Quote:
Originally Posted by Kate Benedict
Guys reading here: suppose you spent fifty bucks on the New Oxford Book of Contemporary Poems in English and 70% of the poems included were by females. Wouldn't you be miffed?
|
I'd be surprised to know that anyone counted, to be honest. I've never, not once, paid any attention to how many men or women had poems published in any publication much less taken the time to figure out a percentage.
I've paid attention to the subject matter, I've paid attention to the rhyme and rhythm, I've paid attention to the form, I've paid attention to the quality of the poem, but I've just not spent any time worrying over the sex of the poet.
Besides which, if what Quincy and David and Paul have spoken of in regards to submissions to their magazine holds true for most publications which accept poems from members of both sexes, there a preponderence of male submissions - which would make it only logical that there would be more male poets represented in any given publication.
The only really fair and unbiased means of assessing the situation would be to know the male-to-female ratio of submissions, wouldn't it?
Kate, how about Umbrella? Have you ever done a count of submissions based on sex? (And I don't mean to put you on the spot - it's just that it's an interesting question and seems to be a great way to start getting down to identifying the problem as it exists and not just as it's being perceived.)
The solution would be very different based upon the numbers, wouldn't it? Perhaps it's not as simple as not enough women are submitting poems, but perhaps it does contribute to the problem.