Well since the
Hugo ballot went live this past weekend,
lots of
stuff has been
said.
But it's what
Jeb Hartman said that is bringing tears to my eyes right now:
"One of the most happily amazing things about this year's ballot, in terms of gender, is the Pro Artist category. Last year, one woman was nominated (Julie Dillon), and she was the first woman to appear on the ballot in that category in twenty-seven years. This year: THREE women.
This is unprecedented in the entire fifty-five-year history of nominations in this category. There was only one previous year when even two women were on the ballot, and that was 1984." ~read more
Before last year
only two women had ever been nominated in the Pro Artist category;
Rowena Morrill (nominated several times) and
Val Lakey Lindahn. (btw, you really should read
Justin Landon's run down of gender parity in the SF art world.) And now here's us:
Julie Dillon was the first woman on the ballot in 27 years.
Fiona Staples, technically on the ballot twice because
Saga is Nominated for Best Graphic Novel. And me, who made the jump from the Fan artist ballot to the Professional Artist ballot in one year. (Yeah.)
Going back to
Jeb, because he just said it so well:
"[The Professional Artist] category is one of the least-changing categories on the ballot;
this development seems to me to be a great indicator that things are
changing. Though of course a single year does not make a trend. I hope
this continues; and I hope that the Pro Artist category continues to
recognize a larger number of artists than it usually has over time." ~read more
In that light I want to give a shout out to the four other illustrators working with me on the
Women Destroy Science Fiction issue of Lightspeed Magazine:
As well as a random (short!) list of my own favorite artists (who happen to be women) working in the field today:
Because it feel so applicable here's an excerpt from Kameron Hurley's essay
“We Have Always Fought: Challenging the Women, Cattle and Slaves Narrative”:
"And when we talk about war, we talk about soldiers and female soldiers.
Because this is the way we talk, when we talk about history and use
the word “soldiers” it immediately erases any women doing the fighting.
Which is it comes as no surprise that the folks excavating Viking graves
didn’t bother to check whether the graves they dug up were male or
female. They were graves swords in them. Swords are for soldiers. Soldiers are men.... Let’s just put it this way: if you think there’s a thing – anything – women didn’t do in the past, you’re wrong. Women – now and then – even made a habit of peeing standing up." ~read more
(That essay, btw, is nominated for a Hugo in Best Related Work, and is published at Aidan Moher's
A Dribble of Ink which is nominated for Best Fanzine. It's A Great Lineup all around.)
Speaking of women who fight, here's the illustration I did for
Codename Delphi, written by
Linda Nagata, published at Lightspeed Magazine, (which is nominated for Hugo in the Best Semiprozine category.)
Okay, that's it for now. Back to work.