What Year Is It, Again?

To the modern world,

As of late, I've gotten some odd reactions from people when they hear I'm an author.

First of all, I have received some negative reactions from a few women as well, but the majority of them usually beam and say, "Good for you!" or "Fantastic."
It was the large number of male reactions, better fitted in a different century, that took me off guard.  

This is one of many, many similar responses.

"You wrote a book?" a man asks with a quizzical look on his face.
"Yes, " I say. "I wrote a book."
"Ah, a romance." He, and others, say this as if the notion of women writing anything that doesn't have a shirtless stud on the cover is inconceivable. (There is nothing wrong with romance; it's the assumption that bothers me.)
"Thriller," I say, dryly.
"Oh...well that's...(long pause)...cute."

Silly me, that's how I should describe bleeding through the writing process, then sweating through publication from now on: Cute.
Though, I'm sure this particular gentleman would have used the same adjective had he been speaking to a male coworker. No? No.

At the top of my Shovel List (things one wants to hit in the face with a shovel) is the man who told me I should quit writing and get pregnant already, because I'm not getting any younger.
Below him, I've reserved a spot for the handful of men who said something along the lines of: "Every story should have a protagonist...do you know what a protagonist is, sweetheart?"

Why, yes. Despite my lady-brain, I have managed to absorb the meaning of words, like, protagonist, antagonist, plot point, and subplot. Amazing, I know.   

I was always aware that female authors writing certain genres/characters may have to write under male or unisex pen names so that men wouldn't bypass it because they see the name Mary or Iris, but I suppose I never gave why? much thought until now.

Note that I'm usually very fond of the opposite sex–I married one of them–and not all men I speak to react this way, but the number of cave-man responses have been more than I ever would've imagined with the year being 2013. I'm not only pissed but, I often find myself standing there perplexed. Females editors, agents etc. are a majority in the publishing world, and the book shelves are full of female authors, so the only conclusion I can come to is that, perhaps, a percentage of the population didn't get the memo?

For anyone who missed it when it was first released:

Urgent News-Stop
From this day forth, women-folk will be allowed to write any genre of literature-Stop
Though we previously thought females only could write cook books, romance novels, and biographies on childbearing, it now appears we were wrong-Stop

Xoxo,
Mia