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good news, but not great
May. 3rd, 2013 10:37 amRe: the SFWA election results just announced.
Steven Gould won handily to be president, 444 votes to 46 for his opponent.
Now, it happens that I know Steven Gould, and he's a really good guy. He'll make a fine president. He's intelligent, engaged in the community, and funny. (Also, his wife is one of the most awesome people I know.) There's nothing about him, as far as I know, that would give someone pause in voting for him. It seems, therefore, fairly reasonable to conclude that the 46 votes for his opponent were votes FOR the opponent, rather than votes against Gould.
Which would be okay -- that's how democracy works -- if the other guy wasn't THIS GUY. ("Beale suggested that honor killings, throwing acid in women's faces and even genital mutilation benefited women because they prevent female independence and promiscuity, which he repeatedly referred to as social ills") This is the guy who publicly stated, when he was first considering a run for President, that his platform was "going to involve disenfranchising all of the female members".
And this is important, especially in this week when an established Hard SF short story writer was told by a major publisher that they weren't interested in looking at her work because she's a woman.
The idea that 10% of SFWA professionals supported this guy, in 2013, is frankly very depressing. 2%? I could have lived with that. There's always a couple of those burnt, fucked-up little mutant potato chips at the bottom of every bag, after all. But 10%? Really?
For a group that prides itself on envisioning and embracing the future, sure feels like the 1950's around here sometimes.
Steven Gould won handily to be president, 444 votes to 46 for his opponent.
Now, it happens that I know Steven Gould, and he's a really good guy. He'll make a fine president. He's intelligent, engaged in the community, and funny. (Also, his wife is one of the most awesome people I know.) There's nothing about him, as far as I know, that would give someone pause in voting for him. It seems, therefore, fairly reasonable to conclude that the 46 votes for his opponent were votes FOR the opponent, rather than votes against Gould.
Which would be okay -- that's how democracy works -- if the other guy wasn't THIS GUY. ("Beale suggested that honor killings, throwing acid in women's faces and even genital mutilation benefited women because they prevent female independence and promiscuity, which he repeatedly referred to as social ills") This is the guy who publicly stated, when he was first considering a run for President, that his platform was "going to involve disenfranchising all of the female members".
And this is important, especially in this week when an established Hard SF short story writer was told by a major publisher that they weren't interested in looking at her work because she's a woman.
The idea that 10% of SFWA professionals supported this guy, in 2013, is frankly very depressing. 2%? I could have lived with that. There's always a couple of those burnt, fucked-up little mutant potato chips at the bottom of every bag, after all. But 10%? Really?
For a group that prides itself on envisioning and embracing the future, sure feels like the 1950's around here sometimes.
