Susan Orlean’s Tempest in the Twitter Teapot

Author Susan Orlean accidentally ignited a Twitter war yesterday while pondering gender roles and writing on her Twitter feed: “It’s much harder for women writers to immerse themselves in subjects; our focus gets pulled off by home & kid stuff. Guys tune out.”

The Awl speculated: “Ruh roh. I think New Yorker writer Susan Orlean’s Twitter just exploded with lady hate-mail.” Jezebel produced a long, link-filled essay about the comments: “I can think of several successful female nonfiction writers who are married with kids — Anne Fadiman, for instance, and writer/musician Kristin Hersh, who Sicha points out is currently Twittering about watching squirrels. And not having kids — as Nina Shen Rostagi of Double X reminds us — is no perfect recipe for getting work done. Still, women in general and moms in particular get a lot more criticism for saying, ‘go away world, I’m working.’”

After a long day of Twitter debate, Orlean concluded: “I was planning on a quiet almost-Twitter-free day… well, whatever.” (Via Chasing Ray)

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