Man / Woman (updated)

Here is a piece of text from the book I am reading. Please read the passage and take the poll to tell me whether you think the character is a male or female, and whether you think the author is a male of female.

"It is hard to drive safely in the hot afternoon, with the wrong music in my head. Light flashes off windshields, bumpers, trim; there are too many flashing lights. By the time I get home, my head hurts and I'm shaking. I take the pillows off my couch into the bedroom, closing all the shades tightly and then the door. I lie down, piling the pillows on top of me, then turn off the light.

"[...] As I lie there in the dark, the gentle, soft pressure gradually eases my tension, and the wrong music in my mind empties out. I float in a soft, dark silence . . . at rest, at peace, uninvaded by the fast-moving photons."


Now, go and vote and don't read any further until you've done so.



UPDATE
Well, I gave some clues in the post, but I hope that the voters didn't use them to find out the answer. However, assuming we played fair, I'm surprised by the answers and my theory is shaken.

Don't read any further if you don't want the answer, because I'm going to give it right now: The author is female and the character is male. Everyone got the character right, and one got the author right.

Now, here's my take.

When I was in grad school, I read a story that was written by a female author writing under a male pen-name. I did not know this when reading the story. (I don't remember the story or author. ) The main character was a man; the second main character (secondary character?) was a woman, and there were several interactions between them.

Several passages describing these interactions struck me oddly, but I couldn't put my finger on why until after I was told that the author was female. Then it made sense: I was having a difficult time believing that a man would do or say certain things described in the passages; these things seemed more like a female describing what she thought a man would think or do, but they were more like what a female would think or do.

The two paragraphs above struck me the same way. The response to the emotional state being described struck me as feminine, not masculine.

First: A retreat to a bedroom with pillows; when was the last time you heard of a guy retreating, not to mention to a bedroom with pillows because he is emotionally upset. Retreating to a bar, oh yeah! Retreating to a home, sure. Retreating to his bedroom, maybe, but with pillows? I can't suspend my disbelief here.

Second: The intricate description of the emotional connection between the interacting parts of the scene (pillows, tension, music, floating) strike me as feminine, not masculine. My experience is that men aren't really that connected to their emotional states and generally find it difficult (some find it impossible) to describe their motions at all. The first person narrative signals to me that this guy is thus connected, which is counter to my experience and expectations. Men are simpler: I feel x; such and such makes me feel y. My experience with women, on the other hand, is that they are very connected with the intricacies of emotional interactions and are expert at describing them, sometimes at length. The observations in the passage strike me as something a woman would observe and describe; not a man.

Third: The words that are used send me a subconscious signal: "gentle, soft pressure," "the wrong music," "float in a soft, dark silence" "uninvaded . . ." Men are not "invaded," they are the ones who invade. This is a very basic premise of male and female-ness; something we learn of at puberty and spend the rest of our lives coming to terms with. All of this tells me that this is a soft persona; a woman. Men are not soft. Men are the ones who, when pressured, choose fight over flight. It's why we build and/or conquer civilizations; we are not invaded (without a fight, anyway); we do not retreat.

All of these things signal me to think this is a female character; knowing what I knew as I read the passage (i.e. that the author is female), I was left with the distinct sense that this was a female author trying to write a male character but not quite getting it right.

I was curious, then, as to whether other people would pick up on these same subtleties. But, alas, I was proven wrong as the voting got the most important piece of the puzzle correct: that this was a male character.

My first test was with Barb. She didn't help me either! She got them both correct, and said the cues for her were the phrase "Light flashes off windshields, bumpers, trim; there are too many flashing lights." as distinctly male (attention to the vehicles), but used the remaining passage content to determine the author. Fascinating interpretation!

And, of course, the broader topic is whether one gender can truly write another gender character.