A Stalker’s Notebook: Gender, Minorities, and International SF
Books, Column | Charles Tan | November 4, 2009 at 6:12 amOne of the stereotypes of the genre is that fantasy and science fiction is escapist. And yet, in the past year alone, we’ve had fevered discussions such as Race Fail, forced a publisher to alter one of their book covers, and witnessed the birth of a new organization, Outer Alliance, which focuses on LGBT issues in literature. This author is also involved in The World SF News Blog, which focuses on international SF. Suffice to say, the genre is politically charged and very grounded in the real world.
Having said that, the SF publishing industry is not bereft of injustices. That’s why we have organizations like the Carl Brandon Society and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award Council in the first place, as well as websites like The Angry Black Woman. There are a lot of causes that need to be championed, and some of them overlap with each other, while others have murky boundaries (but need to be championed nonetheless). Here’s my attempt–and I may get them wrong–at breaking down the various causes in the genre.
Gender
The Problem: Sexism, in whatever terms you can conceive of. It could be inappropriate behavior at a convention, a bias in selecting authors for an anthology, or issues with your writing.
Why It’s Wrong: I don’t understand why there’s a prejudice against female writers (and let’s face it, most of the biases are against them). They’re not “the other,” at least not to the extent of the other causes in this essay. I mean, can you imagine a day when you don’t run into a representative of the female gender, whether it’s your mother, your sister, or a simple friend? Why should fiction be any different?
Possible Overlapping Boundaries: Shouldn’t LGBT be included here, since they’re considered gender issues as well?
Race
The Problem: Much like gender, this is racism in all its forms. Last year, it was a rejection letter. This year, it was a book cover that featured a white character instead of a colored one, to say nothing of the elephant in the room, namely Race Fail.
Why It’s Wrong: It’s the misinterpretation of non-white cultures, intentional or otherwise. On one hand, this might stem from genuine ignorance, but advocates question why there was insufficient research. On the other hand, this could also be borne out of intentional malice.
Possible Overlapping Boundaries: Race and gender usually go hand in hand, especially in blogs like The Angry Black Woman. There’s also some overlap in the representation of people of color with International SF.
LGBT
The Problem: There’s not enough of it being published (or rather, there’s not a lot of venues and opportunities for such writers). There’s also incidents of censorship, banning, and the occasional prejudice which crosses over to gender in general.
Why It’s Wrong: Honestly, LGBT is in a precarious situation in the publishing industry because it’s in a precarious situation in the real world. It could boil down to simple human rights or an inability to legally get married. The state of LGBT literature actually makes the problems of Race and Gender look progressive. I mean when it comes to race issues, a book like Huckleberry Finn today gets banned because of the racism in the book (i.e., the language and how African Americans are represented), as opposed to the inclusion of African Americans (although the interracial friendship of the protagonist was once an issue). That’s not the case with LGBT books: they’re excluded because of the inclusion of LGBT characters and culture which run contrary to the practices of several American institutions. And when it comes to the genre, there’s honestly not a lot of LGBT fiction being published.
Possible Overlapping Boundaries: This could also fall under Gender, and the fact that a lot of people’s concept of gender is reduced to the male/female duality is a cause for concern.
International SF
The Problem: The venues for international SF outside of their mother countries (and sometimes not even then) is small. International SF not written in English is doubly handicapped with the lack of translators (and appreciation for them).
Why It’s Wrong: Let’s face it, the US and the UK have a huge monopoly in the publishing industry, even if they just comprise a fraction of the world. Compare a book published in the US to a book published in, say, Singapore. International readers will likely have more access to the former rather than the latter, even if they’re geographically closer to Singapore.
Possible Overlapping Boundaries: Race might also be covered by International SF, depending on your definition of International SF.
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