Thursday, November 26, 2009

Gender Discrimation in Creative Writing Workshops

The following essay dates back to 1999, but things haven't changed much in the past ten years. After all, Publishers Weekly's top 10 list earlier this month consisted entirely of male authors (I believe only one wasn't white), and their top 100 list only included 29 female authors. It all boils down to perpetuating the patriarchy they've internalized. People grow up fed the belief that a power-tripping white male perspective is the most important--if not the only valid--perspective, and they teach this to the next generation.

www.womenwriters.net/editorials/Weiser1.htm