The world of literary agents is now dominated by women, which to me is better than being dominated by men. But it's still mostly white women. However, others are finding their way in.

The bane of our existence as writers vis a vis agents is the ubiquitous "manuscript wish list."

Anybody who has sent a lot of queries to agents is familiar with this standard type of form letter:

"Thank you for considering me for representation. I'm afraid this project is not a fit for my list, but I encourage you to continue your search! Another agent may find it compelling!" Etc., etc.

In other words, they basically have in their minds a list of things they like, and if your novel doesn't fit, they pass. That's not how it should work. I understand wanting to keep to specific genres, but the problem goes far beyond genre. I feel like agents look at a novel more from the perspective of "do THEY love it?" rather than will OTHERS love it. Finding agents who are able to evaluate general reader interest is very difficult, even using something like querytracker. It's honestly a special skill, and since most agents don't have that skill, they fall back on personal taste to judge writing.

The public, especially in today's right wing political environment, NEEDS subversive literature. Agents have a moral responsibility as "gatekeepers" to see that it happens. They'll be pleasantly surprised at the sales results, too.