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Smashing the Patriarchy Is Not Always Fun
Feb. 7th, 2015 10:01 amThe hardest thing about fighting the patriarchy is that people expect you to be 100% right all the time; you must have done dissertation-level research on everything you say. If you are totally correct about ninety-nine things but are a little shaky on that last one thing, then your entire argument is invalid, and any of the claims you have ever made are thus open to attack.
I'm giving a talk at a symposium on shōjo manga being held in conjunction with an exhibition in New York, and the main organizer, in his infinite wisdom, has also invited a publisher representative notorious for making strong assertions that manga (and comics in general) written by and for women have not been and will continue to not be commercially successful in the United States. I've approached this man repeatedly at various anime conventions, hoping to open some sort of professional dialog, but he's always been strikingly rude and dismissive.
The topic of my talk is that, even though there have been relatively few breakout sellers among manga titles for women, female-oriented genres have not only been positioned as supporting the manga publishing industry in the United States, but they've been extremely culturally successful as well.
I have a lot of evidence - three physical boxes full of evidence, as well as multiple folders of digital evidence - to support this claim, but I don't have the key pieces of evidence I need: sales numbers. In the United States, these numbers are locked within a series of databases with astronomical subscription fees and fearsome legal protections. There's a reason that the New York Times will rank bestsellers but not provide numbers, can you dig it.
What I'm afraid of is that the publisher representative will attack me (especially since I'm quoting him in my paper, as he has been very vocal on the matter), citing trends in numbers which he is legally obliged not to disclose and against which I have no means of defending myself.
This post doesn't have a conclusion, like, "I will do my best" or "here's my strategy." My point is simply that I'm afraid. I'm afraid of being discredited and humiliated, and there's really no way around it. All I can do is to keep my fingers crossed that a male spokesperson on female-oriented media will be capable of being civil at a male-organized event regarding female-oriented media when presented with an actual female perspective.
I'm giving a talk at a symposium on shōjo manga being held in conjunction with an exhibition in New York, and the main organizer, in his infinite wisdom, has also invited a publisher representative notorious for making strong assertions that manga (and comics in general) written by and for women have not been and will continue to not be commercially successful in the United States. I've approached this man repeatedly at various anime conventions, hoping to open some sort of professional dialog, but he's always been strikingly rude and dismissive.
The topic of my talk is that, even though there have been relatively few breakout sellers among manga titles for women, female-oriented genres have not only been positioned as supporting the manga publishing industry in the United States, but they've been extremely culturally successful as well.
I have a lot of evidence - three physical boxes full of evidence, as well as multiple folders of digital evidence - to support this claim, but I don't have the key pieces of evidence I need: sales numbers. In the United States, these numbers are locked within a series of databases with astronomical subscription fees and fearsome legal protections. There's a reason that the New York Times will rank bestsellers but not provide numbers, can you dig it.
What I'm afraid of is that the publisher representative will attack me (especially since I'm quoting him in my paper, as he has been very vocal on the matter), citing trends in numbers which he is legally obliged not to disclose and against which I have no means of defending myself.
This post doesn't have a conclusion, like, "I will do my best" or "here's my strategy." My point is simply that I'm afraid. I'm afraid of being discredited and humiliated, and there's really no way around it. All I can do is to keep my fingers crossed that a male spokesperson on female-oriented media will be capable of being civil at a male-organized event regarding female-oriented media when presented with an actual female perspective.
