tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67881661576743990.post6995054911778488594..comments2024-03-25T20:48:20.863-05:00Comments on Uncanny Valley: A brief note on the gender gap.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67881661576743990.post-37102481726345321222011-02-09T09:49:45.729-06:002011-02-09T09:49:45.729-06:00No, I agree with that -- and indeed, I meant "...No, I agree with that -- and indeed, I meant "make our peace" more in the sense you mean. And certainly we should continue working on it in future issues, trying to do better.Mike Meginnishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10445063490812318140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67881661576743990.post-57664362429697882802011-02-09T09:46:00.151-06:002011-02-09T09:46:00.151-06:00I just dug up this post I made in July: http://www...I just dug up this post I made in July: http://www.uncannyvalleymag.com/2010/07/on-soliciting-women.html<br /><br />I'm not actually quite of the "make our peace" mindset on this question, not that it changes the real outcomes much--we will probably publish this issue with a less than equal representation of women, and in a sense, I will have to "make my peace" with it in that we have a very real publishing timeframe to think about. But I think that this is a question that needs to get re-raised with every issue, regardless of how close to equal we got with the last one. I also don't see it as a matter of writers' responsibility to promote themselves to editors, at least to the extent to which this means submitting more and thus producing more, though certainly writers shouldn't expect to just be discovered sans submission. <br /><br />I just think that it's more important, assuming the gender gap itself is acknowledged by editors (sometimes that in itself is a battle), to get women to talk about why they're not responding to solicitation, what's hindering them from sending work in the first place. Sure all writers have other responsibilities to get in the way, and sure it's ultimately the writer's responsibility to get themselves out there to whatever degree they choose. But I want to acknowledge that question of degree, and to interrogate the choice not to submit, not just chalk it up to an irreparable imbalance. Which I don't think is what you're saying, but is something that I think could be mishandled by editors looking for an excuse for their inability to publish equal numbers of women. The mechanism of inequality needs to be questioned, and what has been largely ignored, I think, is that that mechanism operates on both the writers' side and the publishers' side. I just want the writers to start talking about it from their point of view, and not to pretend we've done all we can as editors until they do.<br /><br />Again, not really what you're saying here, but I really want women writers to start talking about their writing behavior and their behavior as submitters, not so it can be "repaired," but so we can maybe start to see practical and honest ways to get the numbers up.Tracy Rae Bowlinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00503467625042599574noreply@blogger.com