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writcraft · 5 years

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Racism, Tone-Policing and Speaking Out in Fandom

Unequivocal condemnation of fanfic or art that glorifies or romanticises the Nazi regime and/or promotes a narrative which erases its significant horrors feels like it should be an easy position to take. A no-brainer. This wasn’t an example of art designed to make us uncomfortable or to provoke discussion; it was an unthinking, romanticised depiction of a regime that committed galling atrocities, swiftly followed by the lightwashing of a canonically black fictional character. We inhabit an online space where misinformation travels rapidly, where white supremacism thrives. This should be a something people can publicly condemn without worrying unduly about any potential backlash.

The fact that even speaking out on this topic has caused people - including queer, Jewish people - to feel silenced, attacked, tone-policed and chastised as they share their reaction to something they consider abhorrent is symptomatic of a much broader issue in fandom spaces broadly and it is that which I want to talk about in this post. I don’t want to conflate racism in fandom with the now two instances of Nazi-themed Harry/Draco art, but I think a lot has been said on the latter and want to take the opportunity to use what has happened over the last two days as a jumping off point to think about the former. When it comes to callout, to speaking out and to our responsibilities as fans, I think there are important connections.

The unfettered protection of freedom of content creation is something I have passionately defended and will continue to do so throughout my time in fandom. This is demonstrated by the spaces I have either created or moderated for several years, most notably HP Kinkfest and HP Horror Fest. However, protecting that position is often the point at which conversations get closed, the trump card played to end all other discussions that might make us - and by us I mean white fans like myself - uncomfortable with the conversations being instigated. I’m not convinced that ‘unfollow me now’ posts are ever particularly helpful, as they have an air of performative allyship about them, leading to echo-chambers and knee-jerk responses, and one thing we are particularly bad at these days is engaging with any difficult topics with nuance.

As ever, this post is long, and there are some resources at the end should you wish to keep reading.

Difficult conversations in fandom are those which force us to critically interrogate our own modes of fannish engagement, and the extent to which we listen when invited to consider if the things we uphold as progressive are really progressive at all. Perhaps the fallout from this latest debacle is a good time to sit back and consider the things we speak out about, the things we don’t speak out about, the centering of white voices and perspectives, the privilege that comes from being able to leave certain discussions to other people simply because they are difficult and, by extension, the groups we expect to take on the responsibility and emotional labour involved with speaking out. Perhaps this might prompt us to examine the way we react to things without thoughtful critique of broader socio-political structures in place that become part of fandom’s hierarchy of conversation and content creation.

It is not enough to react to a something that creates a visceral response from the majority of people in a fandom but then ignore the less comfortable questions that flow from it. To assert a position on extreme examples of something that is not okay but then refuse to listen to people who express discomfort about things which might harsh your own fannish squee or might force you to consider the less instinctively obvious ways you might be contributing to racism in fandom is an inconsistent, safe way of engaging with the complexities that come from critiquing fandom spaces. The appearance of now two pieces of art that provoke almost universal fandom-wide disgust cannot be the only time we actively demonstrate an interest in expressing vocally that racism and white supremacy has no place in our fandom spaces.

We are ten years on from Race Fail ‘09 yet conversations around race are still being derailed, tones being policed, POC fans being portrayed as particularly angry, impolite or prone to complaint. I have seen this happen on multiple occasions, where the platform for critical discussion of content creation in fandom has been stripped away, or people have been silenced, in pursuit of protecting the fun part of fandom, the right to produce content unfettered, protecting the ability for women to create uncensored. I fundamentally believe the latter is an important, joyous and political act of fandom experience, but it loses some of its politicised resonance when that starting point is used to silence others trying to start critically nuanced discussions.

Freedom of content cannot be the point at which we disavow ourselves of any responsibility to question the things that inform our own perspectives. We cannot allow our passionate defence of that position to cloud our ability to listen to other perspectives. I’m not here to protect the children, but we must not conflate resistance to conservative-leaning narratives that advocate for sanitised and problem-free content, with the issues fans from marginalised groups try to raise about the way fandom has work to do when it comes to having proper conversations around queerness, race, misogyny and so on. We cannot on the one hand rush to condemn a pretty obvious issue, and on the other fail to think about the other questions it raises because it might stop us from having a good time.

The difficult conversations that spring to mind – the ones that get immediately shut down – include thinking critically about objects of fandom, the tendency to approach questions of social justice through an American (frequently white) lens, the continued dominance of white, cis-male slash ships, inability to critique - or listen to critique of - the things we love when canon or creators make decisions that leave people distressed. The conversations include thinking about how fictional characters are romanced or sanitised to the point at which their fanon portrayal erases any of their past political choices, tokenism, shutting down conversations around racebending and failing to understand why – for some POC fans – that doesn’t feel representative when it is handled unthinkingly in fanfiction produced by white authors.

