Liza Hadiz

The Writers’ Gender Gap: True or False?

September 18, 2021

Do you think that there is a gender gap in the publishing industry? Just by reading a few sources off the internet, I found women writers claiming that they get more responses from publishers when using a male pseudonym, suggesting that the publishing industry and society in general do not take women writers seriously.

Not that women never had a prominent position in literature; if you look back, some of the earliest poets in history were women. Consider Akkadian/Sumerian poet and high priestess, Enheduanna (2285–2250 BCE), who—historians generally agree—is the first female poet, if not the first in the world. And of course we all have heard of the famous Ancient Greek poet Sappho (c. 610–c.570 BCE). Another female poet, Al-Khansa (575 to–645), was said to be the greatest Arabian poet of her time.

Other female writers over the course of history include 11th century Japanese novelist Murasaki Shikibu, Byzantine 12th century author and historian Anna Comnena, and Italian-French Christine de Pizan—the first professional female writer of the late 14th century. However, like the female poets who came before them, these women were from affluent circles or have a strong connection to them.

Even though the 18th and 19th century saw the presence of some notable women writers, such as Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, many women still chose to write anonymously or under a male pseudonym. There were women reformers who were avid writers and who were getting published, such as English philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, and later, American novelist and lecturer Charlotte Perkins Gillman. But generally speaking, the fact that most women writers tend to hide behind male or gender neutral pseudonyms indicates that it was harder for women to be accepted as authors.

The Victorian Era, with its ideology of separate sphere, contributed much to the challenge women writers face as women writers were, well… considered silly, because men (even those who were ruled by a queen) thought women lacked intellectual capacity. However, the use of pseudonyms was instrumental for women writers to gain entrance to the publishing industry. Anonymity also made it possible for women to contribute to quarterlies on conventionally male subjects such as politics and economics, while female novelists can write without being confined to the feminine literary tradition. Nonetheless, the double standard did rule. Tuchman and Fortin’s 1989 analysis of the Macmillan publishing archive from 1867 to 1917, tells us that men enjoyed higher acceptance rate and that by the 1880’s, women were being paid less (Alexis Easley in Linda H. Peterson, 2015).

It is interesting to know that even today female students and academic writers have confidence issues as they struggle in a male dominated academic world. The “confidence gap” is experienced by many professional women, according to The Atlantic (2017). I also once read that JK Rowling was told by her publisher to use her initials because boys wouldn’t read fiction written by women. Similar to what women in the academic field face, the female writer experience of harder acceptance may be a result of a gender gap that has long existed in society.

I’ve heard some say that the issue is not of any discrimination of some sort, but just the fact that there are less talented women writers. Even if this is true, we will have to ask why and any sufficient answer would need to look at issues in the education system as well as gender socialization and stereotyping. But then again, you will have to admit that some forms of sexual discrimination are just so subtle and difficult to prove even if you know that they truly exist. This may be the case with the writers’ gender gap. Just saying.

-Some Thoughts from the Cappuccino Girl- (2019)

#writing #gender #women #womenwriters #literature #womensliterature

Who Were the Mods?

September 17, 2021

Music and fashion in our pop culture eventually become a regular part of our life because we hear, wear, or see them every day. We tend to forget that some pop cultures first started out as a subculture or even a counterculture. In fact, if we look back in history many trends were actually a response to the social, political, and economic environment. Many of course started as a youth lifestyle characterized by the music and fashion youths strongly identified with.

During the 50’s in the UK, a new urban youth culture called the mod (from the word modern, because the youths were into modern jazz) began to emerge. Like other social or cultural changes that have happened in the past, coffee houses were also an important part of the mod social setting. The mods would cruise around the city at night on their scooters and hang out in coffee houses where they listened to jazz and ska out of a jukebox—popular music genres of postwar Britain.

The mods had a distinct style and were very fashion conscious. Influenced by French and Italian art films, these youngsters wore tight suits and pointed shoes. The mods came from urban working-class communities who, because of better economic conditions and job opportunities after the Second World War, were able to live a somewhat consumptive lifestyle of fashion and staying out at night. Buying clothes was an important part of the mod lifestyle, where mods spent most of their wage.

Mod women popularized androgynous fashion by wearing masculine leather jackets as they rode their scooters through the night. Women were quite visible in the mod culture. As working women, their economic independence allowed them to adopt the mod lifestyle.

At a glance, the mod lifestyle may appear to have no political relevance, but it was a political statement in itself: a rebellion against the conventional postwar English life of hard work and conformity. The youths felt that the values their parents held did not get them anywhere better.

In the swinging 60s, the mod style became a trend in London’s center of fashion, Carnaby Street, and overnight the fashion industry launched Twiggy as a mod fashion icon. Likewise in the music scene, mod was the buzzword and new rock bands, such as The Who and The Small Faces, identified as mods. David Bowie also sported the Mod look. Once a counterculture, mod became commercialized and turned into pop culture.

The mods later evolved into the skinheads. These original skinheads had reggae and ska on their jukebox playlist, and were a mixed-ethnic group of working class youngsters; quite different from what would be commonly associated with the skinheads of today.

Fashion and music associated with mods experienced a series of revivals, especially in the ‘80s. Rather than being too fashion conscious, the mods of this era took a lot more interest in political issues. Such is the case with bands like The Jam and The Style Council who sported the mod look.

Nice to see that mod-influenced fashion is still present today, although unrelated to what mod had stood for and only reminiscence of the rebellion the counterculture once inspired.

-Some Thoughts from the Cappuccino Girl- (2019)

You might be interested to read: The Rise and Fall of the Rockers and the Mods https://wordsmith.social/cappuccinogirl/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-rockers-and-the-mods

#Mods #history #music #UK #fashion #popculture #subculture #counterculture #Britain