Fandom: OTW and AO3
Nov. 13th, 2011 10:20 amETA: One of the things that infuriates me most about discussions regarding OTW/AO3 is how many people get made when other people point out the problems of either. Yes, sometimes people are assholes in the criticism, but sometimes people are assholes in the defense too. Beyond that, critical voices are IMPORTANT AND NECESSARY, GODDAMN.
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Though I have been looking to recapture my fannish joy and therefore linking to things that bring me joy, I want to share this link, too. Mostly, I have been avoiding discussions of the OTW and AO3 right now, because they make me so mad sometimes (OTW and AO3, I mean) and because I have not had the time and energy to give it the attention it deserves for me to parse various discussions and then make my own contribution. Plus, though I've volunteered my time for years now (I am a tag wrangler), I volunteer despite my worries that this organization is not doing good for fandom, or at least not doing the good they want to do for fandom. And through my volunteering, I've met and/or worked with some wonderful people and some frustrating people, as will happen in any situation.
However, I have a strong interest in transformative works, on a personal, professional, and theoretical level, so I stay involved and I usually try to at least read the conversations that occur.
All that being said, I want to link to a post by![[dreamwidth.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_other.png)
general_jinjur, who trained me as a tag wrangler and who has done a ton of hard, difficult work for the organization. (For full disclosure, we are also friends outside fandom, and she is close friends with one of my close friends. Their friendship brings my friendship great joy, so I would be very fond of ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
general_jinjur even if I had no other experience with her, but I have also had amazing experiences with her, from the training experience to long conversations about the potential death of Detroit and salvation therefrom to all the podcasting she has brought to the word, and so on.) This post is about why she is resigning from the board, and I think says some very important things.
Post.
Quote:
and finally: my philosophy (some of it): (1) ymmv, more voices more better, there is no such thing as one true pov, and you cannot generalize the specific onto the other specific; (2) you cannot have responsibility without authority *or* authority without responsibility, both are toxic.
I want us to build a better world, one that has space for us and recognizes our worth, and I think the OTW is part of that. I think it's a means to that end, one of many, hopefully, but that's part of what upsets me when I hear Francesca Coppa & Naomi Novik say it's only about the archive. It should be about all of us (equally) having a voice in our own culture, not being erased, not being belittled, knowing that we have value, and knowing that we have a heritage. That's why I joined. The archive is one of many pieces of evidence for that larger fight; it's a platform for legal battles, preserving our work while we stand to defend our own thoughts and their validity.
Francesca Coppa and Naomi Novik talk a bit against top-down culture, but then they turn around and defend it, pander to it, because they, they specifically, have spots to preserve. But I want all of us to have equal voice in legal fights, testimony, whatever. Sure, we need the big names to be there, but that isn't all of it. You need the little voices, too. We need to show that it isn't one woman or five friends, but thousands worldwide, maybe more, and we engage, we think, we create. That's the insides of our brains. That's what we do while working third shift or doing data entry or driving our commutes or talking with friends or reading a magazine. We are in conversation with the world. We are NOT passive in that: CONversation, WITH -- and advertising, arts, events, books, movies, TV, comics, all of it, we interact with it. We aren't just consuming. We are never passive. We're thinking, musing, exploring, joking, discussing, wanting, mocking, hating, and loving. All these are 1:1 acts, not top down. It shouldn't be about maintaining the visibility of a few individuals and having an archive. We're not passive, and trying to build an org to communicate that 1:1 experience on top-down principles is doomed -- not as an organization per se, but in carrying out the mission as currently stated.
---
Though I have been looking to recapture my fannish joy and therefore linking to things that bring me joy, I want to share this link, too. Mostly, I have been avoiding discussions of the OTW and AO3 right now, because they make me so mad sometimes (OTW and AO3, I mean) and because I have not had the time and energy to give it the attention it deserves for me to parse various discussions and then make my own contribution. Plus, though I've volunteered my time for years now (I am a tag wrangler), I volunteer despite my worries that this organization is not doing good for fandom, or at least not doing the good they want to do for fandom. And through my volunteering, I've met and/or worked with some wonderful people and some frustrating people, as will happen in any situation.
However, I have a strong interest in transformative works, on a personal, professional, and theoretical level, so I stay involved and I usually try to at least read the conversations that occur.
All that being said, I want to link to a post by
general_jinjur, who trained me as a tag wrangler and who has done a ton of hard, difficult work for the organization. (For full disclosure, we are also friends outside fandom, and she is close friends with one of my close friends. Their friendship brings my friendship great joy, so I would be very fond of general_jinjur even if I had no other experience with her, but I have also had amazing experiences with her, from the training experience to long conversations about the potential death of Detroit and salvation therefrom to all the podcasting she has brought to the word, and so on.) This post is about why she is resigning from the board, and I think says some very important things.Quote:
and finally: my philosophy (some of it): (1) ymmv, more voices more better, there is no such thing as one true pov, and you cannot generalize the specific onto the other specific; (2) you cannot have responsibility without authority *or* authority without responsibility, both are toxic.
I want us to build a better world, one that has space for us and recognizes our worth, and I think the OTW is part of that. I think it's a means to that end, one of many, hopefully, but that's part of what upsets me when I hear Francesca Coppa & Naomi Novik say it's only about the archive. It should be about all of us (equally) having a voice in our own culture, not being erased, not being belittled, knowing that we have value, and knowing that we have a heritage. That's why I joined. The archive is one of many pieces of evidence for that larger fight; it's a platform for legal battles, preserving our work while we stand to defend our own thoughts and their validity.
Francesca Coppa and Naomi Novik talk a bit against top-down culture, but then they turn around and defend it, pander to it, because they, they specifically, have spots to preserve. But I want all of us to have equal voice in legal fights, testimony, whatever. Sure, we need the big names to be there, but that isn't all of it. You need the little voices, too. We need to show that it isn't one woman or five friends, but thousands worldwide, maybe more, and we engage, we think, we create. That's the insides of our brains. That's what we do while working third shift or doing data entry or driving our commutes or talking with friends or reading a magazine. We are in conversation with the world. We are NOT passive in that: CONversation, WITH -- and advertising, arts, events, books, movies, TV, comics, all of it, we interact with it. We aren't just consuming. We are never passive. We're thinking, musing, exploring, joking, discussing, wanting, mocking, hating, and loving. All these are 1:1 acts, not top down. It shouldn't be about maintaining the visibility of a few individuals and having an archive. We're not passive, and trying to build an org to communicate that 1:1 experience on top-down principles is doomed -- not as an organization per se, but in carrying out the mission as currently stated.
