Men Also Encounter Sexism In Society
Why does society act as though the word “sexism” is gender specific? Don’t people realize men we also encoutner sexism. For instance, I don’t see any “men’s press” or book publishers that only publish “male writers”. However, I do see numerous publishers that only publish female writers or only lesbian writers isn’t this sexist?
So why do some women act as though men also don’t encounter gender discrimination for being male? Of course we are discriminated just for being men. It just makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs when people suggest my life is “easier” due to being male that is such bullshit. First, I may be male but I am also a black gay male and I am Canadian. Did I mention I am openly gay too.
Sometimes, I wonder if I should tone down the subjects I write about? I write mostly non fiction and poetry and I do tend to write about homosexuality. I am diversifying my writing though. Maybe some book publishers re homophobic? Of course, I research the publishers first to make sure a particular publisher I submit my work to does publish gay writers.
Now try to convince a literary agent to take me on? I get all kinds of comments such as “well you are black and some agents in Canada just don’t believe a black writer will sell.”
Another comment I have heard is “why don’t you try to find an American publisher.” Next, the American publisher will say “yes you are black but you are Canadian.” So I feel like there is a catch 22 going on here. Well guess what visit any bookstore in Canada and I bet you will hardly see any books published by black Canadian writers. Sure, you will see an African American section but I am not African American I am a black Canadian there is a difference. Also, the black Canadian writers that do get published are all old.
Austin Clarke that man is 60 something years old, Dionne Brand she’s in her 50s. It seems to me to be a “writer” in Canada means you have to be “old”. The publishing industry was more open and egalitarian in the 1980s but guess what I was just a child in the 1980s. The Canadian book publishing industry now is all about “sure bets” and about making sure publishers make money. So what does someone in my situation do?
Gayblackcanada 
have you thought of self-publishing? a friend of mine does it on lulu.com. it is not the same as having an agent and publisher of course, but a way to start getting your work out there in the meantime.
In these uncertain economic times, the Canadian publishing industry is most certainly looking for “sure bets”. And who can blame them? While I see no “men’s press”, there most certainly are a great many publishers devoted in whole or in part to gay male literature and concerns. Were I you, I’d focus my efforts on them.
I can’t speak to the situation in the rest of the world, but I can say with certainty, having worked in the industry, that Canada’s publishers aren’t homophobic, nor are they racist. I look at the dominance of Timothy Findley in the eighties and nineties, the current success of Vincent Lam, Joseph Boyden and M.G. Vassanji.
I must ask who you are quoting when you write “‘well you are black and some agents in Canada just don’t believe a black writer will sell'”? I’ve never encountered this attitude – not with a single agent (or publisher for that matter).
And where in Canada is there a bookstore with an “African American section”? I’ve yet to encounter one. Black Canadian writers that do get published are not all old. The most prominently displayed book at my local independent is Lawrence Hill’s latest. It will be a many, many years before George Elliott Clarke, the most widely published of all our poets, becomes a senior citizen.