Bigotry in the Hetalia fandom.
There's something going on in the R/A comm right now that's got me so upset I want to talk about it here. If you don't follow the R/A comm, this should still all make sense.
So, we have somebody writing biased, incendiary, factually misleading fics. And when I say "factually misleading," I don't mean "you can argue that that's not how it happened," or "this has pricked my Western/American/commie sympathizer bubble, and now I am taking umbrage." I mean simple inaccuracies, the kind that can be easily verified by anyone with access to Google or (God forbid) a municipal library. This is actually the first time I've seen this happen (to such an extent), which says something pretty nice about the R/A community, I think. And last night I got pretty angry at this person.
Now, I try really hard to stay out of drama (I have no idea how many times I've gone to reply to something that upset me, then backed out and rewatched 'Kull the Conqueror' instead, telling myself "Self, you are only going to regret saying that")--and usually I don't even care when people get their facts wrong in fic--it's just fanfic, right? But when people are deliberately wielding biased opinions and calling them facts to forward their spiteful political agenda, I find that really upsetting. Especially, I think, in a community with so many Russians and Americans, who already have a lot of misconceptions about each other, and where additional effort should be made to understand one another and learn about each other, because hey, btw: we have a rare opportunity here to speak with each other directly, and overcome some real-world prejudices.
So, that's why the R/A community (both the comm, and the community at large) is awesome.
But it's not all-the-way awesome.
Guys...guys. (And by "guys," I mean "everybody reading this," not just people who follow R/A, or who have or have not read the thread(s) I'm referring to.) When somebody is being a bigot, you don't have to defend them. You don't have to make excuses for why you might find what they say upsetting. You don't have to equivocate, wreathe your post in smilies, water down your language, or do anything else to dilute what you have to say. You don't have to reassure the bigot that ~they're a really good writer, though,~ or ~but I really have learned a lot,~ or ~but I don't want to discourage you from contributing!~
Let me just get this out there: I want to discourage bigots from contributing.
(I was talking to someone last night when I posted my response to the R/A comm, and I was told that I sounded "combative." "Well, yes," I replied. "That's because I am being combative. I think that things like this should be combated.")
Look, I understand wanting to avoid drama (more than most, I'd wager), and make peace, and not cause hurt feelings. But there is a line between 'causing drama' and 'making a stand against hatred,' and you should never, ever be afraid to do the latter.
I hope that nobody in the R/A comm takes this as a personal attack. That's not my intent. I'm not angry at anybody in particular (well, aside from the writer of those stories, obviously). I'm just...begging you. Tact and cooperation and peacemaking are all wonderful things that the world could use more of, but don't let them stop you from speaking up, plainly and with conviction, when you know that what someone is saying goes against some of your most deeply-held principles. This isn't about pairings or fanfic or fandom politics. It's about standing up for what you believe in.
So, we have somebody writing biased, incendiary, factually misleading fics. And when I say "factually misleading," I don't mean "you can argue that that's not how it happened," or "this has pricked my Western/American/commie sympathizer bubble, and now I am taking umbrage." I mean simple inaccuracies, the kind that can be easily verified by anyone with access to Google or (God forbid) a municipal library. This is actually the first time I've seen this happen (to such an extent), which says something pretty nice about the R/A community, I think. And last night I got pretty angry at this person.
Now, I try really hard to stay out of drama (I have no idea how many times I've gone to reply to something that upset me, then backed out and rewatched 'Kull the Conqueror' instead, telling myself "Self, you are only going to regret saying that")--and usually I don't even care when people get their facts wrong in fic--it's just fanfic, right? But when people are deliberately wielding biased opinions and calling them facts to forward their spiteful political agenda, I find that really upsetting. Especially, I think, in a community with so many Russians and Americans, who already have a lot of misconceptions about each other, and where additional effort should be made to understand one another and learn about each other, because hey, btw: we have a rare opportunity here to speak with each other directly, and overcome some real-world prejudices.
So, that's why the R/A community (both the comm, and the community at large) is awesome.
But it's not all-the-way awesome.
Guys...guys. (And by "guys," I mean "everybody reading this," not just people who follow R/A, or who have or have not read the thread(s) I'm referring to.) When somebody is being a bigot, you don't have to defend them. You don't have to make excuses for why you might find what they say upsetting. You don't have to equivocate, wreathe your post in smilies, water down your language, or do anything else to dilute what you have to say. You don't have to reassure the bigot that ~they're a really good writer, though,~ or ~but I really have learned a lot,~ or ~but I don't want to discourage you from contributing!~
Let me just get this out there: I want to discourage bigots from contributing.
(I was talking to someone last night when I posted my response to the R/A comm, and I was told that I sounded "combative." "Well, yes," I replied. "That's because I am being combative. I think that things like this should be combated.")
Look, I understand wanting to avoid drama (more than most, I'd wager), and make peace, and not cause hurt feelings. But there is a line between 'causing drama' and 'making a stand against hatred,' and you should never, ever be afraid to do the latter.
I hope that nobody in the R/A comm takes this as a personal attack. That's not my intent. I'm not angry at anybody in particular (well, aside from the writer of those stories, obviously). I'm just...begging you. Tact and cooperation and peacemaking are all wonderful things that the world could use more of, but don't let them stop you from speaking up, plainly and with conviction, when you know that what someone is saying goes against some of your most deeply-held principles. This isn't about pairings or fanfic or fandom politics. It's about standing up for what you believe in.