- John Scalzi, On Letting People Know About Your Award-Eligible Work
- Adam Roberts, Award Season 2014
- John Scalzi, Adam Roberts on SF/F Award Awareness Posts
- Amal el-Mohtar, Of Awards Eligibility Lists and Unbearable Smugness
I am so glad Amal el-Mohtar wrote her post, because now I don't have to:
You cannot with one breath say that you wish more women were recognized for their work, and then say in the next that you think less of people who make others aware of their work. You cannot trust that somehow, magically, the systems that suppress the voices of women, people of colour, disabled people, queer people, trans people, will of their own accord stop doing that when award season rolls around in order to suddenly make you aware of their work. You MUST recognize the fact that the only way to counter silence is to encourage speech and make room for it to be heard.
It breaks my heart to read post after post of (mostly women) saying “well I usually wouldn’t do this but so-and-so” (OFTEN ME) “goaded me into doing it so here it is,” or to participate in discussions where women — extraordinary, talented, accomplished, incandescent women — confess how terrified they are by the prospect of talking about their publications during award season because what if assholes start treating them like they treated Seanan McGuire.
It's been proven, over and over and over again, that women's work is reviewed less and discussed less than men's. I don't have similar links about the work of people of color, disabled people, queer people, and trans people, but I have no doubt that studies would show the same pattern. They certainly do for other kinds of work. In pretty much every field, other people not only rewarded less financially and critically than white men, they are penalized for the same behaviors or characteristics that are rewarded in white men. The people at the top of a hierarchy can believe in a meritocracy. The rest of us know better.
Telling marginalized people to stop promoting their work is, basically, telling them to rely on the system (the free market, the publishers, the reviewers, the bloggers) to ensure that their work is recognized, and we already know that the system will not do this. White men can maintain a dignified silence above the fray and trust that their work will still be discussed. No one else has that luxury.
I like that many of the writers I read have taken to promoting works by other writers in award eligibility posts. Writers I like often lead me to other writers that I like. But I also worry about why the posters feel compelled to do this. As far as I can tell, this practice started with women and is still performed more often by women (perhaps particularly by women of color). And it frequently happens in posts where the women express anxiety and shame over daring to promote their own work. Over daring to expect that other people are interested in their work.
Eh, I'm just repeating what el-Mohtar already said better. Go read.
P.S. I've done it myself, but I'm uneasy now with using "pimping" to describe promoting or championing work. It's creepy. So I'm taking recommendations on better alternatives. All the ones I can think of have too many syllables and don't convey enough enthusiasm.
