malekvilibrojn

Malekvilibrojn is a concept in criticism of male-dominated social and cultural structures, which posits that the relatively small number of men's books in a given literary field is insufficient compared to the vast number of works by their female counterparts. This idea is often seen as an extension of the general feminist premise that women authors are underrepresented in literary discussions and have historically been marginalized.

Malekvilibrojn is not a formal academic concept, but rather a playful translation of the French concept of "femmes en nuage" into Swedish, which translates to "women in the clouds." This English term, malekvilibrojn, suggests that men are hard to find, much like the minimal representation of men's works in literary fields such as poetry, novels, or critical theory.

The concept highlights the tendency to overlook or minimize men's literary contributions by academics and the media, despite marking men's day, women's day, and children's day, indicating a lean towards feminine focus. Malekvilibrojn started gaining attention online through social media posts, listicles, and blogger articles around 2022, drawing attention to the relative scarcity of men's literary works. However, the accuracy of the count used to establish this concept has been disputed by some scholars.

Critics argue that malekvilibrojn should not be simply accepted as fact without a closer, careful examination of the specific literary field and historical period being analyzed. This fact is supported by the relatively clear underrepresentation of women's literary works through the centuries, making the strike only useful when comparing yesterday or 100 years ago.