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Unread 06-05-2009, 11:07 PM
Shaun J. Russell Shaun J. Russell is offline
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Columbus, OH
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Interesting...nine straight posts by men, versus the one original post by Carol...

Anyhow, I think the reason for less female poets in print is very simple. Like Quincy and David mentioned, they are editors who receive more work from men than women. I think this is due to the fact that more often than not, women are less interested in seeing their work in print than men are. Emily Dickinson is a perfect, if somewhat cliched, example of this: she wrote great work, but cared more about soliciting it to a few friends and relatives than she did about accruing notability for her craft. Men, more often than not have that cocky swagger and bravado about them that makes them want to thump their chest at the prospect of their accomplishments being widely acknowledged. These are hard-wired genetic traits that truly have nothing to do with the quality of poetry itself. You'd be hard pressed to find many men saying that women can't write exceptional poetry.

I, too, balk a bit at journals like Mezzo Cammin and the like, in the same way I balk at journals that state that they will not publish traditional verse / formal poetry. What is the point of cutting down the pool of potential contributors? Is editorial bias not enough? If you want to foster true equality, any good editor should take what he or she deems to be the best work submitted.