Problematic fandoms and problematic fans.
From Social Justice League, a really neat blog, comes this fanfuckingtastic article about how to be a fan of problematic things.
It talks about - surprise! - how to be a fan of problematic things without falling into the pitfall of defending or denying the problematic aspects of it. So if you are a fan of stuff that is occasionally fucked up - the way I am a fan of Howard and Lovecraft and Spartacus and old pirate movies - you should check this out. It's very useful in the How Not To Be a Dick department.
You also really need to read it if you have ever had the shit annoyed out of you by someone insisting any of the following:
* But the sexism/racism/homophobia is realism!
* It's just a book/movie/TV show. Don't take it so seriously!
* Sure it's sexist/racist/homophobic, but it has dragons/man-eating tigers/explosions, and that totally excuses it!
It gives some excellent takedowns for that kind of logic.
On "realism":
"But when you say that sexism and racism and heterosexism and cissexism have to be in the narrative or the story won’t be realistic, what you are saying is that we humans literally cannot recognise ourselves without systemic prejudice, nor can we connect to characters who are not unrepentant bigots. Um, yikes. YIKES, you guys."
". . . I don’t see you arguing for an accurate portrayal of everything in your fiction all the time. For example, most people seem fine without accurate portrayal of what personal hygiene was really like in 1300 CE in their medieval fantasy media. . . . In real life, people have to go to the bathroom. In movies and books, they don’t show that very much, because it’s boring and gross. Well, guess what: bigotry is also boring and gross. But everyone is just dying to keep that in the script."
On not taking things so seriously:
"If it doesn’t matter, why don’t YOU stop taking your media so seriously and stop fighting us on this? You with your constant demands for your narrow idea of “realism” (which by the way often sounds a lot like “show me naked skinny ciswomen, and gore”). If in your framework tv shows aren’t serious business, why does realism matter?"
Great, great post.
As I said, I'm a fan of lots of problematic things. I don't mind when other people are fans of problematic things, provided they do neither of the following:
A) Categorically deny that the thing has flaws or is problematic.
B) Insist that not only do the thing's good qualities outweigh its bad qualities, but that anyone who can't look past the bad is "too sensitive," "taking things too seriously," or somehow missing out.
Those are things that I, as a fan of some pretty egregiously racist/sexist/etc. stuff, try not to do . . . with, I will admit, varying degrees of success. I'm not any more perfect than the next geek.
The ability to look past the ugly aspects of a thing because it is not ugly in a way that affects you personally is a form of privilege. And it ain't pretty.
X-posted from Dreamwidth. Comment count:
It talks about - surprise! - how to be a fan of problematic things without falling into the pitfall of defending or denying the problematic aspects of it. So if you are a fan of stuff that is occasionally fucked up - the way I am a fan of Howard and Lovecraft and Spartacus and old pirate movies - you should check this out. It's very useful in the How Not To Be a Dick department.
You also really need to read it if you have ever had the shit annoyed out of you by someone insisting any of the following:
* But the sexism/racism/homophobia is realism!
* It's just a book/movie/TV show. Don't take it so seriously!
* Sure it's sexist/racist/homophobic, but it has dragons/man-eating tigers/explosions, and that totally excuses it!
It gives some excellent takedowns for that kind of logic.
On "realism":
"But when you say that sexism and racism and heterosexism and cissexism have to be in the narrative or the story won’t be realistic, what you are saying is that we humans literally cannot recognise ourselves without systemic prejudice, nor can we connect to characters who are not unrepentant bigots. Um, yikes. YIKES, you guys."
". . . I don’t see you arguing for an accurate portrayal of everything in your fiction all the time. For example, most people seem fine without accurate portrayal of what personal hygiene was really like in 1300 CE in their medieval fantasy media. . . . In real life, people have to go to the bathroom. In movies and books, they don’t show that very much, because it’s boring and gross. Well, guess what: bigotry is also boring and gross. But everyone is just dying to keep that in the script."
On not taking things so seriously:
"If it doesn’t matter, why don’t YOU stop taking your media so seriously and stop fighting us on this? You with your constant demands for your narrow idea of “realism” (which by the way often sounds a lot like “show me naked skinny ciswomen, and gore”). If in your framework tv shows aren’t serious business, why does realism matter?"
Great, great post.
As I said, I'm a fan of lots of problematic things. I don't mind when other people are fans of problematic things, provided they do neither of the following:
A) Categorically deny that the thing has flaws or is problematic.
B) Insist that not only do the thing's good qualities outweigh its bad qualities, but that anyone who can't look past the bad is "too sensitive," "taking things too seriously," or somehow missing out.
Those are things that I, as a fan of some pretty egregiously racist/sexist/etc. stuff, try not to do . . . with, I will admit, varying degrees of success. I'm not any more perfect than the next geek.
The ability to look past the ugly aspects of a thing because it is not ugly in a way that affects you personally is a form of privilege. And it ain't pretty.
X-posted from Dreamwidth. Comment count: