A good idea? Sure, why not? I don't see it as discrimination so much as a theme issue.

I have two reactions...

1) I appreciate the effort, and think highlighting the contributions of traditionally ignored/under-appreciated/discriminated-against "groups" is a positive thing in a "let's draw attention to the fact that there are people who are traditionally ignored/under-appreciated/devalued and talk about that fact."

2) It's not the point... the point is not a "one time special issue". The point is ongoing, fair, appreciative treatment.

I'm sort of reminded of our current situation with gay bars/clubs in Vermont. Of which there are none. (Used to be... they closed. Variety of reasons. That's another story.) Some other "straight" establishments would then have a "gay night". Usually on a Thursday.

Which had the result of people saying "cool, we have a night where we KNOW the other patrons are gay, and it's our community" AND also had the result of people saying "gee thanks... gay people are welcome in your bar one night a month/week, on a Thursday? Does this mean we're NOT welcome the other 6 days a week/29 days a month?"

It's complicated.

Overall, I think it's great to highlight women sf/f authors, particularly if the effort is to draw attention to the conversation that there HAS been a disparity of treatment/recognition, and to set a precedent for going forward. But the precedent has to be followed up on for me to be truly excited/encouraged.

What would be best, I guess, is if there was some discussion within the mag -- a letter from the editor, for instance -- to the effect that "We're doing this so that in the future we don't *have* do to this," as per greenmtnboy18's post. There ought to be some larger and more constructive context.

I know that on my own, I don't care who writes the stories I read or even what country or language they were originally published in. I care that they're good, that they're interesting and that they give me something that opens my eyes. Some people are not like that, and so the effort is to get them to read something they might not normally seek out. The problem is whether or not more of these types of things lead to more of them seeking out on their own.

Don't have that much opinion on the subject one way or another, particularily since I'm male without any ready fantasy to sub, anyway. And while there's plenty time to write up a story for it, again -- I'm male.

Not a big deal, not a concern. Themed issues are themed issues, no matter how you look at it.

I think it's a nice, positive, non-defensive response to the criticism they've been getting lately. I think they've been pretty inclusive historically, and I've not personally been offended by their art work, but it's a great chance to showcase some new ideas and new talent. Good on them.

I don't think female authors are underrepresented when it comes to fantasy, most of the fantasy I like is from female authors.

I would be fine with theme issues about the story or the characters; theme issues about strong female protagonists or stuff like that. But I don't see the point of female authors only.

I guess it comes as no surprise that I prefer publications to choose the best stories they find that fit their guidelines / themes.

A top market like ROF receives huge numbers of high quality subs. Eliminating half of them in a month for any arbitrary reason (there are, after all, a limited amount of story slots in a given year)will affect the quality of that month's issue. It's a given that at least some of the stories inclued would have been rejected if the slush pile had held its usual numbr of high-quality submissions from authors of both sexes.

Now, I understand the statement which is being made, but I truly don't think that compromising quality is the best way to help female authors become more widely read. Perhaps highlighting a great story by a female author each month would be better.

Having said that, it doesn't really bother me all that much either. If the stories don't fall into rampant, boring and above all humorless PC flag-waving, they'll probably still be better than what gets published by most other markets.

Well, considering that F&SF regularly does all-male issues or issues that include only one token woman author (and generally only after she's won a Nebula) and the vast majority of SF fans and writers appear to have few problems with that, I think it's an interesting notion. I might also point out that there are numerous problems with the Hugos and who gets picked for those. Will RoF do it right? That remains to be seen but I'm glad they're considering the possibility and paying attention to some of the recent discussion about the covers and content.

...Everything I can think of to respond to this is coming out as a rant about quotas.

It's certainly a way to get conversations started for free hype huh?

I don't necessarily have an issue with it, I honestly don't feel its any different then if they decided 'Hey let's make April an All Dragon stories month!' or whatever, but have they had issues marked 'This is All Male Contributors'? I don't read it on a consistent basis (I buy enough asian manga-zines I don't have enough money for english publications ::sigh::) so I wouldn't know.

And I don't think it will nix out quality stories from males either, if they like a story I don't see why they would be like 'huh toss this rubbish out for being male' instead of holding it over for the next month's publication.

Instead of a Women's Only issue, what I think would be better would be a New Writers' Only issue. I can honestly say that I don't know how aggressive the magazine editors are in choosing works from new writers, but I doubt that they'd lack for quality submissions.

Besides, the best way to expand the genre is to get more new blood in. I recall your article about the lack of women in the Hugos, Jim, and this discussion feeds into that. Since the Hugos are voted on by the portion of the SFF community that attends Worldcon, the best way to improve upon that is to expand the community itself. A Women's Only issue might or might not do that, as the stories that might be selected may potentially come from established authors. Opening the doors wider to let more new people in seems the most sensible thing to do.

From the post you linked to: "While being a woman submitting a fantasy piece to us is enough to get your manuscript considered for this issue, submissions dealing with gender, sexism, and other areas important to feminine speculative literature are particularly welcome."

So...they don't want them the rest of the time? And I don't like the implication that gender and sexism are more important to "feminine speculative literature." What the hell is that, anyway, and how is it different from regular (masculine?) speculative literature? Do I automatically write feminine speculative literature because I'm female?

I admit that I'm not a fan of the idea in general because I believe in level playing fields, but...wow. I'm really not happy with the way the post reads.

I'm with will on this. No big deal to me. It's a themed issue.

And that mermaid cover didn't bother me. I thought it was quite nice and apt for such a magazine.