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The mind-fuck of Bluebeard, the worst misogynist of all, is that he gives his new wife a set of keys, and tells her she can use them to go anywhere in the castle except, as he dangles it: this key. I’ve been thinking about it lately in various contexts, and it comes up here for me again. In response, I keep thinking of the story of Bluebeard. Don’t mistreat a writer and then tell her not to tell anyone.”ĪIMEE BENDER: Every line in Bonnie’s essay carries the weight of years of processing behind it you can just feel it. “Writers who lord power in disturbing ways over other writers set up a similar bind. They won’t stop until they are held accountable. That’s what I tell myself while also knowing that when we keep these men’s secrets, we allow their predatory behavior to thrive. I’d name names, but these aren’t my stories. One of these men is the publisher of a well-regarded imprint. ROXANE GAY: When I read “Experts in the Field,” I thought of all the stories I’ve heard about men in the literary community over the years-the men (both married and not) who proposition women at book parties and readings and conferences, who offer “mentorship” by way of seduction, who commit a range of sexual assaults and who are rarely named publicly because everyone is, understandably, too scared of the repercussions to their careers and their personal lives and their peace of mind. “When we keep these men’s secrets, we allow their predatory behavior to thrive.” Whatever your role or roles, at least be aware of your platform and responsibility. Maybe you run a writing retreat or conference and are yourself an activist, even a feminist, yet you repeatedly hire a teacher who is a known predator because it brings income and awareness to your endeavor, which is after all a worthwhile one.
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Maybe you’ve had an exploitative experience with a mentor in a position of power and now have a life and job and partner and children and don’t dare breathe a word of what came before. Or you’re someone with strong opinions about all of this, with some cultural capital and an ability to articulate what we all need to hear, but it all feels too uncomfortable. Maybe you’re an excellent teacher and upright human being who would never exploit a student. We each have a function and role in this culture, whether we acknowledge and are aware of and embrace it or not.
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I’m more interested in the process of the rest of us waking up, in a collective period of realizing that none of us has been (or should be, or can go on) holding such experiences silently, alone, in turning up the lights and beginning to identify what exactly we’re working with. What has my attention is the act of breaking silence, and what, if anything, doing so means for one’s personal life-and for the broader literary community. No doubt there will always be outliers in every group, at every level, who will abuse and seek to gain power at the expense of others’ well-being. While it is fascinating (and ironic) that such predators are able to function through perpetuating a belief in their unique expertise, my primary concern here is not the men to whom my essay refers, nor to the many names now spinning in the back of my head.
What to do with all of these names? All of these stories? What to do with all of the hurt, the disrupted lives, the silenced voices and fury? “How did you find each other?” I asked her. The women in the group are all terrified of him. One woman told me there is an entire support group in her country based around the same celebrated poet and editor of a respected press. I’ve received these messages from the United States and beyond. “It seems radical resistance may be as simple as noticing the truth.”īONNIE NADZAM: In the past few weeks since Tin House published my essay “ Experts in the Field,” I have received so many messages and emails, heard so many stories, and absorbed so many names-so far, all of men in perceived positions of power: editors, publishers, writers, teachers.