-singh-rathore-mp-through-the-pune/) [Suresh Gopi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suresh-gopi/) > [I have always been a big meta guy because I think the way journalism is practiced in Washington, and the way everyone sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leibovich/i-have-always-been-a-big-meta-guy-because-i-think-the-way-journalism/) [Mark Leibovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leibovich/) > [There are a lot of kids out there copying and distributing movies - not because they care about seeing the movies or sharing them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-perry-barlow/there-are-a-lot-of-kids-out-there-copying-and-distributing-movies-not/) [John Perry Barlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-perry-barlow/) Browse all 15,485 Because quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A book is not an example of 'women's writing' simply because it is written by a woman. Writing may become 'women's writing' when it could not have been written by a man.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rachel Cusk" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-book-is-not-an-example-of-women-s-writing-simply-because-it-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Because" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-book-is-not-an-example-of-women-s-writing-simply-because-it-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/rachel-cusk-3482_because_a-book-is-not-an-example-of-women-s-writ_743346.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/rachel-cusk-3482_because_a-book-is-not-an-example-of-women-s-writ_743346.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/rachel-cusk-3482_because_a-book-is-not-an-example-of-women-s-writ_743346.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A book is not an example of 'women's writing' simply because it is written by a woman. Writing may become…” — Rachel Cusk", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Rachel Cusk", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A book is not an example...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-book-is-not-an-example-of-women-s-writing-simply-because-it-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-book-is-not-an-example-of-women-s-writing-simply-because-it-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```