Read this. October 19, 2009
Posted by mbranesf in : Uncategorized , add a commentRead this very disturbing and heartbreaking item posted yesterday by Nicola Griffth on her blog. And then find somebody who disagrees that samesex couples should have the same kind of marriage rights as straights, or even somebody who just doesn’t think it’s not that big a deal, or says the time isn’t quite right for it yet. And then make them read it, too.
Sexism in Horror: Women Excluded from Anthology September 25, 2009
Posted by bsolah in : Uncategorized , 2commentsWhen Irish horror author Maura McHugh saw the line-up of authors interviewed in In Conversation: A Writer’s Perspective. Volume One: Horror, it was impossible for her to overlook the fact that, as she expressed, “Not a single woman is interviewed.”
McHugh continued:
There are no excuses for this omission. That it happens, and it was allowed to happen, speaks to the deeply cultured disregard for women’s opinion in the world. I see it every day. We are marginalised, silenced, side-lined, forgotten, conveniently dropped, patronised, under-represented, dismissed, subtly intimidated and ignored.
Indeed, sexism within horror and speculative fiction as a whole is an issue that is often overlooked. And if you look at the norms of the genre, it’s easy to see how gender roles with society are reflected in the genre.
One of the most obvious examples that come to mind are those of passive female victims in slasher films from the 90s such as Scream and Friday the 13th. In addition, I recently had a conversation with another writer about how horror has often fostered a sexist revulsion to women’s bodies, such as with the symbolism of menstrual blood in many books and movies.
The contradiction, of course, is that from Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein onward, women have made significant contributions to the horror genre. There are numerous female horror writers that easily match their male counterparts in their ability to scare and disturb their audiences. As David Barnett’s article in the Guardian points out, a quick visit to the book store easily demonstrate just how many women are writing horror.
While it’s still shocking that such an oversight happened, it is a sobering reminder for speculative fiction writers, as well. Sexism and homophobia are deep-seeded in our culture, and there is much work to be done to challenge these norms within the genre.
Benjamin Solah is a Marxist horror writer from Melbourne, Australia. He blogs his thoughts on writing and politics, including on gender and sexuality, and you can find these and other articles at Benjamin Solah, Marxist Horror Writer.
Regarding queer-unfriendly markets September 9, 2009
Posted by mbranesf in : Uncategorized , 18commentsAfter much discussion within the Outer Alliance, a consensus has been reached that when our writers or publishers encounter a market that is specifically unwelcoming to queer content, that we ought to make sure our membership is aware of it so that they may decide individually whether or not they wish to try to conduct business with such a market.
It is adamantly not the function of the Outer Alliance to tell its members how to behave nor to police the world of speculative fiction publishing. We do, however, believe that our membership, and many more people outside the Alliance, would prefer to have the information when it becomes known that a publisher is specifically opposed to the things we stand for.
The following is excerpted from the website of Crossed Genres magazine, edited by Bart Leib and Kay Holt:
“While advertising Crossed Genres through Project Wonderful, I’ve been placing a number of ads specifically calling for submissions to our upcoming LGBTQ issue.
On September 1, I placed an ad bid on Flash Fiction Online, figuring it was an appropriate site for a call for writing submissions…
The next day (9/2) I received an email notification that the bid had been rejected. The owner offered only this short message as explanation: “’Sorry, I don’t accept sexually themed ads.’”
Please click here to read the remainder of this item at the Crossed Genres site.
Also, this is the ad that Crossed Genres attempted to place.
