Metapost: Community Note

I need to make something very clear: I am a feminist activist.

I don't mean that flippantly, nor do I mean it lightly. I am actively a feminist. I expend a great deal of activity in the promotion of feminism, even when that expenditure conflicts with the events and needs in my personal life, even when the cost of that activism is my personal health. I do this not because I expect thanks or fame, nor do I do this out of a desire for self-harm. I am regularly, rigorously active for feminist causes because I am, by the very fact of my gender, my disability, my weight, and my sexual orientation, all in.

I live in a state where, if I am made pregnant by a rapist, the state has the legal right to rape me again before I can access a legal medical procedure to end that pregnancy. I live in a country that passes more anti-choice legislature every year in a concerted campaign to deny reproductive agency to women like me.

I work at a company where I have been personally discriminated against for my poor health and adverse medical conditions. I receive health care from doctors who provide me with substandard healthcare because of my weight and appearance. I live in a society that shames me for being an aggressive bitch if I assert my views and my needs, yet chastises me as self-undermining if I try to present my beliefs as personal and innocuous.

I live in a culture where women who share my sexuality are routinely objectified as fantastical sexual objects and villified as insincere untrustworthy liars. I exist in a culture where gun deaths are projected to soon exceed vehicle deaths, yet the right to own a deadly weapon is considered by many to be more important than the right for two lovers to marry, and to be less deadly than my favorite recreational pastime. 

These are not things that I care about from afar. They are not 'special issues' for me to place on a shelf in my mind, to be taken down and dusted off when bored. They affect me, and the people I love, on a daily basis and in ways that are both painfully real and deeply heartbreaking. And so I am an activist -- I am active -- in an attempt to raise awareness, in a hope that I may help effect some small change in the people and culture around me.

I perform this activism by sharing the manner in which I look at the world. I take something specific, something small and easy to hold and examine, and I project from that specific-and-approachable thing to a larger cultural trend around me. I identify patterns, and I illustrate them through example.

Bella's clumsiness becomes a leaping off point for the ways we treat people with disabilities in society. Caspian's unconcern for his subjects becomes a staging ground for a discussion of the ways in which privilege inures us from caring about people more marginalized than us. An example of a "chivalric" rape in the 14th century is a means by which I talk about rape culture and how choice isn't choice when it's not respected. A passage that Others the historical, cultural, and regional entirety of north-western Europe is a means by which I can speak about cultural appropriation and othering -- the same appropriation and othering that makes it easier for my country to conduct a "war on terror" against various "others" that has cost countless innocent civilian lives.

That is my activism. It's what I spend, literally, large chunks of my life on. Not because I have nothing more pleasing to do, but because I care.

And because I care, part of my activism is to nurture a safe space here. I've been on unmoderated feminist boards before, and I inevitably found the experience left me anxious, fearful, and frustrated that so many supposed allies could routinely fail so spectacularly at privilege-checking, and that they could spend months or years reading the feminist posts on the board and still fail to "get it" when it came to matters that affect me, literally, in life and death ways. And because of that, and because of my own needs, I expect -- I require -- a safe space here, where marginalized people can be safe from further marginalization, and where privileged people are expected to check their privilege before posting.

Part of that safe space for everyone means that this space must also be safe for me and the other contributors here. Yet in the past few months, the safety of this space has been increasingly hard to maintain, both for other members of the community and for myself. 

And I need to be very clear about this: This is a feminist activist board.

This is not a Feminism 101 board for newbie education in the comment threads, even newbie education on facets of feminism which some people are less familiar with, such as Fat Acceptance or Cultural Appropriation.

This is not a literature board where I want every word in every post scoured for perfection and accuracy with regards to the world-building of whatever book is under discussion.

This is not a history board where discussions of historical trends are an invitation to argue which place in which time period was the most objectively worst for women.

This is not a board for arguing the basic tenets of feminism whenever someone claims to be personally unconvinced of the seriousness of those topics, or whether or not they are actually life-and-death matters for people on this very board.

This is not a board for assuming that the contributors and community members aren't already deeply familiar with marginalization, nor for educating us about how bad it really is out there as if we don't already know. 

