the "shane is assimilated so he just doesn't think about his race and that's why the books don't mention it" argument is so strange to me. like. im largely assimilated in many ways but also constantly othered by being mixed from two different non-white cultures. i promise you even while im sitting here listening to predominantly western music and communicating most efficiently in english, i am still deeply aware of how i am perceived because of my race and appearance, and the ways this impacts my life. i am deeply aware of the disconnects i have with my parents' cultures and the reasons that i struggle with reconnecting with either of them. i am deeply aware of it every single time i am the only brown person in a room.
like i just . there is a difference between writing a character who assimilates vs writing a character of color as a character of color only because of your racial fetish (i.e. only for physical descriptors, and then adhering to a racial stereotype). do you guys think assimilation makes people stupid, unobservant, and completely oblivious to race and racism and its effects on their lives, and incapable of ever having thoughts on their own racial identities, or...?????
Adding on to this as a Black/Latina woman adopted and raised by white parents. We know we are different. I grew up in a house where NO ONE looked like me, and it was thrown in my face whenever my mother wanted to hurt me. When we went places as a family, I felt peoples' eyes boring holes in me. Without going into any more of my history, the idea of a POC never thinking about race, racism, and how they are impacted by it...it's stupid, it's unrealistic, and it is a vile dismissal of our daily experiences.
Shane would have felt this EVERY DAY OF HIS LIFE, from his earliest memory. And once it became apparent to the white hockey boys how exceptional he was, how he made them look like amateurs...his treatment would have become exponentially worse.
RR chose not to explore that for the reasons already stated. Shane fitting into stereotypes mattered to her more than addressing the racism that would be a constant factor in his life.
But I guarantee that he thought about his race. Every day. Every time he was called a racist slur. Every time someone pulled their eyes up at the edges. Every time some kid asked why he has a Western name.
He could NEVER be oblivious to it, because he sees it in the mirror, it's used against him on the ice, and when allegations of throwing games came up, HE was the one accused. NO ONE accused Ilya. He bore those allegations alone. And Ilya never defended him. Because the racism of the allegations didn`t occur to him.
But sure. Shane never thinks about race. Not even when it is the basis of allegations that almost completely destroy his career.
thank you both for sharing personal experiences to explain this. this is why it's so disturbing to me to interact with HR fans doing all this "deep" analysis and discussion of these characters without ever bringing up race. it's so through-the-looking-glass for me to read all these intricate head canons and analyses and have race never once come up. the commitment to "color-blindness" / maintaining racial status quo is amazing.
and the thing is, I don't think it's that the people who do this don't understand. ask any white person who is the only white person in the room if they have noticed race. or just watch them twitch. the folks who are refusing to engage with this topic (the majority of what I see in HR tumblr fandom) just don't want to understand or think about it.
as you have both explained so well, the reality for Shane is that even if he lies to himself and tries not to think about race, that is perversely because he has to think about it in every single interaction, and that because he is minoritized and subject to racism. there is just no getting around it.
the racist takes are awful of course, but tbh for me, the committed refusal to talking about race in the fandom is almost as upsetting. because there's not even anything to react to. it feels so invalidating, but also is harder to address.
like...how are you out here talking about hollanov top/bottom and dom/sub dynamics and not talking about race
how are you out here talking about shane's social anxiety and not talking about race
how are you out here talking about shane's fear of coming out and not talking about race
how are you out here talking about ilya's experiences as an immigrant and not talking about race
how are you out here talking about any part of this story which is about intimacy and power and shame and self loathing and not. talking. about race.
@axelfloyd your tags are soso good, i hope you don't mind me pulling them into a reblog:
#shane hollander#heated rivalry#to me the most invalidating thing is when ppl try to argue Reid *was* trying to do smthg w Shane's race beyond tokenism and festishization#because even *she* admits she wasn't! she knows it's bad representation and makes no plans to change it!#take her at her word and stop invalidating the countless fans of colour in this fandom who are trying to tell you this shit is harmful#the D/s stuff...yes at a point we must ask if the 24 hardcore CBC freeuse bimboification kink makes Shane into a literal Asian fleshlight#for his strong barbaric Russian bf#and I say this as someone who likes D/s stuff in their Hollanov! just like. be mindful w it and take a step back sometimes#I've also never been in a fandom that just outright refuses to talk about race#it's like a 180 from all my previous fandom experiences. it's so jarring. idk if it's the general whiteness of the fans paired w#this being a “comfort show/book” (comfortable for whom 🤔) or what but. it's bleak man#Anyways the whole “they are intentionally assimilated” argument is so fucking moronic I really do have to assume you've never actually#talked w a conservative person of colour before lmao. like#the whole thing is that you are hyper aware of your racial performance and are doing your best to fit into white spaces#this is not an unconscious exercise. as soon as you forget youre the only POC in the room you will be rudely reminded lol#I meant 24/7 CNC up there I'm not rewriting this shit u get my point
