Yet again SF awards make me wonder why I'm in this hobby

"America split up over a vision of what strength is. Male power versus female negotiation. Force versus knowledge, dominance versus tolerance, simple versus complex. Faith and Flag and patriotic Song stacked up against the New Math, which, let's face it, no-one outside of quantum specialists really understand, Co-operation Theory and the New International Order. And, until Project Lawman came along, every factor on the table is pointing towards a future so feminised it's downright un-American." (p. 116)

This quote isn't from some horrible piece of right wing wank fiction, instead its from the new Clarke award winner, Richard K Morgan's Blackman (US Titlte; Thirteen).

Now granted, I could have missed something, but my tendency is to find this one more damning indication of how our little cultural archipelago is stuck in place and sometimes slides horrifically backwards.

But really, this is a book that is not just unremittingly masculine, its hyper-masculine in a way I find rather destructive by a writer who specializes in writing hyper-males. And frankly I had a great deal of trouble getting beyond the sex and violence that the author clearly enjoys writing to any meaningful view of our society, which is what good SF is supposed to be about. And frankly I'm not so sure this author has that.

And yes, before people point out that in 2002 Gwyneth Jones one for Bold as Love,, and in 1993 Marge Piercy one for He, She and It, I'd like to state that the awards has had high points in the past, but a few more low points than I'd like (and way to much Mieville love for my tastes)