This is a board where I point out patterns in the culture around us using specific examples of popular media. Patterns that are, more often than not, harmful and worthy of examination and redress. And I expect comment threads to be respectful of the purpose of my activism, and to discuss these larger patterns rather than avoiding such weighty discussion in favor of light-hearted quibbling and nitpicking over whether or not -- in everyone's personal subjective opinion -- I am being 100% completely fair in my selection of whatever popular culture example was used to introduce the feminist topic. Because if enough people can be found to say that the FedEx arrow doesn't exist, then my post examining a larger cultural trend doesn't count.

I also expect commenters to not respond to obviously rhetorical questions, to not quibble over innocuous word-choices based on personal preference, and to not demand clarification on the minute details of the popular media under discussion which are not related to the larger topic at hand. I expect commenters to not become defensive or verbally aggressive when I use a favored piece of popular culture as a jumping off point for my activism, and I expect commenters to not treat the comment threads on this board as their own personal search engine for the popular media under discussion.

In other words, I expect activist threads to contain activist discussions.

One of the things I love about the community here is the propensity for spontaneous generation of what I call "fix-fic", or derivative fiction intended to fix issues highlighted in the popular media I discuss. I adore these fix-fics because they serve as a vivid demonstration that my words and my ideas are being accurately communicated. Chris the Cynic's "Edith and Ben" posts are amazing deconstructions of how to portray disability respectfully and how to write romance without misogynistic control dynamics. Fix-fic establishing Aunt Alberta's vegetarianism as a moral decision (as opposed to being automatically faddish) tell me that the point has been made, and clearly, that judging people on their eating habits is wrong. Ursula Vernon's theory that Eustace's 'whining' is a clever and courageous strategy to save his cousins brings to light the reality that there are many different forms of bravery, and that there are a myriad of acceptable ways to be a good person, and a good protagonist.

These fix-fic posts show me, clearly and without question, that the activism I perform on this board is resonating with readers. But apparently somehow my endorsement of these fix-fics have lead to a mistaken impression that I would like every Narnia post, every Twilight post, every post I write, period, closely scoured for accuracy in case I didn't somehow -- in the midst of an activist post on serious topics such as rape culture or slavery or cultural appropriation -- accidentally mix up the Red Queen with the Queen of Hearts on one point of action.

I do not want, desire, or require this sort of auditing in the comments. Bluntly put, I feel demoralized and undermined when I use popular media to discuss feminism only to have a thread immediately devolve into accusations that I have erred, or that I am perceived to have erred, in some minor and utterly unrelated-to-the-larger-point aspect of world-building, or intense and pointed debates about whether or not the literature in question is even "important enough" or "influential enough" to be worthy of deconstruction, or fevered accusations that I myself am not good enough -- smart enough, skilled enough, educated enough, experienced enough, etc. -- to hold an opinion about the popular media under discussion.

The choice to ignore my activist message in order to engage in this unhelpful and off-topic natter demoralizes me. I am demoralized. Nor do I enjoy having to repeatedly explain why this sort of constant auditing of me, of my choices of examples, and of the style of my message rather than serious consideration of the substance of my message is dehumanizing to me as an activist.

I do think that the majority of these comments are made in good faith and with the best of intentions, but that does not make them any less harmful or demoralizing. I attribute these impulses to the dissociation culture of the internet, where words typed in a Disqus comment form are treated as undirected stream-of-consciousness thoughts tossed into the ether rather than as communication that is directed at a real person in the real world. But the fact remains that this false belief that comments here are directed at a void instead of a person is no less harmful, regardless of intent.

I am not a content-generating machine that pieces words together in a void and then divorces myself emotionally from the material. I am a person, and comments which treat me like a construct to be picked apart and examined -- Why did you use this word and not that one? Why did you say something this way and not another way? Why do you think thisly and not thusly? -- and as more interesting and worthy of discussion than the serious topics I chose to deconstruct, dehumanize me into an object rather than a person. 

I require that this space be safe not just for the commenters, but for myself and the other contributors here.

Kristy has recently joined our team, and contributes to this space her own brand of feminist activism. She spends a great deal of time and effort producing thoughtful and beautiful open threads for discussion, in an attempt to balance community desire for "chatty" spaces against my own need for serious activist threads. To date, we have not been successful in conveying to the community the distinction between the deconstruction threads and the open threads, and the difference in expected behavior and topics therein.

