January 28th, 2008
by
Naamenblog
About a year and a half ago Yonmei posted a five part dissection of Orson Scott Card’s bigotry on this blog. Card has recently received the Margaret A. Edwards Award sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Assoc. (YALSA) for outstanding contribution to Teen literature. This has angered a lot of people because of his repeated essays that decry alternative sexualities, saying things such as:
“Laws against homosexual behavior should remain on the books, not to be indiscriminately enforced against anyone who happens to be caught violating them, but to be used when necessary to send a clear message that those who flagrantly violate society’s regulation of sexual behavior cannot be permitted to remain as acceptable, equal citizens within that society.”
This quote is also used in an article at the School Library Journal regarding the controversy of awarding such a prestigious award to a widely known heterosexist. The article strives to portray a variety of opinions on this subject (though it does seem a bit biased to me). One of those quoted, David Levithan a celebrated YA author, is not happy at all.
“I would like to believe that the Edwards committee would not have honored someone who had written essays that were as racist or as anti-Semitic as Card’s are anti-gay,” he says. “The charter of the Edwards award says that it ‘recognizes an author’s work in helping adolescents become aware of themselves and addressing questions about their role and importance in relationships, society, and in the world’—I think Card’s writings on homosexuality do the exact opposite of that.”
While I have problems with any kind of Oppression Olympics, as in “if this oppression was that oppression it would mean more, would never be tolerated, etc.” because I think it recreates a damaging patriarchal hierarchy that has been used to wedge apart various oppressed peoples and break apart movements but I don’t think that’s exactly what Levithan is doing here (though it has shades of it). What he’s trying to get at, at least in my humble opinion, is that no hatespeech should be taken lightly no matter who it addresses and I have to wonder at what Levithan says. If the author had been as blatantly racist or sexist as he is heterosexist would people still be, on the whole. okay with him receiving the award?
I also thinks it’s interesting that everyone wants to separate his personal opinion from his written works as if his political beliefs have never influenced his writings (blatant lie, wrote a whole book on how misguided and close-minded the politically left are). If they were giving the award for a specific book the argument might make sense but when honoring someone for a lifetime contribution can you really divorce what they say/think/proletize in essays that are widely distributed from their fiction?
As someone who stopped reading many authors who defended the groping of Connie Willis at the Hugos I obviously can’t but maybe they’re better at compartmentalization than I am.
Edited To Add: Since this is getting a lot of visitors from io9.com and the discussion in their comments seems so focused on banning I do want to point out that no where in this post do I advocate banning his books from libraries, etc. I’m questioning whether a lifetime achievement award for teen lit. should be given to such a heterosexist ass.
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Filed under Awards & Recognition, Sexuality & queerness, Writers & Artists, Young Adult | Comments (24)
[...] The controversy over Orson Scott Card winning the ALA’s Margaret A. Edwards Award (first reported here) rumbles on. It has now reached the Feminist SF Blog. [...]
[...] http://blogs.feministsf.net/?p=275 The SF Feminists take Orson Scott Card.. [...]
I posted all the public contact details I could find for everyone involved in my journal because I plan to send them all a copy of my essay, and for anyone else who wants to get in touch with them.
[...] Celebrate the art, not the artist. (Via io9). [...]
See also: Orson Scott Card is a big fat homophobe, which says: “If the award did any good, it is this: many more librarians know the truth about Orson Scott Card.”
Wow, I had no idea he was a homophobe. I thought all the naked boys fighting in Ender’s Game was incredibly homoerotic.
“as if his political beliefs have never influenced his writings”
This is a bit of a straw man. I don’t think anyone claims that, say, Empire isn’t just his political beliefs (and pretty awful as well). And when he’s didactic he can be pretty annoying. I remember Card-Through-A-Character in Pastwatch giving a little sermon on how sex outside of marriage was for animals and saying out loud (really) something along the lines of “and you hate gay marriage. So you see all gay people as animals”.
