Reply

I tried to reply to the letter but couldn't keep it short enough for a letter. Here I go again wanting to write an article. Anyway here are the notes.

Comments on Comments

I do not know what it is like to be a man. I do not want to try to pretend to be a man. I spent 30 years reading books written by men. I was delighted to discover the world of women’s literature. I felt validated.
Mslexia means women’s writing (ms = woman lexia = words). Its association with dyslexia is intentional. Dyslexia is a difficulty, more prevalent in men, with reading and spelling; The good news is that, like dyslexia, mslexia can be overcome. That’s what this magazine is about: exploring the causes of mslexia - and suggesting some cures. So what is it that men have, that women need, to become noted authors? Virginia Woolf’s famous prescription was ‘money and a room of one’s own’. Mslexia’s prescription, gleaned from historical, psychological and social research - and a few specially-commissioned surveys of our own - is slightly different. The three things that male writers have, that woman writers need, are: time, confidence and a fair reading

Dear Mslexia,

An email from Mslexia. Ooh maybe my writing has been accepted. Oh no. Not this time. Still it is nice to get a letter with the judges comments. Or is it?
Comment: Women’s lives are about suicide, adultery, murder, desertion and divorce.
Me: Isn’t that not only sad and depressing but also a tragedy? But the first step in changing is recognising the truth and we have to keep telling it like it is until it changes. Do you want us to write the same old Fairy Story’s about Princesses and Frogs?
Comment: The majority of submissions were written from a woman’s point of view! (‘I don’t believe it!’ said Victor Meldrew.)
Comment: She (the judge) would have preferred to have read about a broader selection of protagonists including men and children. Why not try writing from a different point of view say a male.
Is this really from Mslexia? Better check the website. So I re-read the mission statement which informs me that ‘Mslexia was created to address a difficulty, more prevalent in women, with getting into print.’
And the article, ‘Three cures for Mslexia’ by editor Debbie Taylor which ends with: ‘There’s no time to waste wingeing. Stick with Mslexia and we’ll help you all we can.’
There’s no hope for me then. Here I am wingeing and guess what? I do not tend to write from the point of view of a woman. I am a woman. So write from a woman’s perspective. Even if I pretend that I am a man I can only write from the point of view of a woman.
I subscribe to Mslexia because of all the reasons stated in Debbie Taylor’s article and your mission statement but if your advice is for me to write from a male point of view or you would like submissions which do not reflect the truth of our lives then say so in your competition guidelines.

Yours very puzzled and not a little disappointed,