Yet another SFWA departure

[catherineldf]

Amazing. I'd been intending to let my membership lapse ever since the whole debacle with Harlan Ellison and Connie Willis. Apparently lapsing is now a multi-strike process; I've been contracted 3 times to make sure I really want to leave. I gather the bandwagon is rather full.
I'm bailing for a number of reasons, which range from the whole blind eye to sexual harassment problem, the inability to incorporate new writers and new writing, the staggering stupidity of raising the membership rates to ensure that the clubhouse stays 'exclusive', the failure to comprehend e-publishing and the almost complete irrelevance of the organization's publications.
I did renew my membership in RWA, however. RWA has its own exciting set of baggage but they deal with it differently, which is to say, at all. The biggest strikes against them from my standpoint are the issues that some members have with homophobia, the overwhelming heterosexism and the rather phobic attitude to erotica. However, within the last 2 years, I have seen an overwhelmingly negative response in the RWA Report to a homophobic letter written by one of the members. I've seen the number of erotica awards grow. I've seen them broaden their list of publishers to include Bold Strokes, a publisher of (primarily) lesbian romance. Just a month ago, I was contacted to serve as a judge for the erotica entries (including some queer content) for an RWA writing contest. And I've seen the organization grow and actually work on serving its members by promoting and expanding the genre. Not hard to see why SFWA suffers in comparison.

Comments

[jean-roberta.livejournal.com]

The "blind eye to sexual harassment problem"? In an org for writers in a particular genre?? I probably missed the news item. Could you post a link?

A lesbian nurse I know has been on stress leave for months because of the reaction of the medical establishment to an incident in which a dr. touched her inappropriately. Not traumatic in itself, and she only asked for an apology, but it set off a firestorm in which her credibility, professionalism and people skills have all been questioned despite all the other women in the field who have told her the same guy (such a healer) treated them the same way. Yecchh.

This is the stuff we were fighting against in the era of disco fever.
When will they ever get it??

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

http://community.livejournal.com/bellwether_talk/

that community is more about sf fandom in general, but as that's where a lot of sfwa members gather in person...

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Fast recap - Harlan Ellison groped Connie Willis at an award ceremony last year. This set off a whole bunch of revelations of other unpleasant experiences that women authors have had at other awards and conventions, some of it SFWA-related. And then there was the inevitable 'boys will be boys' response. SFWA basically tried to ignore the whole thing, though the previous president, Robin Bailey, tried to make some safe space for women writers to talk about their experiences. But at the same time, the organization also censured a writer who exposed some of the prominent 'boys will boys' defenders in his blog. They failed to censure Harlan or anyone else who's known to have 'happy hands' among other things. The new leadership is very old guard in no very pleasant manner so it will get worse before it gets better.

[roguelurker.livejournal.com]

Out of curiousity, what are the benefits of joining an association like SFWA or RWA? Is it the networking aspect? If so, do mediums like LiveJournal communities or groups like BroadUniversse serve a similar purpose?

I'd heard about the Willis/Ellison thing from my partner when it was first reported (on news or 'net) and found the whole thing rather outrageous - I'll assume things got even more heated behind the SFWA doors.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Quite a bit is the networking. Sometimes you get easier access to certain publications. Horror Writers of America has member only anthologies for example. Membership makes you eligible to vote on awards. It can also get you a certain cache - becoming an author member of RWA or an active SFWA member means that in theory you've sold enough in the genre to make you a 'professional.' RWA used to have health benefits but seems to have discontinued that in recent years. Basically, they're supposed to be professional organizations as opposed to social ones.
Re: the whole groping thing. Oh yeah, one thing about the organization is that fun never stops. The survivors will no doubt be feuding amongst themselves when they're down to the last 2 members. :-(

[roguelurker.livejournal.com]

It's unfortunate that it appears a number of people are leaving, but in doing so, perhaps the message will finally hit home.