Some Thoughts on Privilege and Fandom
So, if you're not aware that there has been a distressingly large amount of racefail going on in fandom at large lately, I'm going to have to ask what rock you've been living under. I'm not going to address the specific instances (many, many people have done so brilliantly), but I did want to talk a little bit about how recent events have gotten
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Without any knowledge of what happened, I agree completely that when you post your work online, you are leaving yourself open to comment and criticism, and it is something you should be prepared for.
Adn as for the issue of privilege; without a doubt most fan fiction is written by white females, and that definitely has a certain amount of baring on what it written and how characters are portrayed. I remember when I wrote a fic for bandom and had an original black character I got so many comments being like "Wow! Someone who isn't white in a bandom fic; I'm shocked!" And I don't know, it's sort of normal for me to imagine the world in the diverse way, because my whole life has been surrounded by a diverse group of people. I mean, being white, I'm the minority in my neighborhood.
Point being...you can't control how you grow up, only how you present yourself and see the world. Privilege doesn't make you any less or more than anyone else, and the entire time I've known you I have never thought of you as anything other than open minded and accepting. Race is an uncomfortable thing to talk about for ANYBODY. Don't be so hard on yourself. <3 You are AWARE and that is the most important thing of all.
Did any of this make sense? LOLZ RAMBLERAMBLERAMBLE
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Maybe three days later, someone posted a bandom big bang in which Gabe Saporta (who is Jewish) was cast as a Catholic priest. As far as I know, that hasn't garnered as much attention, but there were several people on my flist talking pretty actively about it.
I appreciate the affirmation, but I know I have a long way to go. I may not be able to help how I was raised, but it does color the way I see the world. I had graduated from college before I ever heard the word privilege in this context, and it has taken me too long to recognize that there are all these little, insidious ways in which I allow myself to rest of that privilege. So, this post is one more way of being aware and accountable about something that is, by its very nature, supposed to be invisible.
LOL. YES YOU MAKE PERFECT SENSE.
ALSO YOUR ICON IS THE MOST PERFECT THING I HAVE EVER SEEN.
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I guess...I don't know. It's so easy to remove yourself from that sort of thing, which was the entire point of your post. That it's very easy to sit in a bubble and not realize everything out there or that the things you see on the news or read about are REAL and are affecting people RIGHT THIS SECOND.
It kind of reminds me of when 9/11 went down, and seriously, I live in NY and I can't even tell you how scary and extreme that was from my backyard. Having people running through the halls screaming and crying. Having neighbors die. But I still had friends who were all "I wish people would shut up about it." and "Why watch the news?" And how fucking SCARY that frame of thought was to me. I just DIDN'T UNDERSTAND how anyone could function with this big, huge thing happening and how they could remove themselves enough NOT to care more than just a "that's sad."
And I kind of think that is what this author, and so many other people are guilty of. WE FORGET because we aren't living it. Everyone is guilty of this in some form. And just...you're a good person for trying. I sincerely mean that. What you once were or how you once may have thought only matters as much as they are the building blocks to how you think and feel and react to things today.
THOUGHTS; I HAVE A LOT OF THEM. SORRY.
AND YES, IT IS AMAZING. I HAVE WAY TOO MANY MCSHEP ICONS NOW. D:
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