And we're hypocritically together ever after!

[dmitchell1985]

Note: Crossposted directly from my IJ

So, I've been thinking about this today and last night about fandom's latest obsession with racism and how it is Evil. (Capital 'e' and everything.) But then I got to thinking about just how hypocritical fandom is at the same time and I had to wonder why do we even take up these causes?

Comments

Long-ish Post on Above

[corbeaun]

Here from metafandomApparently I missed the Against Racism Blogging Week, but you mentioned several things that made me think and reflect on my own experiences

Re: Long-ish Post on Above

[corbeaun]

(...continued from above)

In reply to your comment on friending on LJ, I do not think a lack of "sincerity" is the problem. Like any relationship one enters, I think an important part is understanding exactly what both sides expect from each other. The reason why they became friends in the first place - it's a lost easier to pin-down on LJ. Myself, I admit to friending people only for their stories or fic recs, and will and have moved on (i.e. defriended) when they either stopped playing in the fandom I'm interested in or changed the content of their journal to almost entirely RL. I have also done my share of squeeing and glomps and "I love you"s when commenting on a fandom-related post. I think it a bit over-reaching to expect even the frequent commenters on a fandom affiliated f-list to be of the same personal intimacy and loyalty that we expect from the people we first meet face-to-face.

So. This is just a long post on my personal thoughts. Possibly, I am convinced I am right...in which case, no one can change my opinion. ;)

Re: Long-ish Post on Above

[dmitchell1985]

I have found that a shared insider’s view can help me see a person’s point both clearer and faster. Will I understand someone less because we don’t have a certain something in common? No, not usually. But with that shared experience, they will know what I am talking about right off. I don’t have to interrupt my train of thought to give someone with a shared background the ins and outs of why I felt this way and why exactly something was offensive. They would already know why I don’t want anyone calling me Mammy or a tar baby or talk nonstop about how much they love Blackface. They'd already know that these things aren't going to win you very many Black friends who know what these things refer to

Re: Long-ish Post on Above

[dmitchell1985]

God! I just loved your comment, not that I didn't love anyone else's. First and foremost, you sort of went on and got out everything that was on your mind at the time, which is ALWAYS what I do when it comes to these things. Be they memes or comment praise or what have you. Thank goodness for another wordy person

[toshfraggle]

This concept you're broaching on... not wanting people to think they can possibly put themselves in the "shoes" of someone else, is pretty much dead on what Iris Young writes about in her book Intersecting Voices. She suggests that even though other scholars and philosophers (Benhabib, specifically) think that it's possible to think like another person or put yourself in their place it really isn't.

Her answer to the whole situation is a little strange. She calls it asymettrical reciprocity, and thinks people should just give little bits of themselves, listen to others, and not expect the giving and taking and understanding of identity to happen equally, which also sounds... a bit... like what you're describing you wish was happening in fandom....

[dmitchell1985]

That's an interesting point. I'll have to look up her book, because I didn't really check around to gauge the waters before I wrote this.

By the way, how did you find me? I also wonder where random comments come from.

[toshfraggle]

I believe it was through metafandom. I was catching up on back posts.

[dmitchell1985]

Ahh, gotcha. = D