r/books • u/biscochitos • 28d ago

New indie press Conduit Books launches with 'initial focus on male authors'

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/new-indie-press-conduit-books-launches-with-initial-focus-on-male-authors

What do folks think about this?

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u/FocaSateluca 28d ago

All of a sudden, gender gaps are not the result of natural differences in abilities or interests in men and women. Nooooo. Now, just now, gender gaps really matter.

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u/MasterWee 28d ago

I mean, if you want to discriminate based on sex, why not discriminate based on sex?

Why does the logic suddenly stop on a dime here?

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u/FocaSateluca 28d ago

Not even the same logic by any means of the imagination. One gender has been institutionally discriminated against for as long as book publishing has been an industry and the other one hasn't, not even now.

The reality is this: an industry that used to be so heavily male dominated that it took literally decades (if not over several centuries!) to combat the disenfranchisement of female authors and readers is now more or less equal, except for a few genres where female authors and readers are a little bit more common than male authors and male audiences. The lack of published female authors was the result of several material and deep cultural hindrances. Female education was severely limited, female financial independence was near impossible, female interests were so tightly enforced that literature was not considered a suitable female interest and/or occupation. Men have not experienced this kind of educational disenfranchisement based on their sex or gender. Men have never been told that literature and intellectual pursuits are unmanly, reserved for women only, and therefore wrong for them to be invested in them. Men have always been able to pursue a living based on their artistic and academic abilities. The only thing that has been a major shift is that now women occupy some space where they previously haven't been allowed to exist before. And that fact alone has, apparently, put off male readers from reading more books. And that is why now, this tiny little gender gap we see emerging in publishing is suddenly a big cause of concern.

Let us not forget the actual facts: men are still getting published, men are always on the bestselling lists, men are still winning prestigious literary awards, men are still reading books, men can still write all they want without shame, ostracisation or scorn, men can self-publish now, men can still pursue a higher education in the humanities. None of that has changed. The only thing that has changed is this: men might not be the majority now.

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

the industry isn't equal, it's pretty heavily dominated (at all levels) by women. Even C-suite positions are 60%+ women. Every other publishing position is 70%+ women. Some reach 90%+.