This post is intended to reiterate that deconstruction threads are expected to remain conscientiously on-topic, and to deal with the activist topics raised in that post and/or fix-fics intended to deliberately address the unfortunate implications and harmful privilege exercised in the material under discussion. Anything else -- polls, open questions, off-topic tangents, world-building questions based in fan appreciation of a work rather than a dedicated discussion of the feminist issues associated with same, questions about wording from a feminist perspective -- is to be proactively taken by the commenters to the open threads.

I ask this not because of some arbitrary distinction between post types, but because I ask -- I expect -- the community here to respect the activism of Kristy and myself. I write posts about serious topics, and I expect those posts to stay on topic; she crafts welcoming spaces for discussions which do not otherwise fit in the deconstruction posts. I expect members of the community to honor her work by using those spaces as they are intended rather than just when they happen to be the most recent post on the board. Only posting in the open threads when there's not a "better" thread available to post in is not respectful to Kristy's work and it is not respectful to mine.

We are all responsible for the safety of this blog. We are all responsible for our words and actions in this space. It does no good for me, or anyone else, to write a post that upholds the ideals of this space and addresses feminist activism if the comment thread is going to immediately derail into careless displays of privilege and flippant off-topic remarks which undermine the fact that these topics are deeply, meaningfully serious to myself and many of the other contributors. All In means all of us.

I, and the other contributors here, am posting this in order to call on everyone here to:

  1. Think before you speak, and examine your comments in light of the Ramblings comment policy, as well as the concept of this place as a safe space.
  2. Do not expect the contributors here to constantly educate you. Respect the activism here enough to take the time and energy to educate yourself.
  3. Check your privilege before you speak, and proactively take off-topic discussions away from the deconstruction threads -- where the topic is Feminist Activism, not Random Narnia Trivia -- and into the open threads. 
  4. Respond un-defensively to corrections of privilege and to requests to move off-topic discussions to the open threads so that serious discussion can continue unimpeded in the deconstruction threads.
  5. Treat the contributors to this space with the respect that they deserve, considering the time and energy they sink into providing content for and maintaining this space. 
  6. Be all in. Understand that feminism is not a game or a hobby to the community here. If you're not here looking for activism, then you're in the wrong space.

This blog cannot continue if the larger community will not own their behavior, check their privilege, watch their words, and make a conscientious effort to separate the silly from the serious, the nitpickery from the necessary, and the flippant from the feminism. And that statement -- that the survival of this blog depends on the actions of this community -- is not a threat. It's just a statement of fact, of my own physical and mental limitations. I physically and emotionally cannot nurture, moderate, maintain, and create content for a community in the face of the disrespect and dehumanization that comes from continually seeing my style treated with more interest than my substance. 

I am an activist with a message. Whether or not that message continues depends in part on whether or not the community here can be as all in as I must be.



Note: I and the other contributors are taking the week off. New content will resume on Monday, February 18th. This comment thread will remain open for people to express their commitment to being all in, should they so desire. 

What this comment thread is not for is criticism of this blog policy or recommendations for how to run things differently. This is not a solicitation for suggestions; it is an assertion of needs and boundaries, which I expect the community to respect if they care about the content here and the people who provide it. Nor do the members of the community who require a safe space need to be subjected to yet another debate about whether the right to marginalize people is more important than the right to be safe on the internet. That argument can be hosted elsewhere.

Thank you.

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

GreŠµtings! I've been reading your blog for some time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Lubbock Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the excellent job!

Feel free to visit my web blog: v2 cigs review

AnnaLK said...

I understand the "I might not be able to recognise what counts as on-topic and might accidentally derail the thread" concern, and I understand that "just look out for the specifics of the post" may not always be enough, because we all fail at reading comprehension sometimes. But if you want to reply to a post but are concerned that you're not clear what the general topic is, it's okay to lurk for a while and see what aspects are being discussed in other people's comments, then weigh in yourself when you've had a chance to build up a clearer picture of what's "on-topic". It's a blog, nobody's going to notice you standing in the corner by yourself and nobody's going to judge you for not immediately joining in with the conversation.

Ann Unemori said...

