ABSTRACT
This chapter explores issues around gender diversity in the science fiction publishing industry. Despite women participating in the genre from the beginning, men have nevertheless historically dominated the business of science fiction—as writers, fans, and three-dimensional characters. Women’s status in science fiction is increasingly improving in the contemporary marketplace, but remains secondary to that of men—as recently publicised pay discrepancies between white male authors and black female authors suggest. This discussion unpicks popular definitions of science fiction and argues that the subcategories of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ science fiction are gendered, noting how this correlates with the low numbers of women working in the hard sciences. It considers the infamous anti-diversity voting blocs on the Hugo Awards 2013‒2016, which arose in response to women and people of colour dominating the awards with works that were seen to depart from mainstream popular characteristics of the genre. Analysis of recent gender counts for serial publications reveal that more than three in four books reviewed in science fiction publications are written by men. And while sexist and sexually violent writing appears endemic in speculative fiction, there is evidence that discrimination on the page extends to popular events, with harassment of women at science-fiction conventions being common. Ultimately, this chapter argues for the necessity of editors and publishers to take affirmative action to promote gender equality in the genre.
