Miscellaneous Thoughts on the Sexism Mess

[jimhines]

Jim has a comprehensive roundup of links relating to the SFWA thing/Jim is only linking to people who agree with him.

I never claimed to be doing a comprehensive list of links. As I stated up front, I was responding to the claim that protests and complaints were being done anonymously. There are posts I agree with that I didn’t link to, and posts I

Comments

[deborahblakehps]

"Don't you get tired of this? Yes."

Sigh.

I admire you more than I can say for continuing to fight the good fight and to stand up for the ideals (and people) you believe in. I for one am glad to know you have my back.

Now, if you could just write faster, so I could have your book :-)

[jimhines]

I'm working on it! Believe it or not, my writing output has actually been a bit higher than usual these past few weeks :-)

[deborahblakehps]

Mine has been a bit lower, due to the need to replace my desktop (and the accompanying three days of tweaking, downloading, reinstaling, etc.). But I'm back to it today, by golly!

[mtlawson]

Hopefully you gained back a few sporks by writing this.

[sylvanstargazer]

I've mostly seen age proposed as a reason to excuse their behavior, why we can't possibly expect them to understand, why they get a pass or should just be ignored. If they use their age as a shield against criticism, I think it becomes fair game

[northernwalker]

When I hear the age defense, I think of my 78yo dad who spent my childhood telling me, his daughter, that I could be anything I wanted to be- and then put his money where his mouth was for not just me, but other young women.

Dad was born in the 1930s. If someone tried to tell him age lets you be sexist he'd rip them a new one- or better yet, sit on them while my 70y0 mom does it.

[sylvanstargazer]

Right!?

It's like when people tell us we can't expect men to not harass us because they're controlled by their sex drive and incapable of friendship. It sucks for us, because we have to put up with the behavior it's excusing, but it is incredibly insulting to them.

[georgmi]

It may be a quibble (and I may not do a great job of explaining it), but the "it's insulting to men, too" statement always bothers me.

For me what it comes down to is that the benefit to men (they get "permission" to keep doing exactly what they want, without having to consider the feelings of others) so overwhelms the effect of the insult that the latter completely disappears.

Put another way, the only men who would be insulted by the idea that they can't control their harassment of women are the men who are already doing their level best not to be harassers.

[rowyn]

It's a little confusing to label the hyperlink with the part of the statement that reads "a comprehensive list" when your point is to refute that it's comprehensive. :)

Unrelated -- I heard that you had an article in Bulletin 202 as well, but I haven't seen any links to it. Is that because it's not available online or am I just not looking effectively?

[jimhines]

::Facepalm:: Very good point, and I've changed the hyperlink, thank you.

My article isn't available online yet, though I'm planning to check my contract to see when the exclusivity period expires so I can change that.

[julieandrews]

Thanks. I'd like to read it when it's available.

[rowyn]

Thanks! I am looking forward to reading your article. :)

[joycemocha]

Quite frankly, as someone in the upper end of the middle age range (55) and someone who's been subjected to these attitudes as expressed by Malzberg and Resnick a big chunk of her life, I'm not willing to give the age-related excuse that some want to give. They aren't that much older than I am, and they went through the same political eras I did--and if they're still clinging to those attitudes, then yeah, they're part of the problem. The things they failed on were Feminism 101, and those ideas were part and parcel of the feminist analysis in the 60s and 70s.

Age is no excuse for refusing to learn and change as society learns and changes. Period. And good for you and others with the ability and audience to speak out and be heard to be doing so.

[paragraphs]

For once I want a 'like' button. Well said (and I am 51, and HAVE changed my attitude about many things over the last 10-15 years. It can happen!).

[barbarienne]

Yes, this. My dad was an upper-middle-class, straight, able-bodied white guy, and if he were still alive, he would be 80 years old. And he got progressively more liberal as he got older.

He understood the system of privilege (though he didn't have that word for it), and as he got older, his thinking on the subject became more obviously refined. If he had read those articles, he would have choked on "lady editor" and "as a woman should."

(He might not have noticed the inherent sexism of referencing a woman's looks, but I'm certain that having it pointed out to him would have led to a "Oh, I see your point" reaction, rather than screaming "thought police! censorship! FREEZE PEACH!!!")

[cissa]

Me, too. both at the age, and the unwillingness to give these guys a pass.