So, for all you folks who are submitting stories to BWS, no, scratch that, anywhere*, please remember something:
There’s plenty of objectification of women in the real world and in fiction. I am sick to the back teeth of reading submissions where the women in the story exist only to be beautiful, or worse, where the victimization of women is the primary motivation of the action in the story. Beauty and rape as devices are, more frequently than not, handled poorly which renders them pointless, hackneyed and deeply offensive.
Remember that just about fifty percent of your readers are likely to be like me: Women. I don’t have anything against the male POV (I write in it, regularly), nor female sexuality (I’ve played for both teams). I have a problem with women who are presented as objects. No matter how good a story is, if it clearly excludes me, I will stop reading it. I will not recommend we accept it. And I will write one hell of a rejection slip.
*Edit
Gynocrat pointed out (on twitter) that there is a market for exploitation. She is absolutely correct. That said, that market is not BWS.
So true – there is a market, know your market and that I way I can avoid your market. I find that same problem – not that i edit but you know, as the person with the $$$ for the books.
Re: knowing markets: I can’t agree more.
I rejected a fantastically written, very good story a few weeks ago because there was no SF element. Someone should publish that story, and very likely will, but it won’t but us.