Quota recognition

One of the greatest impositions in this  century is to be called a racist or sexist

To be accused of either is difficult, since the crowd shouts you down if you try to defend your position. Society at large having bought the argument hook line and sinker, anyone tainted is solidly decried and soon cast out into the wilderness. 

With the Awards season in full swing, (soon its the Oscars), the awards for Writers and Actors and Actresses who excel is under way . It seems to me that the fact that the film industry has a separate award for the male role and the female role speaks to the issue of the tussle which is fought every year, particularly by the feminist groups for the need to have more women nominated and by the Black Actors Guild, that more black people male and female should be in the running for the top awards.

This spread of dissatisfaction has now reached the writers and it is being argued that both Black and Female authors are under-represented and that a system of preferential voting should be adopted to right what is seen wrong.
When faced with the figures, the number of women coming forward to be nominated and the number of Black actors who also feel they are under represented seems to hinge on the fact that  less than a quarter in each category apply and therefore the well to draw from is less, seems to carry little relevance with their spokespeople.  When the feminist/racial flagship is under way and the wind of public approval is blowing up their skirts no amount of reasoning will dent their cry or cause. No amount of reasoned bookkeeping analysis will convince them that they aren't being discriminated against and their clammer, that we change the rules is as usual listened to by the craven rump of what used to be representative of White Male opinion. Even as I write the phrase, I feel a shiver as I anticipate the weight of condemnation for even voicing "our" position. 

Society is being asked to weight Black and Female applications to ensure that we have at the Academy prize giving that much sort after line up, a multi cultural, multi sex (including some wildly deviant cross dressers) multi hotchpotch which is what society has become cloned to admire.
The argument for weighted preference can only further distort our sense of value. The only criterion should be talent and nothing else, unless we wish to further eroded our belief in the system judgement.  If we continue to tinker, under pressure from people who's whole raison d'être is to plug a cause, then the outcome will only further entrench a sense of everything being rigged to sustain an ideological endgame.

The cause might have had some weight years ago but with the equal opportunity arguments won its now up to the individual to show their metal and win because they have the requisite talent and for no other reason.
Money and influence will always, as in all walks of life, give some people a leg up but I would have thought in the field of 'fine arts', talent is easily recognisable.