The publishing industry is still dominated, at top management, by middle-aged white men while it is predominantly run by a woman on the “battlefield” so to speak. As a woman, unfortunately, this domination poses some unique pros and cons. For example, the executive board level is dominated by men while the “grunt workers” are dominated by women.
On top of that, female writers are less likely to win awards for their literary accomplishments while being the dominant blockbuster producers. If a woman pulls the same noir antics as a man, she is viewed as out there, not appropriate, unequal to the task. She is much more harshly judged than her male counterpart and a good portion of the time by her own female peers no less.
Post-Apocalyptic science fiction genres are primarily written by men, for men despite the fact that Science Fiction was invented by a woman! These male-dominated stories written for men don’t deal with women issues like birth control, menstruation, birth, or anything female related while women science fiction writers are more likely to incorporated women’s issues into their stories they want to tell.
Book reviews tend to be less for women but harsher. Men dominate in that area with three to four times more exposure, more reviews, and more favorable reviews. It’s a man’s world, even to this day for both women writers and those of us women who work in the publishing industry. There is a huge pay gap and equity gap between the genders. Isn’t it high time we changed that?