I've read your posts and made a point to understand what you want (and got rightfully zapped a couple times), It's hard to make people stay on topic, esp with a popular one like Narnia or Twilight. The thread too often slips its leash and goes skittering off like a naughty puppy, leaving you, the original poster, frustrated.
Your situation makes me think of "The Jungle" and Upton Sinclair. He wanted to bring the public's attention to the plight of immigrant workers and instead they reacted to the scenes of meat-packing and butchering, leading to the Pure Food and Drug Act. An impressive result, yet how much did this resolve the original issue? "I aimed for the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach." It's hard to say how much control the host should have over comments and reactions to her postings.
Your comment over slavery and marmalade rolls is understandable, what is needed is some way to bring the thread back to the original. In your example one could say how such rolls were originally invented by a slave cook on plantation wherever, on the value of a slave for her skills with cooking or sewing, or the like, to open up another angle on the slavery idea. Sometimes a bit of "irreverence" can cross-pollinate with the original topic to enhance it, sometimes. But I do see your problem and respect your boundaries, even if I keep bumping into them.

depizan said...

Yep. Also, we're not planning on tipping anyone into shark tanks for going off topic. Just asking people to take it over to the open thread. (And we fully expect that we may have to remind one another from time to time.)

Everyone just needs to be mindful. And head to the open thread as necessary. :)

AmaryllisZ said...

"It is far simpler for me to just cover material as it comes, even if it is not part of the larger topic of the thread -- but that choice does not mean that everything I cover in a blog post is therefore automatically on-topic for that thread. "

Since no one has any ability to read anyone's mind, I don't suppose you could just state at the end of a post what you consider to be acceptable discussion for that particular post? Then maybe people who do comment in good faith, like (other) Amaryllis (I mostly just lurk) wouldn't have to worry that they were upsetting the author of the post.

Zweisatz said...

I think Ana made it quite clear what's on-topic with the example up-thread. People just have to look out for the general activist topic (e.g. slavery) and not trip over specifics in the post.

AnnaLK said...

Ana: thank you for everything you've said and done and written, especially when it's not been easy or comfortable. I have so much respect for you and for what you're doing here. I'll try to show that respect by being the sort of commenter that you deserve.

bekabot said...

I am in. But I am a person whose mind just naturally tends to go off on tangents. For my own part, I would be delighted with a situation in which the moderator, when she notices a that a thread is going OT, jumps in with a nudge: "Hey you, singular or plural, you're now off-topic, so be quiet or move" and in which the contributor(s) thus addressed do that with no hurt feelings. Some people occasionally need reminders and I'm one of those people. All the same I'm with ya all the way.

Makabit said...

But... I don't know if I'm in for commenting at the level that seems to be expected. Being usually, by the time I have a chance to read a post, feeling too demoralized, exhausted and stupid from meat-world criticisms and failures to be any more careful than I've already tried to be. That, also, is not your problem.

I think that this, almost exactly, goes for me as well. I don't think I am able or willing to meet the expectations being laid out here, so will go to lurker mode to continue to enjoy the deconstructions.

J. Random Scribbler said...

Thanks for laying things out so straightforwardly. I don't comment often, but I learn a lot from lurking. And definitely thank you for providing the open threads! I'll be sure to use them when I feel like commenting on anything tangential.

Here's hoping your spoon drawer fills up again soon!

Annafel said...

Dude. I came for the feminist activism, and stayed for the feminist activism. Also the excellent writing and insightful deconstructions. I am with you, and I promise I will try to take any and all corrections for mistakes I make in good grace.

Amaryllis said...

I understand your point. And I realize that I'm one of those who's tried to treat this board as something of a replacement for the old Slacktivist site, which I still miss dearly. But that's not your fault or your problem if I misunderstood the nature of this board.

It was never my intention to criticize your choice of topics or vocabulary.

But... I don't know if I'm in for commenting at the level that seems to be expected. Being usually, by the time I have a chance to read a post, feeling too demoralized, exhausted and stupid from meat-world criticisms and failures to be any more careful than I've already tried to be. That, also, is not your problem.

[Edited to remove a paragraph which contravenes your final directive. Which proves my point to myself.]

I hope you keep writing, because you write so well and so interestingly, and I'll keep reading. But I don't think I'll be commenting.

LaEsmeralda3 said...

I'm sorry for writing the Rosalie comment last week. I really enjoy your work and I regret contributing to anything that has tarnished the experience for you.

