Brief Notes on 'That Meta'

[such_heights]

There's been a lot of conversation over the past few days in various parts of fandom over this 16k meta (AO3 registered users only) by Franzeska. It's a long, racist piece of nonsense with the summary Bullying and the Co-opting of Social Justice Activism in Fandom: A discussion of bias in fannish meta, m/m vs. other pairings, shipping of POC, vidding characters of color, what it means to ship, and problems in Stormpilot fandom. I don't recommend reading it, but it has sparked some good conversations.

As an aside, reading through the comments on my phone proved to be hazardous as I landed on the kudos button by mistake, which has been quite embarrassing over the last two days. Totally an accident, I do not like that post and I would un-kudos it if I could. /o\

Actually Recommended Reading:
+ rukminipande has a storified series of tweets: Fans Of Colour Are Not To Blame For Fandom's Erasures: A response to That Meta.
+ This tumblr discussion topped and tailed by good commentary from snarlfurillo

---

In better news, in spite of his Conservative opponent's bigoted and underhand smear campaign tactics, Sadiq Khan looks set to be London's next mayor. He's a human rights lawyer, the most prominent Muslim politician we've had in the UK to date, and the son of working class Pakistani immigrants. He's a social democrat with policies on affordable housing, air pollution and transport fare freezes. I am hopeful that he can do good things for my city.

Comments

[recessional]

Why do I recognize that screen name? (Franzeska).

Never mind, I found it. :P Brain blank ahoy.

[antediluvian]

I'm gonna have to read through it when I'm more awake because currently on chapter 3 and all my brain is able to produce in response is "BOLLOCKS BOLLOCKS BOLLOCKS" also don't want to accidentally kudos bollocks.

[sheafrotherdon]

Thank you for this. I want to read the meta more thoroughly so that I can better articulate why it stinks, but the parts I have read so far are surpassingly awful. Thanks for the links to the discussions!

[merryghoul]

I was stunned when I read the meta too, especially the femslash part and the vidding part (especially in regards to A Different World, because I loved that sitcom when I was younger). I didn't say anything about the meta on AO3, but I agreed with several of the comments disagreeing with the meta on the article, and I agree with the Tumblr link you posted--I really feel it hits the nail on the head on why I hated the femslash portion of the meta.

Thank you for the links, by the way--I'm loving the insight from everyone everywhere that disagrees with the meta.

[glass_icarus]

... oh. Okay, I'm now planning to avoid That Meta for more reasons than anticipated! *facepalm*

Also, ♥ ♥ ♥!

[pearwaldorf]

I had never heard of the author before this piece of meta, and I am fucking appalled to learn she was on the OTW board at some point. It is such a terrible piece of writing on so many levels. In content, obviously, but also in form. I think the thing that galls me the most is the truly self-satisfied tone it takes, like she thinks she's so fucking clever for saying these things that are, note for note, the exact same arguments fans of color have been hearing for ages about why nobody likes characters who look like them.

[gloss]

That essay is the worst thing and not just because it's about so many things I love, like femslash and Finn/Poe, but in how nastily and thoroughly it reverses all the power hierarchies and voices to blame the marginalized for creating problems that they're trying to advocate against. >:((

(The situation is pretty much what Sara Ahmed talks about in Willful Subjects: “[T]o be judged willful,” Ahmed explains, “is to become a killjoy of the future: the one who steals the possibility of happiness,…the one who gets in the way of a happiness assumed as on the way.” from here)

[havocthecat]

There was a time when slash fans were marginalized. They're really not so much any more and haven't been for years. But there was a time when it was the case - and I think some of the older fans still operate emotionally under that assumption. For example, I know someone (a 60s/70s era slash fan) who lost her shit when a het-and-gen-only SGA comm was started up on LJ in response to the fact that there were already two highly popular slash SGA comms. She was convinced that slashers were being discriminated against despite the fact that there were two pre-existing slash-only comms and the mod was trying to make a space for het and gen fans to find their fic more easily. (I got defriended sometime shortly thereafter for a similar discussion.)

[gloss]

Fair enough, and of course I already know that.

But I thought it was pretttttttty clear by "marginalized" I was talking about people actually marginalized both in wider society and within fandom, like POC and queers.

[havocthecat]

First, many slash fans are POC and queers and would count under your umbrella as marginalized in wider society and fandom. Also, as I don't know you or your fannish knowledge, I didn't know that you were aware of the fact that slash fans were once very marginalized in fandom. (They may still be in some cases.)

Second, if you had been clear, I wouldn't have replied as I did. This is a case where you and I each made different conversational assumptions about our working definitions. Which happens sometimes, no big. Thank you for clarifying.

[havocthecat]

Am I going to be really mad? On behalf of fans of color and also due to gross mischaracterization of femslash fandom? (Which happens a lot, I think, especially to people who are maybe tangentially in it or not in it, just observing.)

ETA: OH MY GOD. I read it and I'm fairly appalled. On so many levels.

ETA 02: I discovered some commentary on fail_fandomanon about how femslashers should really be shipping things like Ever After High and Monster High because they're all female characters. Uuuuuuuh, no. I don't want to femslash kid media just because they're all female characters. Or that kind of media. Why do I have to be in only the approved femslash fandoms?

(I keep editing because I keep getting angrier.)

[copracat]

I imagine the fail_fandomanon anon got disagreed with fairly promptly? Someone who clearly doesn't think 'the heart wants what the heart wants' applies to femslash fans. Yikes.

[coffeesuperhero]

Wowzers.

Here in finals season, I've been busily grading actual essays, and that "essay" would have gotten an F from this professor for total failure to interpret datasets (or, indeed, find legitimate sources!), to say nothing of its unfortunate racism and misogyny. Just. Wow.