...I'll note the apology. I will withhold analysis and just attend to the judgment of the sisters who were initially insulted.
To Our Readers, Our Friends, Our Critics,
We are taking action immediately to remove the offensive images from It's A Jungle Out There. We are currently reprinting, and we will make these changes now. We apologize for any pain or concern these images have caused.
We do not believe it is appropriate for a book about feminism, albeit a book of humor, to have any images or illustrations that are offensive to anyone.
Some have asked the valid question, "What were you thinking?"
Please know that neither the cover, nor the interior images, were meant to make any serious statement. We were hoping for a campy, retro package to complement the author's humor. That is all. We were not thinking.
As an organization, we need to look seriously at the effects of white privilege. We will be looking for anti-racist trainings offered here in the Bay Area. We want to incorporate race analysis into our work.
In the meantime, please know that all involved in the publishing of It's A Jungle Out There, from editorial to production were not trying to send a message to anyone about our feelings regarding race. If taken seriously as a representation of our intentions, these images are also not very feminist. By putting the big blonde in the skimpy bathing suit with the big breasts, the tiny waist, and the weapon on our cover, we are also not asserting that she is any kind of standard that anyone should aspire to. This 1950s Marvel comic is not an accurate reflection of our beauty standards, our beliefs regarding one's right to bear arms, nor our perspectives on race relations, foreign policy, or environmental policy.
We also extend this apology to the author, Amanda Marcotte, who did not select these images for her book. Writing humor is very difficult. While our intention was to complement your words, we see that these images have had the opposite effect, and for that, we are sorry.
Sincerely and humbly,
Krista Lyons-Gould and Brooke Warner
UPDATE: Please note that, upon reflection, we realize that the second to the last paragraph of this post doesn't do a good job of conveying our intended meaning. We do not want to delete it, but we do want to make a note around our intent, since its purpose was to further articulate the "what were they thinking?" question. We apologize that this paragraph undermines our apology. We acknowledge that the images are racist and not okay under any circumstances. We are wholeheartedly sincere in our apology, and the actions we've laid out above will be acted upon immediately.
posted by Krista Lyons-Gould and Brooke Warner @ 11:30 AM
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...Not gross ignorance, just amnesiatic?
(…I saw this at ABW, so I’m not surprised you’d follow up here!)
This was a pretty amazing issue to follow. I would like to second ‘We were not thinking’ as an extreme understatement for them to make.
I think it still begs the question as to who, after the layout had been drafted up, with the full knowledge of the multicultural society we live in today, could have looked at it and said:
“Cool! Let’s get this puppy to press!”
Was that because in their lack of forethought they couldn’t have imagined it would speak to a readership beyond the pigmentation of their own immediate circles?
I think it would have gone a lot further for them to admit they need to broaden their world view as well as cop to their lack of enlightenment, but then that might actually mean they’d have take responsibility for their obvious ignorance as opposed to a feigned general amnesia.