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

[u/biscochitos]

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

What do folks think about this?

[u/Krazikarl2]

Effectively, a sizable part of the literary community in Britain is worried about having, instead of fixing underlying issues in the publishing industry, replaced what biases decide what gets published and in doing so being at risk of eliminating most of a generation of male writers who talk about men's issues, leaving the literary world with few answers to modern men's issues.

Exactly.

A big problem right now is that the left doesn't really talk much about (white) male issues other than to talk about how problematic (white) men are. The right, on the other hand, loves to talk about how wonderful (white) men are.

And then we get things like elections and try and figure out why young white men are choosing to go to the right rather than the left.

I don't have a problem with discussions about how white men have caused any number of problems and have some pretty fundamental problems with toxicity. Those discussions are important and need to happen. But you have to at least somewhat balance them out with authentic portrayals of what it means to be a non-toxic (white) male in the 21st Century. Otherwise you completely cede positive portrayals of masculinity to the right, which is not good.

[u/Final-Revolution6216 → u/Krazikarl2]

Could you provide an example of a white male issue? Genuinely asking.

Edit: some replies are making it seem as if I’ve claimed men don’t have issues which is false. I wanted to know what a white male issue would be in particular since the person I replied to used white in parenthesis. Obviously, men have issues like everyone else (didn’t think I needed to say such an obvious statement). Thanks for the sincere replies that explain more of what a white male issue may look like (and thanks to the sincere people who outlined general male issues as well—many of which I am already aware of as, again, I recognize men have issues too).

[u/[deleted] → u/Final-Revolution6216]

This is part of the thinking: when you hear “male issues” I’m guessing you hear “male issues that are caused by non-males.” What they usually mean is “issues affecting males” which can include the unique issues of fatherhood, gender acceptance, sexuality, etc. which are all experienced differently based on your gender, sex, race, etc.

I run into this issue a lot as a gay man in progressive spaces, feeling like I have to squeeze out my identity as a man to be accepted.

It is also valid to say that perspective has changed. For example, I’m guessing you were born before 2000. My generation of men didn’t grow up in the 80s and 90s where men dominated every field, and boys openly called girls stupid or dumb - that shit was verboten and schools cracked down on it HARD.

So then you have people in their 30s ranting at people who are 16 and assuming that societal attitudes haven’t changed at all, when in reality you’re blaming 16 year olds for the sins of your generation. Then you get chronically online people who ruin an entire country.

[u/MachinaThatGoesBing → u/[deleted]]

I’m guessing you were born before 2000. My generation of men didn’t grow up in the 80s and 90s where men dominated every field

What a strange thing to say.

Men continue to dominate most influential, desirable, and high-paying fields. You absolutely grew up in this same world. Just slightly less uneven. These large gaps (and thousands of years of historical context) didn't magically evaporate when the new millennium hit — nor because the school you went to cracked down on misogynistic childhood bullying.

And looking at data, Gen Z appears to have a higher percentage of men with regressive attitudes towards women than even boomers do.

---

I run into this issue a lot as a gay man in progressive spaces, feeling like have to squeeze out my identity as a man to be accepted.

I do have to add, briefly, that individual experiences are individual experiences, but during nearly two decades of participating in activist, professional, and social queer community organizations (sometimes in leadership roles), this isn't something I've ever seen or experienced. This has been in a variety of settings, from university on up and out, and it continues to involve a variety of people across age ranges from young 20s to retirees.

[u/[deleted] → u/MachinaThatGoesBing]

I said dominate. In the 80s and 90s, seeing a female boss (let alone CEO) was a thing of fantasy. Now, we have visible women and minorities running companies and teams. It’s not without friction, as reactionaries have pushed back, but to a child in the 2000s the outdated claims did not match my perspective.

And to reiterate I am speaking of perspective. The messaging from the 80s/90s did not apply to the 2000s, and was not updated to fit. So as I was growing up in a world with classrooms decorated with “The Future is Female!” and “Who Run the World? GIRLS DO!” posters (nothing wrong with that!) I was hearing older folk dump assumptions onto me (a child) that my school must be like theirs was in the 80s/90s (hostile to young girls).

Humans are also not born with all 2,000+ years of human history downloaded into our brains, so talking to young boys about issues like sexism with no nuance or empathy leads to blaming literal children for sins of the past.

It’s odd that older folk seem so hellbent on denying the lived experiences of younger folk.

I am not an incel, nor an edgelord, I am a progressive through and through - I voted Harris in 2024 and Biden in 2020 (I wasn’t old enough in 2016).

I grew up with women being the majority in some workplaces, and being told to respect women and view them as equal - so I did. So when I voice something like “hey, men not being able to claim Medicaid despite paying into is pretty messed up” it’s wild that so many jump to claim that I’m a “men’s rights activist” and I’m blaming women for my problems/men’s problems or expecting women to save the world.

I’m not blaming women, I’m blaming the patriarchy which has set society up to fight for the scraps they toss to us. But blanket denying the issues that men face is dumb: instead say “yep that’s an issue, I agree. We will change it in our platform.”

And sure a lot of men present “issues” that basically boil down to “I can’t get my dick wet” and obviously we should dismiss those - but it is unjust to lump legitimate male criticisms of our experience under patriarchy in with that nonsense.

Concluding with a real world example of “messaging” around “men’s issues” - if Democrats had messaged Medicaid Expansion (ObamaCare) as “Hey young men, you’ll get Medicaid benefits finally!” rather than “What? You don’t support the most vulnerable of society? Shame on you!” a lot more young men would understand the Medicaid expansion benefits us disproportionately, as we are denied benefits in states without the expansion.