In the conversations around the Mackie Debacle (AKA the Variety Bullshit), and a few other conversations I’ve seen, people have continuously pointed out that the majority of fandom is white and straight. It is important to remember that our little bubbles we create on the internet aren’t necessarily the majority, but the minority/majority dichotomy is old and tired. I don’t want us generalizing fandom as something white and straight and toxic, even if that is the true majority.
Fandom historically and presently is a place for those that are left out of the mainstream and canon. It belongs to QTPOC and BIPOC. Of course, it is overrun with white hets, they appropriate everything, but that doesn’t make it theirs. It doesn’t make them the default.
I saw this important post about people justifying the way fandom is based on the fact that its strength is that it is unmoderated. The poster points out how fucked up that logic is and the importance of taking extra care in the spaces we are creating.
Because it isn’t unmoderated, it’s moderated by us. By the collective, by the fans. And the abuse and racism and toxicity make it clear there are systematic issues with the way fandom and fan spaces have evolved.
QTPOC and BIPOC can’t create spaces that are untouched by racism and homophobia, it gets into everything, it’s internalized, it can’t be rooted out by us alone. That’s the work of those that benefit from it. We can moderate our spaces though. We consistently have flourished and thrived inside despicable conditions for centuries. It’s exhausting and we have every right to our anger and displeasure and to voice that. And we have every right to our joy and passions.
Fandom is for QTPOC and BIPOC
