Other than the fact that I am male, I am in some ways exactly the sort of academic (though, truly, I'm not really, as I'm only a grad student, and a just starting one at that) that OTW's critics see lurking behind every corner of the org.

It's funny because it's true. :D

The question is not, cannot be, "Would this be just in an already just society?"

I think this is the crux of things, actually.

I've been thinking about this a lot, because it's hard to articulate to people who don't identify as feminists (and some who do) why I would never say "I value science for being dominated by white men" (and why I'd be kind of pissed at a white man who said that) but I'm okay with saying "I value fandom because it is largely composed of women." I think some of the men in fandom are great and some of the women are insane--but the plain fact of it is that it's easy to find spaces full of men. It's hard to find spaces full of women, and harder yet to find ones where women can explore their creativity without having it dismissed as lesser than male creativity.

And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Someday, perhaps, none of this will be an issue. But we're not there yet.