More Woolf.

Do men and women write differently?

In response to this equestion I would pull from quotes and ideas. From a bio-psychological standpoint, I would say that the differences between male and female hormones and parts of the brain are very much there. So, we cancel the factual side. Could the writer be writing about something on a deeper level? Probably. A male writer taking on the voice of a woman (vice versa) lends no explanantion biologically. This would begin the debate over "the mind-body problem".
Instead, Virginia Woolf (as a writer) describes this dichotamy in a way that makes further sense when she states, "...it was delightful to read a man's writing again. It was so direct, so staightforward after the writing of women. It indicated such freedom of mind, such liberty of person, such confidence in himself" (p.1026)
According to the great feminist thinker, there was a difference between the two types of author. However, in class I was thinking about the question stated above and continued to read onto the last line when I realized that my group in class' discussion was not accurate at all. Having concentrated on the line stating "straightforward", we missed a large part of what Virginia Woolf was saying.
Ulitmately, women suppressed are not to be trifled with. Men's dominance in the arts and life in general forced women for the most part 9as described by feminists) to remain introspective and confined. Males are/were celebrated. Women are/were married and confined to a box. In this box there is no room for creative and original thinking to become actual, because as Woolf explains in "Androgynous" man sweeps into the scene and ravages the female intellect with its straightforward opinion on the world today and she is left with no voice and no say...or atleast nothing the male figure believes is interesting.
As for writing, this comes out on the page and like Virginia's quote, man's writing is straightforward and full of confidence. When hampered and suppressed by a predominantly male, anti-sexual section of the brain wouldn't your work lack the confidence that a man's voice would? If this is what Va. Woolf was getting at, then I agree. However, if this is not what she is writing then I must be confused with why contemporary feminists disagree with this sentiment adn why it is such a controversial claim.