by Kira Lyn Blue

Time to duke it out!

 

Strap on your armor and sharpen your swords, it’s Controversial Topic Time!

Sexism in Fantasy

Oh yeah, we’re going there. I’m going to break this out into two posts. Today, let’s talk about cultural sexism in traditional fantasy and tomorrow we’ll talk modern fantasy.

Since I’m torn on the debate, you get to listen to me argue with myself.

The Epic Battle Between Feminist Kira (FK) and Devil’s Advocate Squirrel (DAS) Commences!

FK: I think it’s a problem that so many fantasy books are set in societies based on the cultural norms of Medieval Europe. Aren’t we just reinforcing the ideals of patriarchal societies and exclusionary gender roles where men rule and fight and women have polite tea parties and wear fancy dresses?

DAS: That’s ridiculous. Traditional fantasy also makes heavy use of kings and queens as rulers, but no one accuses the authors of being supportive of hereditary monarchies over democratic ideals.

FK: Yes, but why do writers have to do either? Why don’t we have more traditional fantasy books with democratic societies that have true gender equality?

DAS: For starters, it’s historically accurate. You may not like that women have been treated as second class citizens at best or chattel at worst in historical contexts, but that doesn’t make it inaccurate or sexist for a fantasy writer to base a their low-tech fictitious culture on the very real way gender roles developed in tribal and feudal societies.

FK: Hold on there, not every pre-industrial society was patriarchal. There are plenty of cultures that were more egalitarian, maybe even some true matriarchies. Why do we keep basing fantasy societies off the historical societies where women were oppressed, forced into arranged marriages, are ruled by their husbands, not allowed to own land, not allowed to be warriors, not allowed votes on councils, only valued for their ability to birth heirs, etc. Why can’t we use societies without all these disgusting facets.

DAS: Can you actually name a historical egalitarian or matriarchal society?

FK: (Silent glower.) Amazons?

And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
'Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart

I read this via a link I found in Debbie's blog roll.  OH MAN.

She hit SO MANY of my sore points.  I had to share a LOT.

Everything below is written by JM Gregoire and can be found here.

________________________

Dear Indie Author Community,

Something bad is happening in the Indie Author Community.  Several bad things, in fact, and if something isn’t said to you, you’re going to ruin your writing career before it ever gets started.  What is about to follow in this letter is not an ‘I know everything’ bomb.  This letter is to serve as what should be common sense for all of us.  All of this I have learned through experience as a jaded reader, a disappointed fangirl, a pissed off book blogger, a screwed over event planner, a disgusted indie author PR rep, and a fellow indie author who wants to see the community as a whole succeed.  This is an Open Letter meant to try to bring the Indie Author Community back to respectable place where we can all be taken seriously.

There are a good many indies out there I no longer have respect for.  Now, to understand the gravity of that statement, you must understand this:  I absolutely love indie authors.  I love the basic idea – you can tell your story without the media or some suit telling you what to write and when to write it.  The ‘we don’t need them’ mentality is one of the factors that kept me from even considering publishing years ago.  When the self-publishing boom hit, I thought it was a fantastic idea!  Take out the middle man and bring stories down to what it really should be – a relationship between the storyteller and their audience.

All of that being said, I have become all those things I have listed up above.  A jaded reader because the market is being flooded with books that are not ready to be published.  A disappointed fangirl because of all the authors that feel just because they’re published, they are somehow above everyone else…and treat them as such.  A pissed off book blogger because once upon a time, writing reviews was FUN and now if I don’t like a book, I can’t just SAY SO (even POLITELY, mind you) without running the chance of having the author flat-out attack me and drag my name and the name of my book blog through every mud puddle they can find.  A disgusted indie author PR rep because I keep watching indies spit in the face of the people who are the very reason they exist.  A screwed over event planner because there are so many authors out there booking themselves for events and then not following through on their commitments.  An indie author who is just sick of seeing her community drown itself.

As a person who is all of those things, I am offering up a few tidbits of advice here to maybe get us all back on track as a whole.  I am not saying I am perfect.  I am not saying I know everything.  What I am saying is pull your head out of your ass and tap into that common sense thing your parents kept trying to teach you about.

Now, if anything I say here pisses you off, then you’re guilty of it.  Point blank.  If you’re not doing it, there’s no reason to get defensive, right?  Take that as a red flag that you have veered off course and take this opportunity to right your path.  You are only doing yourself a disservice, and in the end, it’s your own writing career you’re ruining.

SNIP

NOW COMES THE REALLY SHITTY PART….

QUIT BEING AN ASSHOLE!
Oh my GAWD!  This bit of advice comes with a few different bullet points.  From a PR/Marketing perspective, all of the bullet points make you a PR NIGHTMARE.  Especially number two and number three!

First Bullet Point – You are a company, your books are your product, your readers are your customers.  The breakdown is as simple as that.  In any other retail environment, an employee would be FIRED ON THE SPOT for acting like an asshole to a customer.  So why, in the name of ALL THAT IS UNHOLY, are you doing it to your readers????  Basic Marketing 101 teaches you ‘do not piss off thy customer’.  They will stop buying from you.  In what has become an endless sea of authors, you are not special.  Acting like a jackass and insulting your readers by being a nasty puke online is going to accomplish nothing but make your readers leave you in the dust and move on to the next author.  The nicer author.  The author that treats their readers with the respect they deserve as HUMAN BEINGS.  Not to mention the fact that those PEOPLE are also what fatten your bank account every time you get a royalty payment.  So, why the hell are you biting the hand that feeds you???  It’s not all that hard to just be nice.  If you’re not a nice person, THEN GET OFF OF SOCIAL MEDIA before you become a permanent fixture in your local blog’s next Authors Behaving Badly spotlight.

by Keith Wagstaff, NBC News

It's no secret that 2013 wasn't a great year for Internet privacy.

Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked thousands of classified documents that revealed the depths of the agency's electronic surveillance program. Users had their information stolen en masse from private databases, including a security breach in November that reportedly resulted in 42 million unencrypted passwords being stolen from Australian-based Cupid Media, which was followed by a massive hack of Target credit and debit card information.

So, what's a concerned netizen to do in 2014? Turns out there are plenty of ways to keep your data safe without breaking your Internet addiction.

Take two steps towards better security
Even if you aren't worried about NSA agents reading your email, you should still be concerned about hackers taking a peek at your sensitive bank information or your "50 Shades of Grey" fan fiction.

That is why it's a good idea to take advantage of two-step verification, something that Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and other companies have been pushing more often lately as big password leaks have hit the news.

Basically, not only will the service ask you for your password, but it will provide you with a code via a text message or an authentication app that will verify your identity.

“People should take the extra step because it’s incredibly effective in making it hard for someone to break into your account,” Yan Zhu, technologist for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocate for Internet privacy, told NBC News. “They not only need access to something you know — which is your password — but they need access to something you own, which is your phone or another secondary device.”

Check your URL
Everywebsite you visit should have "https" before the URL in the browser, instead of just "http," to ensure Web traffic is encrypted for a more secure connection — especially in spaces with public Wi-Fi like airports and cafes. What do you do if that extra "s" is missing? You might want to install HTTPS Everywhere, a browser plug-in for Chrome, Firefox and Opera that rewrites requests to websites to keep you protected.

Change your terrible password

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!