Letters to the Editor
Cinemote
Published Letters: 1
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We All Lose
[Read the article: Seal Press scandal]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]After reading about this incident on the blogs of BA, Seal, Bitch and a few others--the posts and all the comments on each... WOW! was my first reaction. Followed by: WTF?
Personally, I'm disappointed in both sides. There is so much divisive b.s. in the world (and in the world of publishing) that it pains me to see women fighting each other about who has more privilege, who communicates best, who is out of line, etc. and any other topic torch chosen to be raised in this melee.
I am an American woman of German and Italian descent (which makes me somewhat peach colored), so I won't even begin to try to say I have any idea what WOC have had to endure in their lives, but WE ARE ALL WOMEN FIRST and every one of these women who call themselves feminists seems to have forgotten that infighting doesn't further the feminist cause.
Sure, people say things out of anger and people say things out of ignorance, tactlessness, whatever. I, for one, acknowledge that I regularly put my foot in my mouth and say things that upset people, making them sad or angry. And it's not from malice, more from my own failings at anticipating how someone may perceive what I've said.
I can see merit in the hot-button emotions felt by both sides, but why isn't anyone acknowledging what we've all discovered at some point--that email and blog post comments are a ripe breeding ground for misunderstandings, just for the sheer fact that it's impossible to gauge someone's tone, read their expression, or even decipher what someone "meant" to say when maybe it didn't come out as they intended. As a means of serious communication, it’s inherently flawed.
The most important point that no one seems to be bringing up is that publishing is a tough business and it's been an uphill fight from the time when women had to use male pseudonyms just to get into print. In this Seal Press/Black Amazon debacle, neither side came out as winners. And when that happens, it's a loss for all women. Especially for those of us who strive to show that cooperation and support between women has evolved far beyond the warring tendencies of men.
Get it together, ladies.