Is Copywriting a Masculine Skill?

An inter­est­ing thread appeared on my copy­writ­ers forum. A mem­ber asked who, be it men or women, are bet­ter at writ­ing copy for cer­tain prod­ucts than others.

Albeit a lit­tle close-​​minded in my esti­ma­tion, the ques­tion seemed like a legit­i­mate one and with­out any ill-​​intent. So I wel­comed it. But while the thread started out grace­fully and on-​​topic, it quickly took a few turns.

The dis­cus­sion turned out to be none­thet­less quite enlightening.

For exam­ple, one tan­gent went into the role of women in copy­writ­ing, as copy has been long touted as “the boys club.” This is where one proud board mem­ber offered some great nuggets that I wanted to share with you.

She’s “Power Writer” Susanna K. Hutchen­son, some­one whom I respect, and a copy­writer I deeply admire and have done so for many years. As she joined in on the dis­cus­sions, she opened a few win­dows into her his­tory that’s noth­ing short of fascinating.

For the sake of brevity, I encour­age you to visit her web­site to read her amaz­ing story. But to sum up, this sea­soned pro, who’s also a women’s rights advo­cate, rose to the top in this male-​​dominated field while over­com­ing tremen­dous barriers…

… Bar­ri­ers that would make any of the “big boys” in the copy­writ­ing busi­ness cringe if they were to ever walk a mile in her shoes (or, as she says, “her well-​​worn boots”).

Now, I try to abstain from dis­cus­sions on reli­gion, pol­i­tics and, of course, sex. On my blog as much as on my dis­cus­sion forum. But I believe the thread brought some truly valid points that I wanted to bring to your atten­tion to and get your opin­ions on.

First, let me share with you what I said.

Some of the best copy I’ve seen were ini­tially thought to be writ­ten by men. For exam­ple, one in par­tic­u­lar, for (of all things) a “men’s dat­ing guide,” was ghost­writ­ten by a woman. (And a fan­tas­tic copy­writer, at that.) Many peo­ple, to this day, still think it was writ­ten by a man.

Another copy­writer I know has a web­site with ter­rific cre­den­tials, a great port­fo­lio and an amaz­ing track record. But there are no pho­tos or any indi­ca­tions as to who, exactly, this per­son is. (Yup, it’s a woman.)

Some great copy­writ­ers I highly respect are women. Susanna K. Hutchen­son is def­i­nitely one of them. Another is Car­line Anglade-​​Cole. Eileen Coale is also another. Lor­rie Morgan-​​Ferrero is yet another. (And don’t for­get my wife, Sylvie Fortin. She’s pretty darn good, too.)

But is it truly because they are women?

Copy is a fan­tas­tic indus­try because it’s gender-​​free. (It’s also color-​​free.) But the moment we sud­denly real­ize the author’s sex, our judg­ment becomes biased some­what. Even though it’s been 130 years since George Sand, many peo­ple still cling to the belief that men are bet­ter copy­writ­ers than women.

(Inci­den­tally, Susanna revealed that she, too, started out in the ‘60s by writ­ing using a man’s pen name. She dressed like a man to get her first job writ­ing copy and even got a driver’s license as a man, too.)

My think­ing? Sure, the indus­try is dom­i­nated by men. But don’t just blame the sup­ply. The demand is at fault, too. Too often, clients opt for a man to write their copy, and they don’t even know what they’re missing.

Sad, really.

Even if you think you’re not sex­ist, most of us are. We can pro­claim that we’re not, and protest fero­ciously when we’re called to task. But sub­con­sciously, our brain’s cir­cuitry tells another tale.

For exam­ple, take this online Har­vard test called “Implicit” made famous by Mal­colm Glad­well in his book “Blink” (great book, by the way). Scroll down and choose the “Gender-​​Career” test. It will only take a few moments of your time.

So, how did you do?

You see, even if you think you’re not sex­ist (or racist, or biased against any other kind of stereo­type), your brain is wired in such a way that you will have a ten­dency to be biased, even if slightly, no mat­ter what.

Some of it is genetic. But a lot of it is the result of envi­ron­men­tal fac­tors, such as soci­ety, edu­ca­tion and per­sonal experience.

Nev­er­the­less, to me the ques­tion of whether a man or a woman can write bet­ter copy is a non-​​issue. Can a woman, in some indus­tries or for a par­tic­u­lar sex (say, women writ­ing to women), write bet­ter than men? Sure.

But copy­writ­ing is sales­man­ship in print. (Or is that “sales­per­son­ship?”) Just like there are great sales­peo­ple who are either men or women, there are as many bad sales­peo­ple from either sex, too.

So the point is, it comes down to who is the bet­ter sales­per­son. Because, in fact, a truly effec­tive sales­per­son is some­one who can relate to any audi­ence. (And even moreso when they appear to be at a disadvantage.)

In other words, while some prod­ucts can be sold more eas­ily to the same sex, because they may have some­what of an advan­tage to some degree by being like their audi­ence (and can there­fore relate to them more eas­ily, just like, say, finan­cial copy­writ­ers who are investors themselves)…

… A truly great copy­writer is one who’s able to think like the customer.

Regard­less of gender.

Or race.

Or indus­try.

The bot­tom line is, a client may go with a copy­writer who may appear, at face value, to be like their audi­ence (and there­fore has a leg up on other copy­writ­ers out there). But that’s a per­ceived advan­tage, not a real one.

Granted, in a per­fect world, a truly smart client will choose to go with who sells the best. But since this is an imper­fect world, the job rests on the shoul­ders of the copy­writer. And a truly smart copy­writer is the one who can sell him or her­self the best, espe­cially given those ini­tial biases and barriers.

Because if they do, it means that their copy­writ­ing skills shine, no mat­ter who they are — and par­tic­u­larly if they seem to be at a disadvantage.

Susanna later added that it’s not just men’s fault. Women are to blame just as much as men are, and I agree.

Many clients have a ten­dency to choose women for their copy because they think they’re cheaper. While that is a chal­lenge in itself, the prob­lem is, many of them are.

Many women copy­writ­ers charge too lit­tle because they either feel they don’t deserve it or base their worth on mar­ket demand.

As Susanna pointed out, our fees nat­u­rally reflect our expe­ri­ence and exper­tise, which applies to any ser­vice provider in any field. We start low as we launch our careers. As we hone our skills and improve our track records, we can raise our rates accordingly.

But the ques­tion is, do we?

That’s when she added this valu­able nugget (edited for brevity): “The days of women tak­ing a back seat are over. I demand more and I get it. If women put their price where it should be, they’ll get it, too.”

Sage advice, regard­less of gender.

Zig Ziglar once said that “wimpy sales­peo­ple have skinny kids.” Well, I think that applies to copy­writ­ers, too. And just like Susanna hinted, you have to earn your keep and, when you do, demand your worth.

Copy­writ­ers are a dime a dozen. But good copy­writ­ers aren’t. And that’s how it should be. Which reminds me of an impor­tant rule I once stated (and it bears repeating):

“Cheap copy­writ­ers attract cheap clients.”

Because the bot­tom line is, it’s all about sell­ing. Sell­ing your­self as well as your copy. If you can sell well, par­tic­u­larly in print, you can — and I dare­say, should — demand what you’re worth. Regard­less of who you are.

UPDATE: Two years after I wrote this blog post, James Char­trand, “mon con­frère” from across the river, wrote this tell-​​all blog post that says a lot about biases, and the dif­fer­ences in per­cep­tions in the copy­writ­ing biz. It’s a bril­liantly writ­ten arti­cle I encour­age you to read. And seri­ously think about.

About the Author

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