The Province of . . . Whom?

[scarlettina]

I was scanning Facebook this morning and came across a post by an acquaintance of many years who posted a link to an article of his that had just been published. It was about weird Westerns, and was full of book cover pictures as well as about 7 columns of text. All of the books were by men. Only two covers featured women: busty women, tightly clothed, obviously there for the male gaze. My first reaction was to congratulate the writer and then ask him if his article included a woman writer of my circle who had written a trilogy of very good weird Westerns, all of which had received critical acclaim and one of which was an award winner. I then decided that since the article was a fait accompli, getting combative about it, trying to educate him after the fact, would not improve the quality of my life and so I did not challenge his choices.

I don't know whether making this choice was a sign of earned experience or just exhaustion. Probably both. I'm just so tired of this kind of blindness. No genre is the single province of men and to assume so, to write as if that's the case, especially in 2020, is the worst kind of chauvinism. There are times when I'm really up for the fight. This morning, at 6:30 AM, in the midst of a global pandemic, I don't have the energy to spare for a man who should know better. As a feminist, after decades of trying to be aware and make others aware of things like this, it's angering, sure, but the exhaustion is just overwhelming.

So this morning, I decided not to get into the fray. I'm jus going to let it be. The article is a fait accompli, as I said. Someone else can educate him. Me? I'm just disappointed in him.

Comments

[herself_nyc]

I feel you on this.