LaEsmeralda3 said...

I'm sorry for writing the Rosalie comment last week. I really enjoy your work and I regret contributing to anything that has tarnished the experience for you.

EdinburghEye said...

I don't think any form of comment moderation is ever going to suit everyone. One of the big lessons of the Internet, however, is that a person's blog is their territory, and they get to moderate it how and as they wish: the question is whether the end result leaves readers with a comment thread they enjoy reading. To take an extreme example, I only once ever attempted to read a comment thread at "Little Green Footballs": I tend to find blogs where the owner leaves the threads absolutely unmoderated the least readable of all. Therefore any form of moderation should be accepted with reasonable grace - the only thing one can really do if the moderation doesn't suit you is to not comment, and as Kristy notes, there's no need to say you're not commenting.

I come here for Ana's writing: I too count myself a feminist activist. I read the comments-threads sometimes, not always, I think twice before I comment (and still have had at least one comment deleted completely, I think it involved Prunaprism: I can't remember what I said, but I was responding to a comment that was heavily edited by moderator). All of this is fine: I enjoy reading the comments-threads here, and moderation creates the comments-threads as much as the contributors do. I expect that my comments will get modded / edited / deleted from time to time, but this is not my blog: whatever I contribute here in comments is by Ana's grace and favour, and I think of it more as occasional contributions to a fanzine. I wonder if people might get along better with the moderation if they thought of it that way? This is not an open discussion board, this is a work of art/activism.

EdinburghEye said...

I don't think any form of comment moderation is ever going to suit everyone. One of the big lessons of the Internet, however, is that a person's blog is their territory, and they get to moderate it how and as they wish: the question is whether the end result leaves readers with a comment thread they enjoy reading. To take an extreme example, I only once ever attempted to read a comment thread at "Little Green Footballs": I tend to find blogs where the owner leaves the threads absolutely unmoderated the least readable of all. Therefore any form of moderation should be accepted with reasonable grace - the only thing one can really do if the moderation doesn't suit you is to not comment, and as Kristy notes, there's no need to say you're not commenting.

I come here for Ana's writing: I too count myself a feminist activist. I read the comments-threads sometimes, not always, I think twice before I comment (and still have had at least one comment deleted completely, I think it involved Prunaprism: I can't remember what I said, but I was responding to a comment that was heavily edited by moderator). All of this is fine: I enjoy reading the comments-threads here, and moderation creates the comments-threads as much as the contributors do. I expect that my comments will get modded / edited / deleted from time to time, but this is not my blog: whatever I contribute here in comments is by Ana's grace and favour, and I think of it more as occasional contributions to a fanzine. I wonder if people might get along better with the moderation if they thought of it that way? This is not an open discussion board, this is a work of art/activism.

Amaryllis said...

I thought I remembered reading a comment of Ana's to the effect that she also found it disconcerting if people just drifted away silently. But perhaps I misinterpreted that as well.

And I'm feeling that I've been sent a few unfriendly messages lately, also. I reserve the right to go on wondering why it's derailing to comment on a point that's discussed in the original post.

Amaryllis said...

I thought I remembered reading a comment of Ana's to the effect that she also found it disconcerting if people just drifted away silently. But perhaps I misinterpreted that as well.

And I'm feeling that I've been sent a few unfriendly messages lately, also. I reserve the right to go on wondering why it's derailing to comment on a point that's discussed in the original post.

Baby_Raptor said...

I've not yet commented on any of your posts, as I was only recently brought over by the Narnia deconstructions. But those have been nothing short of amazing and enlightening, and the last thing I want to do if I ever become talky is to disrespect you or Ms. Kristy. I promise to keep these rules in mind.

Baby_Raptor said...

I've not yet commented on any of your posts, as I was only recently brought over by the Narnia deconstructions. But those have been nothing short of amazing and enlightening, and the last thing I want to do if I ever become talky is to disrespect you or Ms. Kristy. I promise to keep these rules in mind.

devilfish said...

You're a hero for doing this, Ana. I respect and admire you for keeping up with this. The strength of your conviction and your faith in people despite everything inspires me to be a better, smarter person. The least I can do in return is promise I will do what I can to help you maintain this space the way you want it, and keep that promise.

