In the era of #MeToo and powerful men being knocked down left and right for sexual misconduct, you’d think stories of women being mistreated would slowly stop churning out, but nonetheless they keep emerging.
The Midwest Writers Workshop, an organization that, according to their mission statement, exists “to nurture aspiring and accomplished writers to improve their craft and to achieve their publishing goals in a welcoming community,” is the most recent organization to come under fire for inappropriate workplace misconduct. Roxane Gay, an established writer and former faculty member of the Workshop, took to her own Twitter account Wednesday morning to call out the organizational committee of the workshop for their tasteless remarks aimed at another longtime member.
The incident dates back to last fall when writer Sarah Hollowell, a member of the Midwest Writers Workshop, who worked with them for five years was on the ballot to be considered for the workshop’s organizational committee. During the meeting to discuss the possibility of her new position, a member of the committee reportedly called into question Hollowell’s appearance as justification for why she might not be a good fit. The member reportedly stated, “Do we really want someone like her representing us? She then elaborated into saying, “someone so fat. It’s disgusting.”
Gay’s Twitter thread outlining the incident is below:
I am going to call out the Midwest Writers workshop for fatphobia.
— roxane gay (@rgay) January 9, 2018
In response to Gay’s Twitter thread, Jama Kehoe Bigger, the director of the Midwest Writers Workshop, released a statement on the official Facebook page on Wednesday morning, apologizing for how Hollowell was treated, explaining their side of the story and their reasoning for not taking immediate action when the incident occurred last fall.
“At Midwest Writers, we have long believed in treating everyone with kindness, decency, and respect. This truth is why it pains me as director of this organization to acknowledge that we screwed up. That I screwed up,” Bigger wrote. “We screwed up in a way that has landed Midwest Writers in the middle of a social media maelstrom and we owe all of our friends, faculty and alumni an explanation.”
Bigger wrote that, during the executive planning committee meeting, a conversation was held about inviting new members and that’s when the insensitive comment detailed in Gay’s thread was made.
“During that conversation, a committee member made an insensitive comment about Sarah. One I knew was flawed, but did not believe was an accurate representation of her true feelings about Sarah or this committee member’s longstanding commitment to inclusivity and diversity at our workshop,” Bigger said. “In that moment, I accepted the apology she made. I also chose to move the group by casting an informal vote inviting Sarah to join our committee. The unanimous answer from everyone, including this chagrined committee member, was yes. My mistakes that afternoon were in not formalizing that vote, deciding to postpone adding all new members suggested, and in not taking further immediate action to address the misgivings caused by what was said in the room that day. This I should have done not just with every member of the committee, but with Sarah personally.”
Bigger added that while she “cannot change the judgment call [she] made that afternoon,” she is committed to examining the situation critically and looking to “make things right” with Hollowell and her community of writers. She writes that the member who made the comment has been fired from the executive committee and that she plans to meet with the board to consider her own standing.
At Midwest Writers, we have long believed in treating everyone with kindness, decency, and respect.
This truth… https://t.co/qvTbFBXi3y
— MidwestWriters (@MidwestWriters) January 10, 2018
“As we work address this matter swiftly, I ask our faculty, friends and alumni to understand that the mistakes that were made do not change Midwest Writers’s core mission to welcome everyone—attendees and faculty alike—to our conference and as members of our committee. And by everyone, I mean all people, regardless of their weight or appearance, gender or sexual preference, age, race, or whether they show up in the same model of wheelchair in which I sit,” the statement concludes. “Please consider what you have known of us for these past 45 years. We have operated from an open-arms policy for more than four decades now and we have no intention of turning back from that any time soon.”
The incident and response by both Gay and Midwest Writers was a lot to take in for a Wednesday morning, so Hollowell, who was at the center of it all, took to Twitter to address the issue. She tweeted that while she was not sure how she was going to respond just yet, she felt Midwest Writer’s apology was a good start.
I’m still in an emotionally fraught place so I don’t know yet how to respond to this. I wanted to put it out there, though, because I know many of you have been wanting a public statement and apology.
It feels genuine to me. It feels like a good start. https://t.co/1sXpJMizsT
— Sarah Hollowell (@sarahhollowell) January 10, 2018
Regardless of what apology was issued, living in a culture that only punishes fatphobia and blatant prejudice when caught (and publicly shamed, called-out), is inadmissible and is something that we should no longer accept as normal or okay.