foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. - r. w. emerson

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‘The Baseline Is, You Suck’: Junot Diaz on Men Who Write About Women

theatlantic:

The Atlantic: It sounds like you’re saying that literary “talent” doesn’t inoculate a writer—especially a male writer—from making gross, false misjudgments about gender. You’d think being a great writer would give you empathy and the ability to understand people who are unlike you—whether we’re talking about gender or another category. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Junot Diaz: I think that unless you are actively, consciously working against the gravitational pull of the culture, you will predictably, thematically, create these sort of fucked-up representations. Without fail. The only way not to do them is to admit to yourself [that] you’re fucked up, admit to yourself that you’re not good at this shit, and to be conscious in the way that you create these characters. It’s so funny what people call inspiration. I have so many young writers who’re like, “Well I was inspired. This was my story.” And I’m like, “OK. Sir, your inspiration for your stories is like every other male’s inspiration for their stories: that the female is only in there to provide sexual service.” There comes a time when this mythical inspiration is exposed for doing exactly what it’s truthfully doing: to underscore and reinforce cultural structures, or I’d say, cultural asymmetry.

Just like I said, Junot Diaz thinks men suck.

His general refusal to romanticize talent as synonymous with wisdom is so refreshing.

In case it needs to be said, this is not just some provocative fluff designed to get clicks, it’s really worth a read. Sure, there are plenty of important criticisms to be made: Why are we even talking about “having it all”? Doesn’t this perpetuate the anti-feminist stereotype of “sad white babies with mean feminist mommies”? Are the hard choices described here really only women’s choices? Why should normal folk even care about how hard it is to be an ambitious woman of superprivilege? Not to mention my personal pet peeve: does AMS really think that electing a woman president would itself cause - or even reflect - a society that’s ready to reinvent itself in the ways she recommends? But if you get through the whole piece, you’ll see that she addresses, or at least acknowledges, most of the above. I am unbelievably lucky not only to have experienced a flexible/virtual/progressive workplace early in my career, but also to have a husband who I trust completely as a true partner in every aspect of our life - and yet these challenges still haunt/worry me.  Thank you, AMS & theatlantic, for igniting this dialogue.

In case it needs to be said, this is not just some provocative fluff designed to get clicks, it’s really worth a read.

Sure, there are plenty of important criticisms to be made: Why are we even talking about “having it all”? Doesn’t this perpetuate the anti-feminist stereotype of “sad white babies with mean feminist mommies”? Are the hard choices described here really only women’s choices? Why should normal folk even care about how hard it is to be an ambitious woman of superprivilege? Not to mention my personal pet peeve: does AMS really think that electing a woman president would itself cause - or even reflect - a society that’s ready to reinvent itself in the ways she recommends?

But if you get through the whole piece, you’ll see that she addresses, or at least acknowledges, most of the above.

I am unbelievably lucky not only to have experienced a flexible/virtual/progressive workplace early in my career, but also to have a husband who I trust completely as a true partner in every aspect of our life - and yet these challenges still haunt/worry me. 

Thank you, AMS & theatlantic, for igniting this dialogue.