“We are not superwomen”: Navigating Finances, Identity Politics, and Vision of a Feminist Press
Introduction to Documents 1 and 2: “Unbusinesslike” Conduct | Document 1 | Document 2
Introduction to Documents 3 and 4 | Document 3: Feminist Publishing Ethics | Document 4: Women in Print Publishing Accords
Document 5: Feminist Publishing Proposal From Ruth to Barbara
Introduction to Documents 6, 7, and 8: Seal Books | Document 6 | Document 7 | Document 8
Document 9: Women Who Dared | Document 10: “Cheat to Eat”
Introduction to Documents 11 and 12: Hate Mail | Document 11 | Document 12
Document 13: Outreach to Women of Color | Document 14: Letter to Angela Davis | Document 15: Letter from Audre Lorde | Document 16: “No More ‘Social Problems’ Projects”
Bibliography
Introduction to Documents 11 and 12: Hate Mail
Both of the following documents are a reaction to Seal Press’ rejection of one author’s short story for for Backbone II on the basis of gender. Handwritten on this document was a brief explanation by the Backbone editor with their reason.
Seal Press clearly wrote on their advertisements and publications that they were a press for women writers, but the author either did not research Seal Press thoroughly enough to know this or chose to ignore it. Either way, his response unfortunately shows that despite Seal Press’ distinguished reputation nationally, the idea of exclusively women institutions, such as a publishing press, was impossible for some men (and some women) to accept.
