So, for those who followed along, we had an interesting discussion during the past several days, exploring whether men have an advantage in kidlit. A blog's comment section isn't the ideal place for an extended dialogue, so I suspect the conversation will die out soon, if it hasn't already. But I need to do a bit of wrap-up. First, I want to thank everyone who participated. It was great to hear from authors, librarians, and award judges. (Thank you for keeping it civil, too.) Second, just to sum the it all up, several things seem to have been established, or at least well argued. First, we shouldn't mistake public discussions for what happens in award meetings. Second, many of the writers are not concerned about intentional bias, but about subconscious bias. Some fairly good arguments were given to bolster the belief that women face biases in many areas. (Confidential to ANON#2 -- you made some excellent points. I hope you disclose your secret identity to me, via email, so I know who I'm praising. I can keep a secret.) I have to say it's pretty obvious to anyone who functions in the real world that women have to deal with far more types of subtle and subconscious bias than men do. But one cure for that is revelation and discussion.
Thanks again, all who played the game. I'll get back to funny stuff in my next post.
Oh -- one more thing. If you feel badly about not getting a Newbery, a Printz, or some other award or honor, think about this -- just being eligible means you had a book published. That's a pretty awesome achievement. You rock.
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A tongue-in-cheek look at writing, publishing, and whatever else comes to mind.
By: David Lubar,
on 2/2/2012
Blog: Gadfly in the Ointment (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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A tongue-in-cheek look at writing, publishing, and whatever else comes to mind.
By: David Lubar,
on 2/2/2012
Blog: Gadfly in the Ointment (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Add a tag