Tag: fandom racism

[Guest Post] The Dragon Age Fandom Hates Characters (and People) of Color

Stitch

Dragon_Age_Inquisition_wallpaper

Note: Previously posted on the website Fandoms Hate People of Color (click the link to reblog it), I received permission to host this essay about the experiences one fan of color (who has requested to remain anonymous) had and witnessed within the Dragon Age fandom before exiting due to stress from everything that the fandom kept doing and perpetuated with regard to racism, harassment, and constant antiblackness directed towards fans and characters in the series. While this post has received minor edits for clarity and consistency as well as clarifying comments from me in endnotes, it remains largely the same as the post published on tumblr.

Content Warnings for: racism, antiblackness, ableism and ableist terms, mentions of abuse and trauma, and a brief mention of sexual assault in fan fiction in one of my clarifying comments

I had to leave the Dragon Age fandom a while ago because of all the racism (the last straw was right after that terrible Vivienne fic, not even the fic itself but white fandom’s reaction, the pointblank refusal to acknowledge that it was part of the same bigger problem that they contributed to every day) and ever since I’ve been thinking a lot about what the patterns actually are. I know for a fact that these patterns aren’t unique to the Dragon Age fandom, but it’s where I personally saw them most blatantly and was hurt by them the most. Specifically, I was most involved in the DA2 fandom, so my examples are from there.Read More »

Fandom has always been broken (but it’s not for the reasons that you think)

Stitch2 Comments

When Devin Faraci wrote an article entitled “Fandom is broken”, there was a moment where I expected him to actually talk about the ways that fandom was actually broken.

Sure, he does mention how fan entitlement leads to threats against creators, but he also equates queer people asking for representation in the form of #GiveElsaAGirlfriend and #GiveCapABoyfriend (which has issues I’m going to mention later but still)  and Jewish people angry about the Hydra!Cap with trolls foaming at the mouth about lady Ghostbusters.

He doesn’t talk about how these same trolls hunt down and harass women and people of color in the industry or fandom on the regular, or how the decision to make Captain America a secret Hydra agent was one calculated to upset and offend people, that Marvel essentially got the reactions that they wanted for that specific book.

No, the only markers that Faraci takes as indicators of how broken fandom is are trolls and marginalized people who want positive representation.

Cool.
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Stitch on Fansplaining’s Two-Part Episode About Race and Fandom!

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Earlier this week I got a chance to participate in an episode of fandom podcast Fansplaining that was all about race/racism in fandom and giving people of color a chance to speak about what they’d witnessed and experienced. It was amazing!

First, the cool content:

Fansplaining Episode 22A

In “Race and Fandom Part 1,” Flourish and Elizabeth follow up on the last episode’s questions about the impact of racism in the Star Wars fandom—and how it’s a microcosm of fandom at large. They interview Rukmini Pande and Clio, and they hear clips from Holly Quinn, Shadowkeeper, and PJ Punla. Topics covered include the historical presence of fans of color, space nazis, femslash and its discontents, and the Filipino perspective on the whiteness of media.

(Show notes!)

Fansplaining Episode 22B

In the second and final installment of our “Race and Fandom” episodes, fans of color continue to speak about their experiences in fandom. Elizabeth and Flourish interview Jeffrey Lyles and Zina (@stitchmediamix), then hear clips from Roz (@rozf), Traci-Anne, and zvi LikesTV (@zvilikestv). Topics covered include being Black and Jewish, Star Wars weddings, cosplaying characters of color, and why kink is never divorced from the real world.

(Show notes)

Under the cut is a bit of backstory (copied largely from some DMs I sent earlier in the week) about what sparked this anger at fandom (for me and several of the contributors this episode):Read More »