But staying silent only adds to the problem.
Rather than try to say something intelligent myself, I thought I'd signal boost some fabulous posts that other people have already written.
Rage-making Incidents 1-5 - The SFWA Debacle
For those who aren't aware, a series of articles appeared in the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America Bulletin (their professional publication) talking about:- how hot the female editors in the 1960s were and how great they looked in bikinis
- how women writers should be like Barbie (the doll) because she "maintained her quiet dignity the way a woman should"
- the "censorship" the poor men who wrote article 1 had been subjected to (i.e. people correctly calling them out for being sexist). This article was written as a long "back in the good old days"-type rant by the same people who had written that first article.
On top of all this, one of the Bulletins featured on its cover an illustration of Red Sonja in her chainmail bikini in the snow (Frank Frazetta-style artwork had its time, but that time is not now). Then to top it off, SFWA's most racist/misogynistic/general arsehole-ish member called uber-talented author N.K. Jemisin a black hysterical savage because she gave a keynote speech at a con encouraging inclusiveness in the SFF community and calling for reconciliation. While a lot of this started before June, it all boiled to a head in the early and middle parts of this month.
I hope you don't need me to point out why I got so angry about all this stuff. If you'd like to read more, my friend and fellow SpecFicNZ member Amanda wrote some great summary posts:
- Genre girl cooties, part one billion: Bitches get stuff done
- What shall we do with a drunken sailor: Racism all up in my thang
- The beat goes on: Kumbaya mode, the tone argument, and stompy Godzilla socks
Some other great links:
This week in SF by Ann Aguirre
After reading this post, I ordered Grimspace by Ann Aguirre, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
Old men yelling at clouds: SFWA sexism by Foz Meadows
Rage-making Incident 6 - The Wendy Davis Filibuster
In particular, how the Republicans responded to it, and how they tried to illegally pass a vote after midnight. Also, how mainstream media within the States gave the end of the filibuster almost zero coverage at the time, and a lot of the coverage they did give it seemed to focus on how Wendy Davis wore pink tennis shoes while filibustering. I'm not even going to bother linking to information about this, because it is all over the internet right now.Rage-making Incident 7 - Reporting Sexual Harrassment
This morning, my Twitter feed lit up with the news of author Elise Matthesen laying a formal complaint about a senior Tor editor who sexually harassed her. The rage-making part of the Incident is that this editor has been harassing people for years, and people have tried to complain about it before, and yet somehow he hasn't yet suffered any consequences that anyone can tell. People who worked with him at Tor seemed unaware, although naturally they are not in a position to comment about it at the moment (as Tor is going through a legal process).The article by Elise has been posted to several high-profile authors' blogs:
- John Scalzi's blog
- Jim C Hines's blog
- Seanan McGuire's blog
- Mary Robinette Kowal's blog
- (A second post by Mary on the topic)
Cherie Priest also wrote a great blog post in response to this issue.
In this case, do read the comments. A lot of interesting, intelligent things are being said in the comments of all those posts, and all the authors are actively monitoring what's going on in those comments one way or another.
So, yes, June: you brought us a lot of shit, but also a lot of positive reaction. July, I hope you build on the positive aspects more than the negative ones.
Current progress on Symmetry Breaking:
Revision on holdCurrent progress on Reality Shifting:
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