To refuse to engage with these questions often involves shouting over or silencing people who are trying to explain why something makes them uncomfortable in pursuit of protecting freedoms afforded to us as we create unfettered content. I’m not suggesting that we should not be free to create content – we are, all of us – aware of the slipperiness of that particular slope, but with that freedom comes a responsibility. If we care about the voices frequently talked over within our fandom, we – and I include myself in this – need to be better at listening when people force us to examine our own modes of engagement. This involves taking the time to conduct our own research, to take that responsibility upon ourselves instead of expecting others to educate us. It involves researching political posts we put on our blogs together with assessing the fandom content we produce and engage with. Are they accurate? Are they correct? It involves labour, time taken to educate ourselves, and balancing speaking out with knowing when that becomes speaking over, knowing when to sit down, shut up and listen.

I am writing this because I have been culpable. On many occasions I have remained silent on issues or refused to confront difficult situations for fear of losing friendships or to protect my own status within fandom. I have found certain conversations uncomfortable and have therefore avoided them altogether for fear of being seen as a trouble-maker, or someone who is trying to police or gatekeep fandom content whilst simultaneously wanting to so fiercely protect freedom of content creation. I have had several friends call me out on this, and my discomfort with taking on fraught topics when feelings are involved is something I have had to re-examine. Thank you to the friends who have challenged me on this. It is a brave thing to do, something I haven’t always responded well to, and I appreciate you for a much-needed dose of honesty. This post by @dictacontrion (rightfully) made me uncomfortable because it has called me out. In particular, this:

If we are not willing to speak up and take action, if we are not willing to risk our comfort, risk our status, risk our ease in order to defend freedom and equality, than we are not defenders freedom and equality. If we are not willing to speak up and take action in defense of our principles, our principles mean nothing.

I am working on my own methods of fandom engagement. I apologise for all of those conversations I have taken myself out of because they were hard, and I promise I will strive to do better. As noted above we are a decade on from Race Fail, but these patterns continue to occur. I want to conclude by noting that the perspectives I have outlined above do not come from my own work. They come from the – often free and emotionally exhaustive – labour that has been put into raising these issues and asking those difficult questions within fandom space and within the broader sphere of fan studies. The work of Dr Rukmini Pande, Stich’s Media Mix and the many guests that have featured on @fansplaining episodes have been instrumental starting points for me and I have included some of the links below for that I would encourage people to consider listening to and reading together with exploring the links in the show notes and the Twitter accounts, blogs and tumblrs of the featured guests.

Episode 22A - Race and Fandom Part 1: Fansplaining’s Flourish and Elizabeth follow up on the last episode’s questions about the impact of racism in the Star Wars fandom—and how it’s a microcosm of fandom at large. They interview Rukmini Pande and Clio, and they hear clips from Holly Quinn, Shadowkeeper, and PJ Punla. Topics covered include the historical presence of fans of colour, space nazis, femslash and its discontents, and the Filipino perspective on the whiteness of media.

Episode 22B - Race and Fandom Part 2: In the second and final installment of Fansplaining’s “Race and Fandom” episodes, fans of colour continue to speak about their experiences in fandom. Elizabeth and Flourish interview Jeffrey Lyles and Zina, then hear clips from Roz, Traci-Anne, and zvi LikesTV. Topics covered include being Black and Jewish, Star Wars weddings, cosplaying characters of color, and why kink is never divorced from the real world.

Episode 89 - Rukmini Pande: An episode where Dr. Rukmini Pande, a fan studies scholar whose new book, Squee From the Margins, explores race in both the field as well as fandom at large. Topics discussed include defining the boundaries of “fandom,” how queerness and gender structure fan studies while race typically does not, closed vs open digital platforms, how fandom discussions of racism are often relegated to “crisis points,” and more.

I also recommend the Transformative Works and Cultures Journal special edition on Fans of Color, Fandoms of Color (Vol 29 (2019)) which is freely accessible and edited by Abigail De Kosnik and André Carrington.

#racism in fandom #fandom raceism #nazism #white supremacy #drarry

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mischievouscourtfae · 7 years

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all the munday questions bc ilu

1. Have you ever hated on your art?

>_> I hate that my dad still has ancient art hanging on the wall from High school. Also he saved the art on plates that I made when 5. So yes.

2. Ever been on a date? If so, how many?

LOL, yeah. But I don’t really do traditional dates? More just hanging out with people I like. Actual scheduled dates… maybe 5? I normally don’t date people until after we are bff and then it’s super laid back. I don’t care for traditional dating.

3. Cats or Dogs?

Both. But I lean more dogs. But both.

4. Sexuality/Sexual Orientation?

Pansexual, GreyAce? Very romantic though. But sex is very eeeeehhhhh

5. What is your opinion on haters?

Please don’t. Constructive criticism and critique are needed. Hate is never good or helpful.

