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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 24, 2023

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An accusation of "We genuinely just searched for that which is great and good that fit the market and it happened to be comprised mostly of X" cuts both ways, y'know?

Is this something decision makers are actually claiming, though? I'm not all that familiar with the literature publishing industry, but if it's at all like other fictional media industries like movies, TV shows, and video games, almost everyone would be openly and intentionally discriminating their hires based on various identity markers, including sex and gender, rather than genuinely just searching for that which is great and good that fits the market.

It has to be proven on a case-by-case basis is my point. If someone wants to argue that the industry is signaling its progressive credentials, I'm going to ask why it's not possible that a politically neutral search couldn't replicate the same result for other reasons.