Next verse, same as the first.
Linkspam on the fail surrounding Patricia Wrede's "Thirteenth Child", an alternate fantasy pioneer history of the Americas where Native peoples never existed. From the Tor review, "This is an alternate version of our world which is full of magic, and where America (“Columbia”) was discovered empty of people but full of dangerous animals, many of
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I'm both surprised and dismayed since I don't know of Wrede participating in the RaceFail discussions in any way--and even if she had internalized the arguments and vowed to strive for a new and aware tone in her work, the book would have been in the pipeline, probably at the printer by the time the discussion hit its peak. I know it feels like it's already a million years old, but in publishing terms, it's barely even happened. Not that that's an excuse, as such, but if RaceFail was a wake-up call to writers, writers are just standing up and stretching and looking around the room, a ways from getting anything out the door yet.
Which, again, itself does not make the work defensible on it own, but should provide benefit of doubt cover for Wrede herself. I appreciate the pain and the frustration, but I think this kind of thing could have a chilling effect with writers.
And speaking of which...
Speaking as a woman SF fan, I'll be blunt. Male SF authors have an extra step (or three) to take in earning my trust as a reader when writing women, because I have been burned so many times.
As a white male SF writer, I'll be blunt and say that this makes me not want to try. I don't know that there's a way that I could adequately express a woman to a woman such that she was completely satisfied in the portrayal. And certainly not on a first outing.
I mean, I'll try anyway. But this kind of attitude makes me ten thousand times more apprehensive about doing so, and seems like the direct opposite of what folks like zvi_likes_tv, Tobias Buckell, and Nalo Hopkinson have been saying.
Losing you as a potential reader seems like a high risk to run.
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That's a weaseley derail. Women are not a monolith. You will never completely satisfy all women, or even all women SF fans, in your portrayal of one or two women. Writing ANYTHING is always a risk. Not just women. Not just people of color.
But this kind of attitude makes me ten thousand times more apprehensive about doing so, and seems like the direct opposite of what folks like [info]zvi_likes_tv, Tobias Buckell, and Nalo Hopkinson have been saying.
They are not the sole representatives of color these discussions, and there were a lot of people (women and POC) during RaceFail who made it very clear that they approach the genre much the same way I do.
Your above comment is a politer and less threatening version of David Levine's post back during RaceFail, about how readers calling writers out on racism makes writers want to avoid writing race altogether, and is that what we really want? And I'm calling bullshit on it, too. So would writers rather that readers not be honest about these issues? Would they rather those readers just stop reading their books, or abandon the genre entirely? Quietly vanish? Because what other options are left? A lifetime of playing Charlie Brown to Lucy and her football?
Because that what this says to me: "But this kind of attitude makes me ten thousand times more apprehensive about doing so". That says speaking out honestly about the way I interact with the genre and the issues I have with the genre makes it harder for you as a male writer. It says that the problem is with me.
And I know that's not your intent. I do give you the benefit of the doubt, as you are my friend and I have a lot of respect for you. But if I didn't know you and read that comment? "What a jackass," would be the nicest of the things going through my head right now, and you'd have already lost me as a reader before you even started.
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The point was that the comment was directed at you, and only you, through the filter of our friendship. Not a general defense of assholes like Levine, but a specific cry of of fear and apprehension as a friend seemed to be ready to shut me out and leave me to fend for myself in the wild should I displease her. I wouldn't make that comment in a conversation with anyone but a friend; when you invoked one of my personal labels (male SF writer), you took it to a personal level for me, and I responded from personal feelings.
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How would you like your internets?
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