4 ms·

I feel like I read a completely different article than some other commenters here. This article is a clear and persuasive statement on how unoriginal "critiques

I feel like I read a completely different article than some other commenters here. This article is a clear and persuasive statement on how unoriginal "critiques" of wokeness are, as well as on the irony of a white man complaining about how hard it is to get published... even though he just got his book published! There's no question that today space is being made in publishing for "other voices." But this article in no way says that is a bad thing, or agrees with the book author's implication of the same. To the contrary, it explains in a useful way (imo as a white man who might want at some point to publish a book) what white men can do to stay competitive as modern reading audiences change. Books are a business. If you can't get with the times, whose fault is that, really?

teakettle42 4y ago
> This article is a clear and persuasive statement on how unoriginal "critiques" of wokeness are God forbid critiques of your own normalized racism and sexism be unoriginal and boring to you. That says more about you than anything about the critique itself. > as well as on the irony of a white man complaining about how hard it is to get published... even though he just got his book published! Where’s the irony in an established successful author facing discrimination, and — unlike the many authors that will never have the opportunity due to said discrimination — using their slightly more privileged position to call it out?
- jaqalopes 4y ago
  What discrimination did he face? Surely you aren't arguing that his book—which, crucially, did ultimately sell and get published—being initially rejected by a couple of publishers constitutes "discrimination." Books, as I said, are a business. When you write a manuscript, chances are that it will be rejected by at least a few publishers before someone decides it fits their business goals. That's not discrimination, it's how the world works. I haven't seen any data showing that the percentage of new releases by white men is somehow less than the percentage of white men in the country. What I have seen is a lot of anecdotal complaining by people who are no longer benefiting from the obsolete modes of discrimination that they formerly rode to success.
  - teakettle42 4y ago
    > Surely you aren't arguing that his book—which, crucially, did ultimately sell and get published—being initially rejected by a couple of publishers constitutes "discrimination." You don’t believe that rejecting an author’s book on the basis of their gender or race is discrimination? > … a lot of anecdotal complaining by people who are no longer benefiting from the obsolete modes of discrimination that they formerly rode to success. People are complaining about explicit discrimination on the basis of race and gender. > … people who are no longer benefiting from the obsolete modes of discrimination that they formerly rode to success. This isn’t about producing a level playing field, but in fact, actively discriminating against individuals on the basis of race and gender. To quote: > Bo Burnham said, “There’s a lot of elephants in the room right now, as there should be. Maybe there were elephants there the entire time… and I think it’s slightly unfair for us to expect the solution to these inequities to be perfectly fair.” > This is the bitter pill many white men find difficult to swallow. Why yes, discrimination is difficult for anyone to swallow. The only surprise is to see so much prejudice and bias celebrated by the same people who spend so much time pretending to care about discrimination and marginalization of others.

teakettle42 4y ago

> This article is a clear and persuasive statement on how unoriginal "critiques" of wokeness are God forbid critiques of your own normalized racism and sexism be unoriginal and boring to you. That says more about you than anything about the critique itself. > as well as on the irony of a white man complaining about how hard it is to get published... even though he just got his book published! Where’s the irony in an established successful author facing discrimination, and — unlike the many authors that will never have the opportunity due to said discrimination — using their slightly more privileged position to call it out?

jaqalopes 4y ago
What discrimination did he face? Surely you aren't arguing that his book—which, crucially, did ultimately sell and get published—being initially rejected by a couple of publishers constitutes "discrimination." Books, as I said, are a business. When you write a manuscript, chances are that it will be rejected by at least a few publishers before someone decides it fits their business goals. That's not discrimination, it's how the world works. I haven't seen any data showing that the percentage of new releases by white men is somehow less than the percentage of white men in the country. What I have seen is a lot of anecdotal complaining by people who are no longer benefiting from the obsolete modes of discrimination that they formerly rode to success.
- teakettle42 4y ago
  > Surely you aren't arguing that his book—which, crucially, did ultimately sell and get published—being initially rejected by a couple of publishers constitutes "discrimination." You don’t believe that rejecting an author’s book on the basis of their gender or race is discrimination? > … a lot of anecdotal complaining by people who are no longer benefiting from the obsolete modes of discrimination that they formerly rode to success. People are complaining about explicit discrimination on the basis of race and gender. > … people who are no longer benefiting from the obsolete modes of discrimination that they formerly rode to success. This isn’t about producing a level playing field, but in fact, actively discriminating against individuals on the basis of race and gender. To quote: > Bo Burnham said, “There’s a lot of elephants in the room right now, as there should be. Maybe there were elephants there the entire time… and I think it’s slightly unfair for us to expect the solution to these inequities to be perfectly fair.” > This is the bitter pill many white men find difficult to swallow. Why yes, discrimination is difficult for anyone to swallow. The only surprise is to see so much prejudice and bias celebrated by the same people who spend so much time pretending to care about discrimination and marginalization of others.