A Story About Biases, Patriarchy, and Irony

Illustration of a large group of diverse people, representing many ethnicities, genders, ages, and religions.

Two weeks ago a small publisher sent me an email about the book I'm writing. They asked what it was about. I responded with a synopsis and a link to the talk I've been giving which is the foundation for it. It’s about exclusivity and biases in design.

Fast forward 12 days and I receive a disappointing email from one of the partners at the publisher. She says:

“Every great book endeavors to solve a problem. When I think about whether to take on a book project, I think about what problem the book could solve. When I think about the book you’re pitching, I can’t see a problem that is real or important…The problem doesn’t strike me as a real at all, and if it is real, it doesn’t strike me as a high-priority problem. I can think of 25 other problems that are more urgent and interesting to me.”

My first feeling was disappointment. My second was sorrow. I felt discouraged. But decided I would reflect on what they had said. Maybe there was something constructive to take away from it.

In the 48 hours following receipt of that email, everything changed. My disappointment and sorrow turned to anger and irritability. Did someone just declare that there’s no such thing as bias or exclusivity in design? That’s some privilege and ignorance right there.

Every marginalized person will tell you a different story. They have all used at least one product that clearly wasn’t designed for them. My book includes a number of case studies on this very point. Some of them showcasing designs so biased they were fatal. Literally.

So, I was lamenting to my wife. She asked about the demographics of their authors. Great question. I didn’t know, so I looked.

Well, how about that.

Let’s begin with the partners. There are 3 of them, all white, with only 1 a woman (the person who sent me the email). They've published 10 books, total. Every one of them was written by a man, except for 1. It was written by the woman who told me that biases aren't a real problem. All but 1 of the 11 authors are white.

In summary, that’s:

AND, get this. One of the authors was fired from his position as a professor at a university for…wait for it…sexual harassment.

Dude. The irony is killing me.

A white woman working with a sea of white men (including one sexual predator) tells me she can think of 25 more urgent and important things to write about than exclusivity and biases in design. A problem that isn’t real (which she said twice). Or important. Or interesting.

That’s the patriarchy. That’s ignorance. That’s biases in writing, which is in very close proximity to design.

As Alysonsee said on Mastodon, she could have easily said “no, thank you. This is not our domain.” But she went on the offensive in denial of biases in design.

I’m now more encouraged than ever to finish this book. The people need to know.

#Biases #Exclusivity #Patriarchy #Design #Writing #Publishing #BookWritingJourney

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Illustration of me with a content facial expression and a shaved head. I am wearing teal glasses, and my long full beard is brown with gray edges. There is a blue and green gradient in the background.
I’m Mark Wyner, an activist, dad, husband, Designer, writer, public speaker, and Mastodon moderator. If you want me to write for you or speak at your event please say hello.