There’s been a couple articles as of late suggesting we change the way we deal with social inequity—by pointedly not participating in its fulfillment. Instead of setting our sights on the people actively promoting the problem, why don’t we all participate in correcting the imbalance? Because doesn’t it affect everyone, regardless of whether they are part of the majority or minority?
This theory has been applied to gay marriage (an op-ed in the NY Times suggested we all boycott weddings), or the homogeneity of certain conference panels (GOOD Magazine put it succinctly: “White Men Should Refuse to Be on Panels of All White Men”) and this piece on race/gender inequity in the literary world (via). Stacey May Fowles implores male contributors to just refuse publication in order to assuage this gender disparity. Though it does seem like a lofty goal in an industry where writers are already struggling to snag a spot on a masthead or get published by a selective outlet, the race/gender imbalance is blatant. And how do we correct it?
“It’s no secret that literary periodicals are failing female writers. It seems they share a knack for siloing off women into special issues once a year, stuffing the contents with female experiences, concerns, and viewpoints, and then ignoring them the rest of the time.”
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Perhaps writers and readers could begin to think about supporting literary journals and conferences that do care about parity. Supporting organizations that take women and minority writers seriously seems like an effective way to support those writers. Instead of thinking of it as boycotting, perhaps we could just put our money–our subscriptions, our conference registrations–where our values are.
That’s a good point, K. You can’t just do it in a vacuum, though. You need to tell the organizations you support why you’re doing it, and the ones you aren’t, why you aren’t.
And on the other side of things, if you’re an editor and you’re apt to complain that you’re not getting submissions from women and people of color, then do something about it. Go out and find some writers and ask them for stuff, and if they don’t get back to you, ask some more. There may be a perception that your organization is not welcoming, and you’re the only one who can change that. But you have to want to change it, and that takes effort.
Agreed, Brian.
Good point, Brian. We’re far more likely to see changes if we speak up about why we’re moving our time, attention, and cash elsewhere.
Perhaps editors should look for good stories, and not care whether they come from men or women or blacks or whites or aliens? Words on a page don’t have a sex and the color is usually black.
If you keep keeping score according to race/gender/etc… you’re perpetuating the problem.
Ray, if we lived in a utopian society that might work but we don’t and equal representation is important. We should be able to read good stories from all walks of life, not just good stories from one demographic and sometimes we have to work a little harder to make that happen.
OK, I’ll bite. Why is “equal representation” important? Equal opportunity is what’s important, so that the best stories are published. And since everyone has a different idea of what’s best, there’s never going to be agreement that the goal is met.
You go ahead and support journals that choose stories based on parity. I’ll be interested in seeing your standards, as I’m certain they’ll be fair to people of every sex, race, ethnic group, economic strata, age, height, weight, and handedness. I’ll choose the journals that print stores I like to read.
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