site banner
PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   3826 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 18, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

The self published book ecosystem seems to have a different culture. I vaguely recall reading an article a while ago to the effect that regular masculine military science fiction published as eBooks to Amazon can be much more profitable than going through the legacy publishers and that the Bantams of the world should "cry harder".

The self published book ecosystem seems to have a different culture.

Much more difficult to find the good stories in a sea of self-published trash. However, when you find a gem, it's excellent.

You've got me there, and that is certainly true. What I meant by "places" though was more like Latvia, or Uruguay or something.

I think what I'm really wondering about, is whether the extreme feminization of fiction and fiction publishing is a uniquely Anglospheric phenomenon, or a Western one, or a necessary consequence of the leftward shift of Western culture in general, or something else; and whether there are any holdouts anywhere.

Women are more narrative/relationship/character oriented, so fiction is going to militate towards female overrepresentation in a way media in general may not regardless of local attitudes. So like, Afghanistan as in actually Afghanistan might be your best bet.

And Uruguay speaks rioplatonese Spanish, which is not what I would associate with ‘less feminism’ anyways.

Women are more narrative/relationship/character oriented, so fiction is going to militate towards female overrepresentation in a way media in general may not regardless of local attitudes.

Female overrepresentation in fiction is a recent development, though. Look, for example, at the list of bestselling novels in the U.S. in the 1970s. There are several years in which all of the top 10 were men. If this state of affairs could hold at one time, I would expect that at least 50/50 parity is possible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publishers_Weekly_list_of_bestselling_novels_in_the_United_States_in_the_1970s

And Uruguay speaks rioplatonese Spanish, which is not what I would associate with ‘less feminism’ anyways.

Uruguay was just an example of a physical place. I'm not explicitly interested in Uruguay.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats