Interesting links!

[hawkwing_lb]

Sarah Rees Brennan, on Shut Up, Ladies!

There is an old boys’ network which exists, especially in Literary Fiction Circles, i.e. the most highly regarded and best paid. 83 per cent of the books reviewed in the New York Review of Books are by men… and 83 per cent of reviewers are men, too. (What a highly interesting coincidence!) When questioned about the Super Sketchy Numbers, the editor of the Times Literary Supplement (surprise: he’s a dude) said ‘The TLS is only interested in getting the best reviews of the most important books.’ (Oh. I. See.)

These dudes with this power are able to silence any silly praise of ladies. Remember me talking about Dorothy L. Sayers above? This is what a dude writing for the New Yorker said about her: ‘I have often heard people say that Dorothy Sayers wrote well… but, really, she does not write very well.’ (Thanks for clearing that up, buddy.) Dudes are more likely to get awards, shiny objects that say ‘Here is your Well Done for Speaking Up, Dude. NONE FOR YOU, LADY.’

How cool is this? Archaeologists find 1,600 year-old teratoma.

Archaeologists examining the 1,600-year-old remains of a woman from Roman Spain have made a unique – if grisly – discovery: a calcified ovarian tumour containing four teeth and a piece of bone.

And I wrote a new column for Sleeps With Monsters: Where Are The Older Women?

Sadly, a bunch of the comments appear to take "older" to mean "in their (maybe late) thirties," when I was really thinking "above forty at minimum," but hey, Patriarchy, what can you do?

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Ungood news on the family health saga front. Oy, 2013. Stop that already.

Comments

[msagara.livejournal.com]

Sadly, a bunch of the comments appear to take "older" to mean "in their (maybe late) thirties," when I was really thinking "above forty at minimum," but hey, Patriarchy, what can you do?

When I was fifteen and had a ton of time to read - and read voraciously - I considered mid 30s to be old. That was, after all, my mother’s age. Sometimes it’s just age context. (For the record, I would have considered mid-30s in men to be old as well, because, father’s age. There was a sharp divide between the “adults” and my generation in my mind.)

At fifty, of course, the perspective is reversed, and when people suggest mid-30s as old, I blink, because it seems very young to me...

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

Some people's parents start early!

But I think a lot of people are reading "late thirties" as "older" because there aren't all that many actual fifty-year-old or sixty-year-old characters protagging around. Late thirties is then relatively old, in comparison to the majority? I am not, of course, certain of my thesis here. But it strikes me as possible, at least.

(I'm twenty-seven. Already it is too late for me to be a Chosen One. I'd like to have more Istas and the like to grow into...)

[tithenai.livejournal.com]

Man I didn't even notice that you'd written the article when I responded in part to your comment. *facepalm*

I thought two possible things might explain the 30s-as-old thing without it being Patriarchy At Work:

1) Reading your post as resisting the notion that the only kind of story women can have is a Coming-of-Age story or a romance (in which case having women in their 30s who are not doing either seems like it fits with a different category of protagonist)

2) Some fantasy novels are in settings where functionally 30 IS middle age, or the age by which some women are mothers several times over. I think of GRRM's novels, for instance, where you've got Catelyn whom I don't think is much over 30 but who has a much, much different story to her daughters, etc.

I do still think there's Patriarchy At Work, and didn't read every one of the comments, but thought this might be a potential other explanation.

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

...You have good points. But having read all the comments, protagonists older than thirty are still really thin on the ground - the biggest examples brought up in the comments are twenty years and more old, and apart from them, we're mostly talking protags in the late thirties. Who, yes, may be doing other things...

I grant you, in premodern fantasy settings mid-thirties can be Quite Old, Relatively Speaking... but there's a lot of modern fantasy and science fictional futures as well. I feel there should be a wider range of protagonist ages, as in mystery or crime. But! At least the comments are filling up nicely with recommendations!

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

PS: I love the icon.

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

You're almost half my age, man. And that's some fine writing in support of older female characters, so thank you.;) (Thank you for linking to my Zero Dark Thirty review, too, BTW, because I'm stupidly proud of it.)

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

It was a stupidly brilliantly good review.

If I'm lucky, I'll live to grow old. So it's only selfishness, really... *g*

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Is this of use? (http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/2647242.html)

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

Oh, brilliant, thanks! I'll have a look in those comments for more examples...