Poor Tom. Battered by Agitator readers (rightfully!), all in response to his Direct Mail Package 101 post offering the healthy admonition to use good copy produced by good copywriters.

Unfortunately, he neglected to cite any female copywriters.

I know for a fact that Tom isn’t a copy misogynist. For the nearly 40 years we’ve worked together — from the introduction of the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, through the founding of the National Organization for Women and dozens and dozens of feminist and human rights causes — Tom has employed more female copywriters than Jerry Huntsinger has shirts.

But Tom’s posting faux pas does raise the issue of gender and copywriting. Something worth another post. So here goes.

Writing, of which copywriting is a part of the general skill set, is a wonderful craft because it’s gender-free (and also race-free). That is, until the moment some folks suddenly realize the author’s sex, and their judgment suddenly becomes biased.

Even though it’s been 135 years since George Sand, I suspect far too many people still cling to the belief that men are better copywriters than women.

Fortunately, I do think this is less prevalent in the nonprofit world than among our commercial counterparts. But make no mistake. Too often I’ve heard of fundraising executives who opt for a man to write their copy, and they don’t even know what they’re missing. Sad. Really sad.

Of course all of us should — and most of us in fact do — protest ferociously if called to task. Although I’m the last one to use ‘neuroscience’ (a favorite topic of Tom’s) as any sort of defense, the reality is that our brains are wired in ways that produce bias, even if slightly, no matter what.

Want to check your brain? Take this online Harvard Test called ‘Implicit’ made famous by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Blink. Scroll down and choose the ‘Gender-Career’ test. It will only take a few moments of your time.

So, how did you do?

But I digress. Copywriting is salespersonship in print or online, and a truly effective salesperson is someone who can relate to the audience. In short, female or male, a great copywriter is one who’s able to think like the donor.

Inherent in the publishing of lists and the mentioning of some experts instead of others is the implicit disaster of oversight.

Even with this risk in mind both Tom and I certainly acknowledge the great and consistent copywriting skills and contributions of women here in the States like Joan Throckmorton, Ginny Daly, Dorothy Kerr, Kay Lautman, Kathy Swayze, Carolyn Projansky, and Pru Bovie.

In addition, check out these resources well worth following:  Lisa Sargent and her Lisa Sargent Communications blog, Pamela Grow and her Pamela’s Grantwriting Blog with excellent commentary on copy and fundraising, Kathy Swayze’s newsletter on copy from Impact Communications, and Katya Anderson’s NonProfit Marketing Blog.

I forgive Tom. Do you?

Roger

P.S. The career of Dorothy Kerr, one great direct response practitioner and a first-rate copywriter, shows how times fortunately change; albeit slowly. In 1971 Dorothy was named ‘Man of the Year’ by the Direct Mail Association of Washington. In 1992, 21 years later, she was named ‘Woman of the Year’ by the Women’s Direct Response Group of Washington.

As my friend and comrade copywriter Ginny Daly notes: “Dorothy was the only person in our industry to win awards on both sides of the gender aisle! Word got around Washington that perhaps Dorothy was a ‘transprofessional.’”