Quick meta rec

[magnetic_pole]

There's an interesting discussion going on right now at happydork's journal, Why am I not writing the stories I say I want to read? I know, I know, we've discussed this a hundred times already: why does fandom decry the lack of women and characters of color in our fic* and then turn around and focus on the attractive young white men? But this is a thoughtful post, with some very interesting comments, particularly on the ways in which fandom reinforces the perception of white men as our common denominator. (Note to self: my own thoughts are here.) Thanks, Sophie, for pointing me in the direction of this discussion!

* I was about to type "fic and art and vids," but then it occurs to me--thinking purely anecdotally--that art might be less skewed toward the white dudes than fic or vids. Or not? Something to think about.

Comments

Re: Sorry I'm late to this conversation

[magnetic_pole]

Not late at all! In fact, Sophie just pointed out that the original meta writer posted something else today: How I can write more of the stories I say I want to read (I still need to read it, myself.)

I've been reading all of your posts about your relationship with fandom and your reservations about it (and one of the first things I remember about finding LJ, very shortly after discovering fanfic on the internet, was seeing your tag line "Being a fan helps no one" [or something to that effect]). I remember you had issues with the black man/(younger?) white woman pairing--am I remembering this correctly?--and with fandom was treating them, so I'm happy to hear you've found something about the pairing that interests you and inspires you and keeps you writing. (Selfishly, I don't want to lose you to knitting.)

The market forces are against one.

Heh. So true. LIFE is against one. But as I said to Kelly above, the smaller (non-major pairing) parts of fandom can always be a bit more vibrant, and it doesn't take that much.

(having their identities contribute to their personalities, but trying not to make them define them (which is hard)

This is the $60,000 question, or whatever the phrase is. (What's the British equivalent?) But I suppose that's the issue with good writing more generally, so it's not a bad problem to be working on. M.

Re: Sorry I'm late to this conversation

[jazzypom]

"Being a fan helps no one" [or something to that effect]).

Yes, that's still my signature line on LJ :). On my DW it's "To the uneducated, A is nowt but three sticks". I do live my fandom life according to the first rule though, because although I might squee, I do reserve the right to point out things which make me pause.

I remember you had issues with the black man/(younger?) white woman pairing--am I remembering this correctly?--and with fandom was treating them, so I'm happy to hear you've found something about the pairing that interests you and inspires you and keeps you writing.

Oh yeah, I had issues. I think I've gone into it with great detail, and I'm trying to keep my head down for the while, so to speak so [heavily redacted].

the smaller (non-major pairing) parts of fandom can always be a bit more vibrant, and it doesn't take that much.

Yeah, it can be. But like I said, it's pretty much two (canonically) gay white dudes in the fandom, which is okay, but not subversive (but then again, is fanfic subversive? As much as we romanticise it to be so, especially since we write the stories as things are and not as they could be? This in terms of being in lockstep with the echoes of privilege found in society).

This is the $60,000 question, or whatever the phrase is. (What's the British equivalent?) But I suppose that's the issue with good writing more generally, so it's not a bad problem to be working on. M.

Well, it makes you think.