more potatoes (and corn. don't forget the corn. the corn is important.)

[lanning]

This post by rosefox features some correspondence (posted with permission) with our friend Paul DiFilippo of "women and people of color in SF/F are like corn in a potato field" fame, in which he defends his metaphor and adds this gem:

You have always struck me and continue to strike me as a sincere wisher-of-goodness for the field. Others in "your camp" appear to me to be repugnant and dangerous combinations of Jerry Falwell, Savonarola, Osama bin Laden, Bill O'Reilly and Aimee Semple McPherson. To such, I will never bow my head.

*dies and dies and dies again* Great horny toads! No Stalin? No Hitler? Ahhahahahahaha.... That's right, toots! Anybody who wants diversity in SF/F is just like Osama bin Laden! It's so obvious! How could I have missed it? Oh, the wise, wise white men. They make it all so clear.

*goes away to die some more*

Comments

[From: mab_browne]

To such, I will never bow my head.

The whole communication is appalling, but that last line - dear god, I have no words. This guy clearly believes himself to be some a hero of freedom, and all I see is a full-frontal 'no pants' mental assault. Bloody hell.

[From: lanning]

Yes, he's definitely suffering from delusions of significance. Also from a lack of reading comprehension. I second that bloody hell.

[From: resonant]

I described the whole debacle to the spouse. (I may have called the book The 10" Book of Throbbing Science Fiction; I admit to nothing.)

He says, "You know, depending on what specific kinds of stories they like, they could have had a completely blind selection process and still ended up with all white males. It's like if you had a contest for heavy-metal hair bands. You can't predict who the top three are going to be, but you can be fairly sure there won't be any Asians."

[From: lanning]

I may have called the book The 10" Book of Throbbing Science Fiction; I admit to nothing.

*dies* Your non-admission is noted.

The spouse has a point, of course. But if it had been me, and my first selection turned out to be all white males, my first thought would have been there is a problem with my selection process and not yay, ready to go to print. But what do I know? I grow potatoes and corn in the same field. *g*