Not that I’m a fan of idpol, but since it tends to go over well in these kinds of conversations, let me lay it out.
I’m a sex worker. I did sex work through tumblr. I’m also brown. I’m also disabled, queer, and genderqueer. If you want to place weight on these kinds of identities for the sake of firsthand accounts and primary sources, go for it. If not, you won’t need to, since the things I’m about to say are basic facts.
Fandom is racist, yes. Everything that operates in a racist context such as that of the literal world we live in is racist. But on a racism scale of “hypothetical perfect world of total equality,” and “the fucking KKK,” fandom falls a lot closer to the perfect world than traditional media does, or even can.
See, traditional media operates with limitations. The most relevant of those, for this discussion, is capitalism and profit-seeking. To turn a profit, traditional media needs to appeal to the widest possible audience. In a culture of racism, that means playing into the racism.
Fandom does not operate with a profit seeking motive. That means fanworks have the freedom to be passion projects unbeholden to cultural racism. Now, the creators behind fanworks are, themselves, racist, because we’re all fucking racist, because racism permeates our world like nitrogen. But they have no reason to pander to the worst and most dense pockets of racism.
In fact, fandom has motives to not be racist. Because, here’s the thing: fandom includes people of every race and combination.
And people like me? The people of color you dismally claim to be defending with your censorship seeking? We are motivated to express ourselves through art in a way that is denied to us through traditional media, which gatekeeps us out.
But, you sit here, and you pretend in your little ivory tower, that fandom is worse. You explicitly say, in your post, that fandom is more racist, more violent than nazis.
You say, to me, a brown jew, that I am worse than nazis.
Your claims that you are defending people of color, and any marginalized group, fall pretty fucking short, when you’re pulling shit like that.
But, set that aside. I hate that I have to say, “set aside the shocking, jaw dropping racism you just pulled,” but it’s not actually your thesis.
See, the point of your post isn’t, “fandom is racist.” The point is that fandom should be punished for that racism, even when other people aren’t.
And punishment, in this case, equals denial. It equals the exact same censure and gatekeeping that prevents people like me from publishing in traditional media.
Remember when I pointed out that traditional media is, by necessity, more racist than fandom?
By calling for fandom to imitate traditional media, you are calling for fandom to become more racist, not less.
Setting aside the misogyny, the homophobia, the queerphobia, the transphobia of your post.
This kind of thinking is extremely. Fucking. Racist.
And as someone who purports to be all about increasing the diversity of expression in traditional media, what with the url “diverse high fantasy”?
Also, like, the actual KKK? The far end of my little racism scale?
They really ARE getting a pass in all this. That’s actually a true statement, and people should be fucking shouting it from the rooftops. This purge seeks to punish women for having bodies, queers for having sex, and sex workers for doing work. And yes, it seeks to punish fandoms for daring to talk about fiction.
But it leaves lynch mod organizers untouched. People who do real harm, to real victims. Victims like me, because just for reference, I’ve lived in KKK country. I’ve watched them set homes on fire and circle the yard with guns to shoot anyone who tries to leave. I’ve gone to bed each night hoping to god the next place they burn down wouldn’t be mine. I’ve watched people die in some of the worst imaginable ways.
And you sit here, and you claim that people should not speak out against that. You claim that saying that is unacceptable is somehow “derailing” a “real conversation” on racism.
As if taking the side of the worst kind of racists is somehow not racist.
So, like, until you can learn to be less disingenuous, I hope that everything you put in your putrid mouth tastes like the rot of which you are thoroughly made.
romaincrisis
germansingergirl
izzy806
kaledo-art
theartofmadeline
jacobvanloon
