A Quokka Dreeds its Weird

cofax7 notes that of twenty nominees in prose categories, only one writer is female. Also, in a con which will be taking place in Japan, not a single nominee in any category is Japanese. (I don't know everyone's race, but I suspect it's the usual white male suspects all round.) In comments, I suggest some possible reasons for this.

When I was thinking more of being a fantasy novelist than having the peculiar and ADD-like writing career that I actually have, I used to pore over the Hugo and Nebula winner and nominee lists, and count the women. If you took out Connie Willis, the results became approximately five times more discouraging than they already were.

It's all very well to say, "May the best man win!" But when it the person picked as best so disproportionately often is a man, the message that sends to women is this:

You're not good enough.

We don't want you here.

Even if you are the best, we won't notice or acknowledge you.

I am pretending very hard that you don't exist.

It occurred to me in retrospect that, since most Hugo nominators evidently were not in the habit of seeking out non-western sf, it would have been nice if someone had put together a long list of eligible Japanese sf available in English, and posted it on the Nippon 07 website. I wonder if it would make a difference if long lists of eligible female writers' works were posted as well. Just so people could at least see what they're ignoring, and perhaps wonder if they ought to ignore it.

After all, don't people read sf because they like trying new things, exploring new frontiers, and looking at the perspective of people (or aliens) who are not exactly like them?

Found in Mariposa on the counter of a general store; I have no idea where the deli is, but presumably elsewhere in Mariposa.)

[Poll #881926]