Miss Stacey May I Have Another

It is rather difficult to have a reasonable, rational conversation about matters of (in)equity, whether we’re discussing race, gender or sexuality. These issues are the kind where we are so deeply entrenched in our positions we can’t or won’t consider other viewpoints. When someone like Jennifer Weiner points out an inequity in, say, the media coverage of male and female writers, there’s always going to be (and rightly so) an alternative perspective, but then there’s also going to be someone who will say, “Such is not the case with me, so you must be wrong.” Sometimes, it would be nice to be able to say, “There is a problem that demands attention,” without being shouted down, condescended to, derided or ignored.

In many realms, systemic, pervasive inequalities exist. Publishing is certainly one of those. The correct response to Weiner pointing out that disparities still exist when it comes to mainstream media coverage is not to say, “I’m a man and I am not getting media coverage either.” Making that kind of statement completely misses the point far more than, say, “Jennifer Weiner’s attack on the New York Times.”

When I write about race, gender, inequity and publishing, I am rarely writing about myself. I am not lamenting a lack of opportunities for my own writing. I’m not shaking my fists at the sky wondering when my novel will sell. Thus far, things are going reasonably well for me. There is plenty I want that feels out of reach, but I don’t think The Man is holding me down. When I do want to complain, I go drinking with my friends. I say this to make it clear that in discussing these fraught topics I am, more often than not, looking at historical patterns that are deeply embedded within our culture. We’re still talking about an issue Francine Prose, for example, eloquently addressed in Harper’s in 1998 when she wrote “Scent of a Woman’s Ink.” Personalizing these discussions, as Wayne clearly does, is not necessarily effective. There will always be exceptions (alas, the midlist male novelist) but we cannot ignore the complex reality of the rules to which these exceptions apply.