So I’m not claiming that his political beliefs don’t sometimes seep into his writing. But this isn’t about his lifetime of political beliefs. It’s about all the works he’s produced. And those works are not homophobic. Heck, there’s even positive portrayal of gay people in Songmaster. I just don’t think we should give out awards based on how awesome the personal politics of authors are. We should give them out based on the books.
i knew he was a homophobe before i read ender’s game, but i still read it on someone’s recommendation. i thought it was pretty interesting that the bad guys were referred to as “buggers” and that it found it’s way to being a slur amongst the humans.
i mean, i know they were ‘bugs’. but there is no way osc didn’t know what buggery (and buggers) was.
Jacob: But this isn’t about his lifetime of political beliefs. It’s about all the works he’s produced. And those works are not homophobic.
Actually, yes. If it’s about all the works he’s produced, that includes the homophobic essays he’s written.
Heck, there’s even positive portrayal of gay people in Songmaster.
Yes. There’s a lovely sympathetic portrait of a bisexual man and a young gay boy: both are violently castrated during the novel, and the bisexual man ends up rather hideously dead. The only other gay man in the novel is a swindler: he has his throat cut.
At the time I first read Songmaster, I had no idea that Card is that homophobic. Once I knew he was that bigoted, though, it was impossible not to see how his homophobia had informed his writing. Similiarly with the gay man in the Memory of Earth series: while I could interpret the unhappy situation he ends up in as a realistic response to a situation where there are no good choices, once I had read Card’s homophobic essays and understood that for Card this was the best a gay man ought to wish for, I found the novels made unbearable.
The io9 comments are totally perplexing to me; there’s a big difference between not going out of your way to give the guy an award and banning him.
I am glad I read that site, though, because now I get to read this site!
Actually, yes. If it’s about all the works he’s produced, that includes the homophobic essays he’s written.
The award was stated in this way: Orson Scott Card is the recipient of the 2008 Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring his outstanding lifetime contribution to writing for teens for his novels “Ender’s Game” and “Ender’s Shadow.”
They didn’t tack on “…and his crazy blog.” It’s honouring his written works. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic re Songmaster but you can have sympathetic characters who horrible things happen to. Card does that a lot.
Jacob-
Yes you can have sympathetic characters that bad things happen to but when those are the only examples of LGBT characters in his work AND we know his personal views on homosexuality you can’t ignore the influence there unless you want to be purposefully dense. Personally I don’t give a shit if they are honoring something specific about him they are still honoring a bigot and like it or not presenting a bigot with an award can be read as tacit acceptance of his views whether it’s meant that way or not.
I know I’ll never read OSC again because no matter if it’s kept out of his work he personally thinks that members of my family and close friends of mine and I don’t deserve basic rights under the law. He thinks of people I love as less that himself because they obviously don’t deserve the same freedoms he enjoys every damn day. That’s enough for me NEVER to put money in his pockets ever and to not attend any Con that would honor him or respect any organization that would give him an award. I won’t support someone who writes diatribes against me and the people I love. Bottom line.
OSC won the Hugo and Nebula award, twice, back to back, because he’s a fantastic writer and young adults the world over love his stories, compassionate and torn characters, and their exploration of moral dilemmas. Many among those voting for those awards were very likely homosexual. Then, after the fact, when people read that OSC wrote essays about his thoughts on homosexuality, he’s suddenly not worthy of an award based on his contributions to literature? Makes no sense, and only shouts that the people attacking his award have an agenda and cannot dissassociate literature from political/moral commentary.
If he was given an award by GLAAD, then it might make sense to shout against it, but the man is obviously a talented and skilled writer and has entertained young adults for a generation, hence the award. Should people judge the literary accomplishments of famously pro-gay authors because of their opinions on sexuality? People should be able to disagree on moral issues publicly, unless you want to live in a slaveworld where we all think just alike.
No, I’m not LDS, I’m agnostic on both religion and the sexuality issue. Just seems I hear much more hate and fear from OSC’s critics than I do from his essays. His ideas may be objectionable or strongly opposed, but I didn’t detect fear or hate in them, only a commitment to a specific moral path.
I worked in middle schools for 9 years and never saw one of the objectionable essays available or recommended to students. It was his fiction that touched so many young people, and to an extent not matched by many writers in our lifetimes.
Yonmei -
I think sending them a copy of your essay is an excellent idea! I’ll try to draft something up myself to send out and thanks for the link.
paulo –
I think OSC would cringe to hear you say that and that vision fills me with a giddy kind of joy.
ethan -
Glad you found the site!
