At the intersection of fandom and politics

[minoanmiss]

(Not the one I've been discussing recently) I have seen a DNW come up a few times recently and I've been thinking about it.

The DNW is "No current politics"

I've been thinking about that. I wrote a story recently where I was going to have my art forger character asked to forge the magnificent national portrait of Michelle Obama so that White supremacists could steal it (he says no, of course), but my recipient had that DNW so I changed the requested forgery to a painting the Gardner Heist . The story worked, but the change felt a little hollow to me, because I wanted the bad guy to want something [I felt was] weighted with evil, not just a big pile of money.

But how far does "current politics" extend? If I have two characters commiserate about the expansion of public bigotry, either generally or in specific (law-enshrined transphobia, physically violent antisemitism and islamophobia, backlashes against women's rights and Black Americans' civil rights and disability rights) am I writing unacceptable levels of "current politics"? What if part of the plot turns on dealing with bigotry? What if I write about characters discussing _High on the Hog_, which is simultaneously about food, historical erasure, and slavery&racism? What if I write about characters discussing/working for renewable energy, and thus having to mention global warming? What if I write something that mentions abortion rights set in 2021 Texas as a way to move my character from point A to point B?

It just feels.... weird to write a story deliberately eliding politics when politics interthreads so much of life. Furthermore there are a lot of opinions I have that I view as being about right or wrong that many people would view as "politics". It feels weird to rule out writing a story where a trans woman wins out over a transphobe trying to drive her from her job, because someone would view that as "political", whereas I view it as a triumph.

And, well, conversely, a story that featured a developer succesfully purchasing a neighborhood to tear down all the houses and build higher priced condos, or a story about the struggles and triumphs of someone running a "Crisis Pregnancy Center" -- I wouldn't view these as stories about 'politics', but about villains.

I mean, people have their DNWs, and they all deserve respect. Tony Stark is still one of mine, which has probably made quite a few people roll their eyes and significantly reduced the number of cards I could've gotten from the MFPE. But this one got me thinking. I wouldn't violate it -- part of this question is figuring out its limits. But it does seem like cutting off a lot of my personal world, at least, to me.

Comments

[lilysea]

I can see why someone would have it as a DNW - sometimes I am exhausted and demoralised from current events/current news, and it's nice to be able to retreat into fiction.

For me, I would want to avoid, for example, fiction referring to the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando

but an LGBT character triumphing over a homophobe/transphobe would be much more readable

[altho sometimes it's nice to spend time in fiction where there is no homophobia/transphobia from any of the characters, or from the society. Books set in a future where society has moved past homophobia/transphobia can be very soothing and comforting and joyful]

[minoanmiss]

I can totally understand a story that requests "no homophobia" or "no racism", to make for a restful place where real-world evils cannot hurt us for a few blessed minutes. (Understand and write eagerly!) I think that's actually a very different request than I interpret "no politics" to be, because the definition of "politics" there isn't distinct the way, "homophobia" is.

[lilysea]

It sounds like it would maybe be better if the story-requester framed it as something more specific like

"no current events from after 2000"

and/or "no politics from after 2000"

[oracne]

This. "No current politics" is not helpful at all as a guideline. It covers way too much.

[sovay]

"No current politics" is not helpful at all as a guideline. It covers way too much.

And it is the kind of wording that unfortunately reminds me of people saying, "Now, let's not get political" when what they mean is "Don't challenge me on my bigotry," and good faith on the internet is already difficult enough.

[minoanmiss]

"Now, let's not get political" when what they mean is "Don't
challenge me on my bigotry,"

Yeah, this. And that doesn't help me write a story for someone when I'm wondering if this is what they mean....

[oracne]

Yes. That.

[princessofgeeks]

I think with a request like that I would need more information on exactly what is covered by that in the mind of the requester. For all the reasons you state.

[lunabee34]

I agree.

[sabotabby]

I can see being exhausted enough to want to avoid certain subjects. But "no current politics" seems overly vague. I don't have a fandom right now but like, if a character wants something, it's probably because there are political factors that prevent them from getting that thing.

[minoanmiss]

It probably affects things in some way or another, yeah. And what Hitchhiker said about who gets to be just a person and whose existence is politicised, yes.

[hitchhiker]

at some point it really does come down to whose life experiences get to be universal and whose are considered "political" :(

[buggery]

That is exactly what I was thinking...

[minoanmiss]

Yes this exactly! This is what I'm wary of!

[musesfool]

I understand your qualms, but I used "no 2020-21 current events" as a DNW in my yuletide signup because I don't want stories about covid / quarantine / the former guy / jan 6 / the big lie etc. for my holiday reading (not that my requests really lend themselves to that, and I have read covid-lockdown/quarantine stories in various fandoms over the past year, and that's fine if I choose to click on it, but I didn't want it in my gift).

If it's someone you're keen to write for for one reason or another, you could ask the mods to ask them for some clarification.

[minoanmiss]

"no 2020-21 current events" would strike me a lot differently though (though you might want to make an exception for Wally :D) because, well, it's about events, not attitudes.

And I'm not sure how to ask a mod to ask someone, "Do you want me to make sure everyone in my story is straight and White and able-bodied or do you want to avoid mentions of COVID?" I may have to do some rearranging to phrase that one diplomatically. :D