stardust-rain:

I have honestly lost count of how many self-serving, self-congratulatory essays there are out there, both in academic media studies and mainstream journalism, that love to uphold white-dude slashfic as some sort of feminist myopia free of the ramifications of male-gaze patriarchy or whatever.

And I cannot begin to tell you how fucking sick to the back teeth I am of the lack of critical thought that they present. Maybe when slash was first beginning in the 60/70’s it was revolutionary – when women first started to take back a male-dominated space, when female gaze in scifi and popular fiction was uncatered to and unheard of, when women finally created media texts that they wanted to see for themselves. But guys. It’s been almost

50.

goddamn.

years.

And we still haven’t progressed much in terms of inclusiveness. Slash between two white men that prioritises white male emotions and vulnerability to the point of fetishism is literally the least progressive and groundbreaking form of media, especially when it collectively erases female characters, any other forms of queer identities, along with desexualising, villainising and punishing people of colour on a massive scale. It’s exactly what mainstream media has been doing for decades, only difference being that the intent of the gaze having changed.

we talk about fandom in the context of the female gaze free from the male-controlled mainstream media, but that doesn’t mean it’s absolved of the social injustices and prejudices of the mainstream media.

if fandom is, in essence, a free market of creation/consumption where we are free to make and distribute the type of work we want to see – it is, then, a very clear indicator of the directions that female gaze is focused at…and it is still on white men.

conversations surrounding internalised misogyny and blatant to overt racism has been ongoing for years, and has been a problem in slash fandom ever since it begun. In the last few years, thanks to being able to spread information on a larger, wider scale, we’ve been talking more about the more nuanced forms of racism, ableism, gender binarism, bi erasure, etc. etc., which only shows how deeply entrenched casual microaggression fandom is in.

furthermore, fandom discussions have a way of self-validating itself, in which conversations about the lack of focus on women and people of colour find reasons and circles of logic to circle back on justifying not focusing on women and people of colour because focusing on white males make them more comfortable.

every criticism, every complaint, every time marginalised fans speak up about it we’re dismissed as ‘BUT IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE FUN!’ as if it were a carte-blanche that excuses the exclusionary behaviour of white fans.  

by all means, have fun with writing about two white dudes making eyes at each other, but for the love of god, don’t stop there and believe that it’s some form of icon for progressive media or that you’re revolutionising media consumption.

It’s important that we protect fandom as a mostly-female space from, say, middle-aged male reporters looking to do a scandal piece, but there is literally no point in self-congratulatory essays on how slash is essentials and revolutionary from within the fandom, as it doesn’t really accomplish anything but validate the marginalising and othering behaviours. 

if we can’t turn the intense analytical focus of looking at Tom Hiddlestone blink for seven frames on ourselves and critically examine how toxic, exclusive and unwelcoming this attitude is and how it only perpetuates the exclusion of women and fans of colour

then what is the fucking point?