Bean-
It actually makes perfect sense to me because I would be angry if I found out this author I had given money to, recommended to friends, etc. was someone who believed that people I loved don’t deserve basic rights under the law. I would be pissed to find out that for so many years I had supported a bigot. It’s so interesting to me that people want to make this distinction between his fiction and his non-fiction, both are in his body of work, both are widely distributed and both represent the same man. As I said in my response to Jacob above, giving someone an award when they are an outspoken, vehement heterosexist lends to the idea that whatever organization is giving him the award tacitly approves of the ideals that he is consistently vocal about spreading. I’m not saying it’s right but I think it’s a common assumption people will make. Also it’s not as if these are personal views that he keeps to himself, he goes out of his way to make sure his beliefs on LGBT folks are widely known and thus he opens himself up for criticism. I wrote this post and that opens me up for criticism, that’s just a fact of life once you’ve chosen to express a view in public it becomes a viable part of any discourse on your life.
And personally I don’t understand everyone who talks about the deep connection to these books because I never had that with his books, or if I did I don’t remember it know but my question becomes what about all the LGBT kids/teens out there? What about that youth who picks up Ender’s Game & Ender’s Shadow because they here about this award or really for whatever reason, then go online to search for their new favorite author only to be confronted by an essay that basically says they are not worthy of respect, love or rights? What happens to those teens?
These are rhetorical questions of course but it’s something to think about.
Bean, I think I’ve read every story or novella or novel that Card wrote, up to a point – and that point was after I read his essays on how I and every other “homosexual” are miserable scum who ought to live under fear of the law and ought not to be allowed basic civil rights.
I tried – because in principle I agree – to keep his personal bigotry separate from his fiction. But I can’t unknow what I know. When I know that he thinks LGBT people ought to live in fear and hiding, this informs my view of Josef and Ansset. When I know that he thinks the best thing that can happen to a lesbian or a gay man is to be married to someone they can have no sexual feelings for, in order to produce children, this informs my view of that marriage in the Earth series, where a gay man and a straight woman marry without any expectation of sexual happiness, merely to gain status within their tiny group. When I know that Card argues that people ought to be denied basic civil rights because of their sexual orientation, this informs my view of Card’s writings on equality and society. When I know that Card is capable of writing a lying piece of bigotry, this is bound to inform my view of his character.
the man is obviously a talented and skilled writer
Who has chosen to use his talents and skills to promote evil. If he wrote equally talented, skilled columns promoting white supremacy or anti-Semitism, would we be having this conversation? Wouldn’t you admit that he ought not to be given a “lifetime achievement award” when he makes it his business to promote bigotry and oppose equality?
Should people judge the literary accomplishments of famously pro-gay authors because of their opinions on sexuality?
Of course not. Being for treating everyone as equal under the law and entitled to equal respect – the position of those “famously pro-gay” – is merely the position every decent human being ought to take: it says nothing about whether they’re good writers or not.
Just seems I hear much more hate and fear from OSC’s critics than I do from his essays. His ideas may be objectionable or strongly opposed, but I didn’t detect fear or hate in them, only a commitment to a specific moral path.
Like you wouldn’t detect fear or hate from someone committed to the specific moral path of making interracial marriage illegal, or arguing that for moral reasons it ought to be legitimate for employers to fire Jews because of their religion? You’d just think that was “objectionable”, but you wouldn’t think it was an example of his fear or his hatred?
Makes no sense, and only shouts that the people attacking his award have an agenda and cannot disassociate literature from political/moral commentary.
Everyone has an agenda. Nobody can disassociate literature from politics or morality.
Obviously you haven’t read nearly enough literature that challenges your worldview. Maybe start with “Left Hand of Darkness”.
Personally I’d had enough of Card when I read Ender’s Game. The one female character at Ender’s school is explicitly, repeatedly called out in the text as not as good as the boys. And! We’re told that this is because of evolution – no girl could be as good as the boys. They’re just biologically incapable of it. So shut up about equality, ladies – you’re just sticking your heads in the sand and ignoring scientific facts.
