last word!

[jlh]

Thanks so, so much to everyone who commented on my second post yesterday or who contacted me in other ways. Your perspective really helped me to clear up my own confusion. I've un-privated the first post, which had a link to the tumblr post but was also about my feelings about anger and some fandom stuff.

I think if the parts of the feminist blogosphere that are more personal, angry and contentious work for you, that's great! They really don't work for me, and unfortunately they don't really speak with respect about feminists who are different than they are. So I'm backing away from them while still maintaining that I am a feminist. I'll likely still be talking about race, and about gender in fandom, but my interactions with these parts of the feminist blogosphere, which have not been positive, have really turned me off talking about broader feminist issues in an online space.

As for the fannish stuff I said in the first post, I stand by it. I totally recognize that people have a right to be angry about the lack of representation of characters other than white men in fandom, and sometimes I'm irritated by that myself. I just wish we could at the same time acknowlege that some people are writing about ladies and characters of color, just perhaps not in the spaces some of you frequent. I think those people count too, and shouldn't be dismissed as "noise" or "outlyers."

And that's really what all of this is about, for me. I exist; I don't consider myself a special snowflake or all that unusual. But I'm tired of being asked to step aside because I complicate some model of how the universe works. Maybe the problem isn't with me, but with the model.

Comments

[iberiandoctor]

Okay, have been wrestling with a huge steaming pile of RL, and missed your posts.

unfortunately they don't really speak with respect about feminists who are different than they are.

See, this is what I really find unhelpful about the strident feminist corner of the blogosphere (not that I hang there). To me, feminism actually means embracing the different choices women make and supporting the right to informed choice even if you don't agree with the choices themselves. To me it's an antithesis of feminism to be able to say, "Feminism: you're doing it wrong".

I just wish we could at the same time acknowlege that some people are writing about ladies and characters of color, just perhaps not in the spaces some of you frequent. I think those people count too, and shouldn't be dismissed as "noise" or "outlyers."

You know my view on this, but I'll repeat it: it is not helpful for those folks to turn up their nose at any fic that doesn't fit their narrow idea thereof and say, "Gender/race-diverse fandom: you're doing it wrong".

Also: *hugs*. It sucks that feminism and fandom, both areas where I feel you have added and do add value, have been sources of sadness lately.

[jlh]

Seriously, if I never hear another offshoot of the Taylor Swift vs Lady Gaga stuff, it will be too soon.

I'm beginning to realize that for some people, when they complain about these things, they're being a little disingenuous. They say, "I wish more people wrote about women and characters of color" but what they actually mean is, "I wish more people wrote my ship." And like, I've had that complaint, I've made that complaint, and it's a reasonable complaint! But it's not the same complaint as the more general one.

Also: I'm sorry you were dealing with a big steaming pile of RL! Ugh!