Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
No one’s offended by the quote in itself, but they think its use in this context was injudicious. Moreover, Wilde certainly was referring to males and not to humankind, again given that date. Great female historians at the turn of the last century? Inconceivable.
I admit I get tired of exchanges of this sort:
Member of marginalized group: “I find that comment offensive to my group.”
Person not in group: “You’re wrong.”
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I get tired of that last bit being dragged out any time there’s a discussion which touches on marginalized groups (whichever side I’m on in the discussion) especially when no offense has been taken by whatever sparked the discussion, as it’s generally used to end any possible response.
Is the quote potentially problematic? Sure. And had Kobo opted to single out only male historical fiction writers and also try and maintain a stance of inclusivity then there’d be something to make a fuss over. But that’s clearly not the case here, two thirds of the books displayed are by presumably female authors, and as noted earlier they are rated higher than the male authors.
But yes let’s lambast whoever at Kobo used the quote, likely found with a Google search for “great history and write”.