YES
by India Block
Firstly let me iterate that I am an ardent feminist. However, I am also realist, and the reality of the situation is that the publishing industry is still a gender biased one. After all, when Marian Evans began publishing her work in 1800’s, it had to be under the pseudonym ‘George Eliot’.
While we’d all like to believe we live in a more enlightened society, over one hundred years after Eliot’s death, Joanne Rowling had to go to print as ‘J K’, ostensibly in order not to alienate half of her young audience.If such brilliant female authors are still labouring under gender prejudice, it serves to reason that gender segregated shortlists should be considered as a step towards an egalitarian world.
Feminism is about gender equality rather than a female supremacy. Separating the shortlists would serve to protect both male and female entrants and judges from unhelpful accusations of discrimination, or of the inclusion of ‘token’ male of female entrants. As there is no feasible way to ensure identity/gender anonymity for the entrants, separating the shortlists is the only way to eliminate unhelpful and petty debate about measuring the value of men and women’s work against each other.
It should not be considered a final solution, or an act of sweeping the issue under the rug. Instead, by removing negative contention it would serve as a stepping-stone towards a gender neutral judging system.
NO
By Milly Reilly
Esteemed authors Toby Litt and Ali Smith identified some of the writing entered into the Orange Prize for Fiction as “disappointingly domestic, the opposite of risk-taking.” Whilst the prize recognizes many talented female authors, it may unfairly provide a gateway for some substandard literature.
Literature must be considered regardless of gender in order to heighten competition. Roland Barthes, a famous literary theorist, argues “the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author.” In other words, literature should be judged on individual merit, its importance is to be sourced within the effects it has on the reader.
The problem with the Orange Prize is its enforcing of gender identification; it directs the reader to consider literature in the light of who it is written by. If a work is good enough it will stand up for itself, demonstrated by the success of female writers in other competitions- in 2009 Hilary Mantel won the booker prize for fiction with ‘Wolf Hall’.
A gender-specific prize implies that female authors will not address the same issues as male authors, and the subject of the fiction will be feminine based. This is detrimental; a female author can experience writing fiction just as a male author can. Therefore literature prizes should simply be about great writing.