6. Name an important piece of advice you’d give someone who’s just started out art.

Make, make, make. You will make stuff you hate or that fails dozens of times but each trial is learning. It’s all practice. Also believe people when they say it’s good. We are always our own worst critics. All works of art have merit. Even stick figures or abstract doodles. If you have the drive to make stuff, do it. Have fun. Get your ideas out there.

7. Ever animated things before? Were they good?

I tried to make a walking sequence… it was okay.

8. How old are you?

9. Would you specify yourself as a female, male or other?

Nonbinary. afab, but I lean more on the male side on nb? But I really could care less about pronouns, so I don’t mind people using she/her because it’s simpler and less confusing. But I’m cool with any pronouns or even just “hey you”.

10. How many friends do you have?

oh gosh… um… lots? It feels so strange cuz until I joined the Megamind fandom I could count them on one hand. Now… uh, I’m not sure I could say how many without forgetting people on accident. I’ll just say the super close friends I talk to regularly, 5.

11. What does your work space look like right now?

^^;; a bunch of crap stuffed in several boxes that are my to-do pile. Otherwise, it’s all digital so my computer desk* is actually very clean.

*it’s an end table and a plastic tote I repurposed

12. What were you doing before answering this?

Work! But I just got home.

13. What’s your name/nickname?

Spooder/Spider

14. Have you ever stolen something?

Well… so okay, in my old job it was very laid back about us buying stuff and we could make IOUs and pay at the end of the season… well my last year there the Board of Directors screwed me over big time… so I just… didn’t pay my IOU and I was in charge of the record keeping… so… no one would ever know… Like… it was prolly over $100 in really nice sweaters and shirts but I was very very pissed at how they treated me that year so I still don’t feel bad about it.

15. What’s your favourite movie?

Mulan and Megamind

16. What is your eye colour?

Blue

17. Do you have any phobias/fears?18. Name 10 things you like.

( already answered)

19. Name 10 things you hate.

short shorts (on me)

bras

my boobs

the music they play in stores

customers that feel its okay to yell at retail workers

yellow rooms

fish

misogyny, raceism, homophobia, etc

adam sandler movies

heavy gore

20. If you were the President of the USA, what would you do first?

Panic

21. Favourite singer?

T-T how am I supposed to pick? I can’t, don’t make me

22. Do you like Mundays?

God no, they are meeting days and I don’t have to be at the meetings but they turn the schedule into a mess and I usually don’t get my lunch on time.

…

oh, MUNdays. Yes. I hate monday, but I like answering mun questions.

23. What’s the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened for you?

Ripping my pants open while at work so my underwear was showing.

24. Would you rather have penises for fingers or vagina for hands?

…wtf kinda hentai shit is this????

25. What would you do if you could do anything you wanted?

Be in the same place as my lovely Cel

26. Before you die, recite your last words…

The greatest adventure is yet to come

27. Describe your life in 5 words or less.

Lost in my imagination forever.

28. Have any pets?

None currently T-T

29. What country do you live in?

USA

30. Have you ever killed an animal before?

intentionally? Chipmunk. Shot with a pellet rife for getting in the birdfeed.

31. Favourite ice cream flavour?

chocolate peanut butter cup

32. Ever masturbated?

Yes

33. What are your kinks?

Tentacles o/////////o among others

34. Virgin?

35. Do you have any siblings?

My lil sis

36. Are your parents a married couple? Or divorced?

Married

37. What fandoms are you in?

Ancient Egypt, Faeries, Megamind, Marvel (the main ones anyway)

38. What’s your favourite show/anime/etc.

Star vs the Forces of Evil, Sense8… those are the most recent. I have lots of stuff I like though.

39. What inspired you to do what you’re doing now?

… I feel to autistic for this question? rn? like writing this? Or my job? what I was doing before this? I have no idea what this is asking…

40. Tell us a weird secret!

I don’t really have secrets? Just stuff I don’t share often??? Uh… I used to live in a house with an evil spirit?

41. Yaoi, Yuri or Het ftw?

9_9 supernatural kinky stuff or xeno otherwise I only like it in written form

42. What are your pet’s names?

My parent’s dogs are Jack and my namesake Sam

43. Do your teachers like you?

They did when I was still in school

44. Have you ever roleplayed before?

Yes, before Tumblr I LARPed and did table top

45. Are you a feminist?

Yes

46. How big is your house?

Studio Apt, so tiny

47. Are you an emotional person?

Yes

48. When was the last time you showered?

Yesterday

49. What did you eat for breakfast?

Chips, lol

50. Can we be friends?

Yes uwu, say hi, I swear I’m very friendly even if I suck at keeping up contact sometimes

#out of glamour (ooc)#spider speaks #Anonymous

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