I like to read Letters to the Editor. Readers of a publication respond to an article by agreeing or disagreeing with it. Sometimes they provide additional information the reporter or commentator left out. And they often give the perspective or ordinary folks to writing that expresses a more privileged position.

Once upon a time, you could only read these comments if they were published. Now, of course, we can find many more in the online versions of a publication. And most people no longer have print subscriptions. Only we seniors continue to receive an actual physical newspaper in the morning. So, the Letters to the Editor section opens a window onto a particular American demographic.

Reading Letters to the Editor

When you pay attention to Letters to the Editor, you find that most are written by men. How curious. After all, women are supposed to be the ones who are more literary and expressive.

Others have noticed the same thing. The Atlantic published an article by Caroline Kitchener in 2018 entitled “Why Do So Few Women Write Letters to the Editor?” In 2017, The Washington Post carried a letter to the editor from Christine Lawrence: “Why is the Post’s letters section dominated by men?”

In it, she commented, “Each day maybe one woman’s letter is published while five or six men are heard. I am beginning to think I should sign my letters as Chris, rather than Christine, in order to get them published.”

No Comment from the Editors

The editors do not comment or offer an explanation for this phenomenon. I have my own ideas.

I think that male editors find letters from men more authoritative, enlightened, informed, trustworthy and confident. Women, on the other hand, don’t receive the same assumption of authority.

Letters from women tend to focus on issues of reproduction, child care, or domestic problems. Yes, in 2025, the editors still seem to think women are al stay-at-home moms who can’t think outside of their biology. The seem to assume we have nothing worthy of reading to say on anything else. Or, if we do, they don’t give us credence.

In fact, the Columbia Journalism Review ran an article by Erika Fry called, “It’s 2012 already: why is opinion writing still mostly male?” While this article deals with “op-eds” it could just as well have been written about letters to the editor.

In it, Ms. Fry says:

“And women were practically absent in the debate of many hard news subjects, with their opinions accounting for 11 percent of commentaries on the economy, 13 percent on international politics, 14 percent on social action and 16 percent on security. Perhaps just as striking, women produced just over half—53 percent—of commentaries on ‘women’s issues.’”

Things Haven’t Changed

It’s 2025 already, and things haven’t changed much since then. Editorial judgment still unapologetically favors men’s opinions over women’s. It reminds me of those photos of all-male cabinet secretaries and Congressional committees making laws about women’s rights, women’s freedom, women’s bodies, and women’s lives.

Another explanation, however, involves the quantity of letters submitted. Women just don’t seem to write Letters to the Editor as often as men do. But why? Think about that. Surely you have read articles you disagreed with or thought needed more explanation. Almost certainly you have thought the male author didn’t understand a woman’s perspective.

Ladies, did you write? If not, why not?

If there ever was a time for women to write a letter to the editor, this is it. We can’t expect men to represent us; we have to stand up and speak up for ourselves .