This post feels like a call to action and a call to hope. And it's very healing. The biggest problem with a depression/melancholy caused by society is that very often we don't know it's caused by society. We feel the grief and curse ourselves or hide away because we think it's all our own weirdness kicking in. So i needed to be reminded that this feeling i get way too often is part of a larger grief.

I think your post gives me hope. I want to do great things now, even if folks are training the younger readers to still like male writers. More and more I see how the young are being trained by folks who really should know better. Young readers are trained about love, about personalities, about evil. They are taught that certain personality traits don't generally go with other personality traits. They are taught to be reductive and to standardize personality, heroism, plot tropes. Originality is not in their mindset sometimes. Stories "must" follow certain ordained routes. It's all very stressing when folks ask you why if A is present under B conditions...why isn't C occurring?

But we can hope and try to change folks. I've had terrible moments where I get weepy and jealous about other writers who are getting awards, etc. I know i shouldn't..because really there is room everywhere for all of us. But sometimes....

Anyway, thanks for the post.