I read a lot of older SF, and a lot of it – E.E. “Doc” Smith comes immediately to mind – is rooted in unexamined sexism. I find that a lot easier to take than something like Ender’s Game, though, where the sexism is conscious and the author takes time to present it as a justifiable view of the world.
“Heck, there’s even positive portrayal of gay people in Songmaster.”
Aside from the stupidity of trying to use one of his least known and least popular books to contradict his clearly stated beliefs….
I second everyone else who has pointed out that the “gay people” in Songmaster are hardly portrayed positively. That has to be one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read.
Also – no matter what, I very much disagree that Ender’s Shadow is an “outstanding contribution to teen literature.” Aside from the fact that it’s crap, I really don’t see that a story that’s all about arguing that the teen protagonist should never have been created (nice trick, too, considering how much time is spent arguing how horrible it is to kill embryos in petri dishes) is in any way a positive “lasting contribution to teen literature.”
“Makes no sense, and only shouts that the people attacking his award have an agenda and cannot dissassociate literature from political/moral commentary.”
Ok. We’re talking about Ender’s Game…..and how it’s touched young people….and you think that these two things are unrelated? Exactly why do you think it has touched so many young lives?
Hi there, I’m YALSA’s communications specialist and its’ important that I clear up one very POPULAR misconception. In this post you write:
“If they were giving the award for a specific book the argument might make sense but when honoring someone for a lifetime contribution can you really divorce what they say/think/proletize in essays that are widely distributed from their fiction?”
The award, in fact, is being given for two specific books: Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow.
YALSA has prepared and released a statement regarding Card’s win at http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/edwardsstatement.cfm; if you’re interested in learning more about the Edwards Award, please visit http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/edwards.
Stephanie,
You’re right I didn’t know that, but I still stand by my post and still think it’s wrong to give an award to an strident, vocal bigot who thinks that LGBT (including any LGBT teens who his books have effected) don’t deserve basic rights.
You’re free to disagree and clearly do and I’m free to criticize. And I do wonder again about what a few people have stated above, would YASLA be just as eager to give him the award if he had published the same article about women? or People of Color?
We’ll never know for sure but I do wonder.
The award, in fact, is being given for two specific books: Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow.
The statement, in fact, says that the award “honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature”.
Orson Scott Card argues that it’s right to make gay sex illegal because that way young adults who are coming out as LGBT won’t have adult role models, won’t know they can be happily and confidently queer, and won’t expect to be able to form stable adult relationships with their partners. This is what YALSA chooses to honour?
Also from the statement: “It also recognizes an author’s work in helping adolescents become aware of themselves and addressing questions about their role and importance in relationships, society, and in the world.”
I have been re-reading Ender’s Shadow and Ender’s Game and have something specific to write about those works, but honestly, Stephanie: there is no misconception here. YALSA is choosing to honour a homophobic bigot who argues for active legal discrimination and harassment of LGBT people in order to prevent LGBT young adults from becoming aware of themselves or honestly addressing questions about their role and importance in relationships, society, and in the world. When YALSA honours Orson Scott Card, even if YALSA is directing our attention to the novels about children/teenagers committing murder and genocide – and living a sexless, genderless life in an orbital prison – YALSA is honouring a man who has freely expressed the view that LGBT teenagers ought not to feel confident and happy about their sexual orientation.
such a true story..
Bollocks to Orson. What I’d like to know is – apart from myself and a few others in the sci-fi underground, demoralized & outnumbered – who’s taking our raw pulp fiction back from the oversized-gun=dick waving, hyper-conservative / reactionary Military Science Fiction scribbler crowd who dare call themselves writers & artists..?
I always thought any true Artist is always automatically far outside the massively limited confines of Culture & the vile stench that is Politics. Personally, I wouldn’t give books like Enders the steam off my piss. More boys-own power-dominance fantasies in outer space, where (pinkywhite-skinned) men are real men, etc. Zzzzzzzzz
Maybe what we need is more unreal sci-fi like, I dunno.. Tarkovsky’s Stalker, or Solaris.. deep biocosmic dreams & psychedelic visions of the/a Ultimate Alien Otherness that is and always ourselves.
Look – over there – see it? A beautiful, ownerless black zen dog..
The queerer the better,
Henry Swanson x