Over at The Awl, Eileen Myles shares her thoughts on seeing the VIDA pie graphs. She tells us that writing by women is inherently more interesting: “Why? Because the female reality is still largely unknown. And language is the thrill that holds the unknown in its vague and shifting ways. That’s writing.”
2 responses
I agree, and I look forward to the day I get my hands on a novel written by an albino hermaphrodite dwarf. Talk about an inherently more interesting unknown reality!
It does seem odd to argue that different groups writing is more or less interesting based on their gender, race, sexuality or anything else. If we were talking memoir, that’s one thing I suppose. But we are talking fiction and poetry. What is interesting is an interesting mind. What is interesting is the individual.
Also, while there is undoubtedly sexism in publishing and life in general, the idea that the female reality is “largely unknown” because women artists don’t make up a full 50% of established artists does not seem to make much sense. There haven’t been a dearth of books by women in our lifetimes.
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