Letters to the Editor
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sometimes it's easier to step away and do nothing
Activism is tiring. Even when you are constantly fighting for others, there will always be people claiming you're still not doing enough. If you take the next step and do even more, then another group will claim you're not doing it properly. When does it end? Energy is finite, so it's tempting to just start living for yourself.
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uhhhh...what is a Seal Press?
I thought this was a scandal involving the singer Seal and comments he made to the press about women of color.......
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We All Lose
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.
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Bitches, please
"This was about the editors of Seal Press showing up on one individual's blog to take her to task because she wrote something they didn't like."
Oh, right, because how dare Seal Press respond to someone saying "Fuck you!" I mean, Miss Ann is jes s'posed to take it, I guess.
Crap. If aspiring writers of any hue want to get published, they can send queries, pitches, treatments, etc.
And if anyone of any color in any forum talks trash and then gets taken to task for it, DEAL WITH IT. You insult someone, you get answered back (and, judging from Seal's response -- a damn sight more civilly than was deserved). To then get outraged because someone responded to your insult is narcissism of the first rank.
Oh, and Tracy, is it cowardly not to come down on one side, here?
Yes.
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More from Black Amazon
In a more recent blog post Black Amazon has explained in a very rambling way why she originally said "Fuck Seal Press".
I said it because someone I had come to love had been hurt and in this little square inch of interweb, I wanted a WOC to know how fierce the love I felt for her and what she was trying to do in the world was.
I wanted her to know violently I would reject and defend her from those who would do anything in any way to minimize that.
So apparently the bottom line is that a friend of hers had received a rejection letter from Seal Press (or some similar "insult"), she wanted to impress the friend with her amity, and gave little thought to the possibility that others outside her circle of sycophants and regular blog readers might take an interest in her blog ramblings.
Having received an unexpected reply, she panicked and instead of explaining what she was talking about, which certainly wasn't clear from the original post, retreated into absurdities and bombast.
Is it fair for the whole world to look at a blog which the writer regards as her personal little Web page for herself and her friends and try to hold the author to wider standards? Who knows? Do people blog because they want to find readers, or do they blog for personal therapy, or is it a bit of both?
Is it fair for me, who is not a WOC to even have an opinion? Well, I was married to a WOC for 15 years and am about to be married to another, so I know a bit about what WOC have to deal with, and I know the kind of prejudice and ignorance that husbands of WOC often have to deal with (as if one was married to a zebra or giraffe--sometimes it seems), but my general impression is that WOC have to compete in the marketplace like anyone else (which they often do very successfully), and I see no reason not to take the editors of Seal Press at their word, that they would welcome authors who were WOC, because no business these days, even a mainstream one, wants to have a reputation for unfair hiring or purchasing practices.
And what would be the point? Would you really turn down a money-making book because the author was WOC? That would be business suicide. If your author is WOC, then doesn't that enlarge the potential market for the book?
On the other hand publishing is a competitive business that doesn't lend itself very well to affirmative action and for anyone who buys a book on do-it-yourself car maintenance or barbequeing**, the gender and skin color of the author might pique enough interest to take a second look, but it won't count for much if the book isn't useful.
Many of the most successful writers in history have been rejected by publishers numerous times before they have had a book accepted. That is part of the process of becoming a writer.
** Seal Press is currently looking for authors on these topics.