http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pubs/summary.php?id=film0706

In particular:

In brief, it was believed that the main audience for films is young men aged 16-24 and that women screenwriters may be disadvantaged because they are seen as less able to write the sort of films, for example action and horror, that sell to this demographic. These beliefs are at odds with our UK data which show, first, that women aged 35 plus make up the biggest single part of UK cinema audiences, at 18 per cent (see page 50); second, that comedy, not action, is the most financially successful film genre, consistently making up one quarter of releases and takings at the UK box office, and third that women, like men, can and do write a broad range of genres, including comedy. Nonetheless these myths or perceptions about women’s writing and particularly audience preferences seemed to be pervasive among our sample of interviewees, male and female, and were held by individuals in a range of roles, including some screenwriters. They are therefore powerful, and may indeed obstruct women screenwriters in their ability to secure work.

Kazza: I may not have ‘freaked out’ if the generalisation had been about men, but only because the rest of the internet would have been doing it for me. “experienced male writers write well in any genre”, has a slightly more sinister ring to it, no?

My mother would never forgive me if I didn’t remain vigilant on such issues. Now I’m off to police the rest of the internet.

Would you freak out if the note was “experienced male writers write well in any genre”?

It’s so trite as to be laughable.

A good writer writes well regardless of gender.