(no subject)

[soc_puppet]

synecdochic has some important comments on the lead organizer of endotwracism and the campaign's goals.

At this point in time, I'm planning to continue to follow the campaign, but will be keeping my senses tuned for any harassment problems the lead organizer is currently causing, and for possible alternatives. It's no exaggeration to say that End OTW Racism has lead to some very important revelations, with potential for future change, but the entire mess with OTW/AO3 that the campaign has helped reveal has also left me wary of what can happen when bad actors are in charge of important organizations. I hope that is not the case with End OTW Racism, that the organizer has left her bad habits in the past, but I need to be aware of the possibility, especially with my inclination to trust too easily.

Edit: For clarification for myself as much as anyone else: I know that "I approve of what you're doing, but not the way you're doing it" is a common silencing tactic. End OTW Racism is not perfect, because nothing is, but they're a damn sight better than three years of near-silence, so I'm sticking with the campaign for the time being. If I find out that there's some shady shit going down, I'll be looking into how salvageable the campaign is (whether it can cut out bad actors and move forward or if it's in too deep, etc); otherwise, I'll stick with them unless a better option presents itself. And better options are pretty thin on the ground at the moment.

Comments

[makamu]

Yeah, it's a sticky situation at best. I've just had it pointed out to me that I don't have any specific evidence that Stitch is actually an organizer, so I'll be looking into that next, but I'm still wary over how much the campaign is relying on their work, whether they're one of the people in charge or not. I will be very happy if it turns out I'm worrying over nothing.

For me, my wariness of the campaign is entirely built on their relying so heavily on Stitch's work - and because I really think that we should focus on metadata, comments and "fic" explicitly intended to harass particular people. Because everything else... can turn into a slippery slope really fast. And it potentially ignores that unlearning racisms in a racist world is a process.

[soc_puppet]

A very good point. I remember putting together the Misogynist Slash Fan Bingo Cards over ten years ago, and while things have gotten better, I'm pretty sure we can still get some use out of them. Fandom is dominated by people who have experienced misogyny, and a lot of us still have trouble recognizing it. With the majority of English-speaking fandom being white, and not having a lot of experience even thinking about race, getting us to recognize racism in our own work is an uphill battle at best.

I like that End OTW Racism has specified that they're trying to focus on deliberate racism, rather than accidental racism, but that's something that would be very difficult to measure. I can think of a particularly egregious example that I clicked out of ASAP that I have no way of telling if the author knew they were being horrifyingly racist or not. Or how many of the readers recognized it, for that matter.

[makamu]

A very good point. I remember putting together the Misogynist Slash Fan Bingo Cards over ten years ago, and while things have gotten better, I'm pretty sure we can still get some use out of them. Fandom is dominated by people who have experienced misogyny, and a lot of us still have trouble recognizing it

As someone who had to unlearn the slash-related misogyny I picked up as a teenager in fandom (it was mild, but there), yes, it takes time to unlearn and learn to spot the trends and patterns. With racisms, it is much worse, due to fandom being overwhelmingly (US American) white.

I like that End OTW Racism has specified that they're trying to focus on deliberate racism, rather than accidental racism, but that's something that would be very difficult to measure. I can think of a particularly egregious example that I clicked out of ASAP that I have no way of telling if the author knew they were being horrifyingly racist or not. Or how many of the readers recognized it, for that matter.

Hmm agreed. Let's say, the accounts of stitch having other fans of colour harassed are making me feel cautious at the very least.