Bias in SFF
Nicola Griffith links to poll in UK in which, no surprise, most of the 'favorite' sf authors listed were men.
She's wanting to work on addressing this bias:
To begin with, we need numbers: ratios of women/men being published as sf in UK, US, Canada, India, New Zealand, Australia, and other English-speaking territories. Ratios of historical publication of same. Reviews of same. Of book format. Of cover design. Of sales. Of awards. And so on. Anyone got any of that to hand? Anyone got a platform through which they can put out a call for same?
ETA: Some links I contributed to the discussion:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/feb/04/research-male-writers-dominate-books-world
This article and the stats are not specific to sff.
It may or may not be useful to remember that the NYT has a separate section for reviewing sff (and other genre fiction), and also started a separate best sellers list when Rowling's work dominated it (children's best selling as compared to "adult" literature?), there are genre biasses build into the reviewing system.
http://www.kith.org/journals/jed/2006/08/12/3627.html
Jed Hartman
Still more on gender bias in sf
(Strange Horizons)
He credits Sue Linville's 2002 article on gender bias in sf!
Sue Linville Strange Horizons
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2007/20070820/0women-publish-a.shtml
SF and Fantasy in the New Millennium: Women Publishing Short Fiction
By Susan U. Linville
20 August 2007
Here's an intriguing site I found that I'll have to spend some more time exploring:
Gender Bias Learning Project
http://www.genderbiasbingo.com/gender_bias_bibliography.html
It's for academia--but I wonder if some could be applied to this effort!
http://www.genderbiasbingo.com/genderbias.html
Let's not forget the work done by feminists all along:
Laura Quilter's Feminist SF
http://wiki.feministsf.net/index.php?title=Laura_Quilter
Broad Universe
http://www.broaduniverse.org/
This entry was originally posted at http://www.dreamwidth.org/12345.html. Comments are enabled at both sites but anonymous comments will be screened for moderation.
She's wanting to work on addressing this bias:
To begin with, we need numbers: ratios of women/men being published as sf in UK, US, Canada, India, New Zealand, Australia, and other English-speaking territories. Ratios of historical publication of same. Reviews of same. Of book format. Of cover design. Of sales. Of awards. And so on. Anyone got any of that to hand? Anyone got a platform through which they can put out a call for same?
ETA: Some links I contributed to the discussion:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/feb/04/research-male-writers-dominate-books-world
This article and the stats are not specific to sff.
It may or may not be useful to remember that the NYT has a separate section for reviewing sff (and other genre fiction), and also started a separate best sellers list when Rowling's work dominated it (children's best selling as compared to "adult" literature?), there are genre biasses build into the reviewing system.
http://www.kith.org/journals/jed/2006/08/12/3627.html
Jed Hartman
Still more on gender bias in sf
(Strange Horizons)
He credits Sue Linville's 2002 article on gender bias in sf!
Sue Linville Strange Horizons
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2007/20070820/0women-publish-a.shtml
SF and Fantasy in the New Millennium: Women Publishing Short Fiction
By Susan U. Linville
20 August 2007
Here's an intriguing site I found that I'll have to spend some more time exploring:
Gender Bias Learning Project
http://www.genderbiasbingo.com/gender_bias_bibliography.html
It's for academia--but I wonder if some could be applied to this effort!
http://www.genderbiasbingo.com/genderbias.html
Let's not forget the work done by feminists all along:
Laura Quilter's Feminist SF
http://wiki.feministsf.net/index.php?title=Laura_Quilter
Broad Universe
http://www.broaduniverse.org/
This entry was originally posted at http://www.dreamwidth.org/12345.html. Comments are enabled at both sites but anonymous comments will be screened for moderation.