Art and Propaganda

"All art is propaganda; on the other hand, not all propaganda is art."  - George Orwell

According to Orwell, I write propaganda. According to a review on Amazon, I write feminist propaganda. According to me, I write stories that entertain me. So, who's right?

We all are.

GK and I discuss the topic quite a bit. It goes back to when we home schooled. I tried very hard to provide a neutral voice in his lessons, which frankly, I found it difficult to find in various sources.

Take Christopher Columbus for example. He underestimated the circumference of Earth and believed he'd found India when he landed in the Bahamas. He wasn't the first person from Europe to explore the North American continent. He wasn't the last.

During GK's lessons, I pointed out the successive rises and falls of Columbus's reputation. His stubborn insistence that he was in India. How Amerigo Vespucci had a better PR system, which was why the two continents were name America.The reintroduction of Columbus by the original Thirteen American Colonies as a major explorer. The more recent analysis of his role in the slave trade.

The problem is even contemporary account of Columbus are rarely in agreement about him. There were those who resented his relationship with the rulers of Spain. There were those who were jealous of his wealth. There were those who thought he did the Christian god's work by converting the native populations of the Caribbean.

What it comes down to is there's no such thing as an objective human viewpoint. Each person's observation is colored by their own experiences. That means out of 8 billion people currently on the planet, you're going to have 8 billion opinions on the story of Columbus.

So, am I writing feminist propaganda? Well, or course, I am! I'm not a man. I can study them, but I will never, ever totally understand them. I'm a cis-het woman, so my viewpoint comes from that angle.

But part of being a writer is learning how to express viewpoints other than my own. That means showing other types of masculinity. Rey, the shy bookworm. Arthur, the neglected genius. Tim, the billionaire who lost everything. Miguel, the widowed handyman. None of these are what my reviewer considered real men, but I love them because they are based on men I've known through the years.

So, who's really the propagandist here?

I'm sticking with my version of propaganda because I want to promote a viewpoint of kindness to our fellow human beings.