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Unread 06-06-2009, 07:02 PM
Eva Salzman Eva Salzman is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: London/NY
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The statistics gathered compiling Women's Work are to do with the shocking imbalance within anthologies in which, given limited room, there are inevitably far more men poets deserving of the space there. The glass ceiling, in the fairest of collections, is 1/3. Mostly it is far worse and definitely not some accident. I don't believe for one minute there's some conspiracy, but this quite beyond the point.

The editors here in the UK at publishing houses and of journals are almost entirely male. Furthermore, in defining the canon, many of them don't even do so from knowledge. They just don't know many of the women poets, including leading ones from the US, while they often know the men poets. These figures are indisputable and should raise questions.

By the way, although this issue gets everyone hot under the collar, I do find the way some men address it, and women, highly insulting, perhaps even provocative in order to then attack the response as being - dare I say it - hysterical. Apart from this, I noticed (I think on another discussion) a very reasonable man insisting on how important it was that household things be shared: if he were asked he'd like to think he'd do his share, and that his wife-to-be should certainly be "allowed" time to herself! Why should she have to ask? Because it's her responsibility it goes without saying? And "allowed"?! Male writers' lives are supported and shored up to an unbelievable degree by having a support system most women can only dream about.