Miss. Meow said...

I don't post much (only a few times since I found this place), but I've been hanging around for over a year reading all of your amazing deconstructions. I was directed to the Twilight deconstructions some time ago, expecting the same old 'Twilight is bad yo' but instead got so much more. Reading your work has changed the way I view media and the world around me in so many ways and opened my eyes to issues I'd never even bothered to examine before. In your goal of raising awareness, I can definitely say that you succeed every day.

Miss. Meow said...

I don't post much (only a few times since I found this place), but I've been hanging around for over a year reading all of your amazing deconstructions. I was directed to the Twilight deconstructions some time ago, expecting the same old 'Twilight is bad yo' but instead got so much more. Reading your work has changed the way I view media and the world around me in so many ways and opened my eyes to issues I'd never even bothered to examine before. In your goal of raising awareness, I can definitely say that you succeed every day.

Asha said...

I've learned a lot here, and I have always enjoyed reading your content. I'll join in on apologizing, and attempt to do better. Please rest and regain your strength.

jemand2 said...

I usually just read the posts you put up, and lurk in the comments if I read them at all: But I really appreciate what you have been writing here. It is awesome, and it has taught me things. Even if for whatever reason you have to stop writing here, I will always appreciate what I've already had the privilege of reading.

Ymfon said...

What Adele said.

Ymfon said...

What Adele said.

Adele said...

Although I have not posted much, I'd like to say thank you for running this blog. You've pointed out so many issues in across many aspects of media that I wasn't aware of, and I admire your work and your efforts in defending this safe space. Thank you.

Adele said...

Although I have not posted much, I'd like to say thank you for running this blog. You've pointed out so many issues in across many aspects of media that I wasn't aware of, and I admire your work and your efforts in defending this safe space. Thank you.

Timothy (TRiG) said...

I, too, am often not very good at keeping on topic. I'll endevor to make better use of the open threads in future. Take all the rest you need, Ana.

TRiG.

Timothy (TRiG) said...

I, too, am often not very good at keeping on topic. I'll endevor to make better use of the open threads in future. Take all the rest you need, Ana.

TRiG.

Thomas Keyton said...

What Mime_Paradox and redsixwing said.

I really admire what you do here, Ana, and will try to not screw things up.

Thomas Keyton said...

What Mime_Paradox and redsixwing said.

I really admire what you do here, Ana, and will try to not screw things up.

redsixwing said...

Mime_Paradox has said it better than I can; I'm probably responsible for a great deal of silliness getting in the serious threads, and I don't want to cause distress, so I'll endeavor to refrain.

redsixwing said...

Mime_Paradox has said it better than I can; I'm probably responsible for a great deal of silliness getting in the serious threads, and I don't want to cause distress, so I'll endeavor to refrain.

Mime_Paradox said...

As somebody who consistently writes tangentially related comments on deconstruction posts in an occasional attempt to say something, anything, I'm sorry for directly or indirectly contributing to your increasing demoralization. I should not have assumed that Slacktivist Classic norms regarding discussion applied here, and shall take care not to act as if that were the case.

Mime_Paradox said...

As somebody who consistently writes tangentially related comments on deconstruction posts in an occasional attempt to say something, anything, I'm sorry for directly or indirectly contributing to your increasing demoralization. I should not have assumed that Slacktivist Classic norms regarding discussion applied here, and shall take care not to act as if that were the case.

Zadi said...

Hear, hear.

I'm so sorry that you've had to deal with this kind of constant derailment in response to your incredibly insightful deconstructions. You've opened my eyes to so many issues in not-occurring-in-a-vacuum stories, and I'm extremely grateful for your sharing of your perspective on these topics. And you have my eternal admiration for having the spoons to stick up for yourself and rigorously defend this safe space.

Zadi said...

Hear, hear.

I'm so sorry that you've had to deal with this kind of constant derailment in response to your incredibly insightful deconstructions. You've opened my eyes to so many issues in not-occurring-in-a-vacuum stories, and I'm extremely grateful for your sharing of your perspective on these topics. And you have my eternal admiration for having the spoons to stick up for yourself and rigorously defend this safe space.

boutet said...

Absolutely. I respect and admire the work that you do and I want to do anything that I can to support you in continuing it.

Post a Comment