There really are times

[branchandroot]

Normally, you know, I scoff at the people who respond to any variation of "you depicted people who are like me as $DISGUSTINGLY_BIGOTED_STEREOTYPE in your fic, could you not do that?" with cries of "What do you mean I can't write about this?!". Because, of course, that isn't what any sane person involved actually said, and pretending they did is a transparent buck-passing attempt for which I have only scoffing.

I do also realize that there are people who really do try to tell people they can't write about X topic or group, but, honestly, I can't consider those people with anything but scoffing either.

However.

I hereby declare that no Western steampunk fan is ever, ever again allowed to use the word "geisha" without first undergoing, and prominently displaying proof of, at least one full term of Japanese women's studies or the equivalent.


This post brought to you by a serious case of "omg, how are you related to me, can I disown you right now please" (national and fandom varieties).

Comments

[branchandroot]

*wry* I hear you about Weber and fission, and a lot of the military sub-genre are worse than him. *shudders* I'm afraid most of even the more aware fans within steampunk haven't gotten that far yet. Hell, there's only one other site I've found that's even extending the basic concepts beyond Europe. I think the step to "steam kills" is lagging even further because it isn't as immediately in front of most people's noses as the colonialism thing.

*thoughtful* It's an interesting question, actually. There are examples of both right and left aligned work, sometimes quite extreme ones (Moorcock, frex). I think there's also a disconnect between the "real life" of a lot of fans and the "dress up" parts. You run into a lot of that in the SCA too; there are no peasants, everyone is at least gentry, and one major thread of it is all about reifying "the biggest thug gets to rule", but no one would dream of or stand for applying that to their mundane lives. Of course, another major thread is absolute meritocracy, and the actual governance skews toward the latter, so it's... complicated. I doubt steampunk will quite get there, more's the pity, but I do take some small comfort in the fact that the actual artists, the creative powerhouses, tend to be more with the toolboxes and welding rigs than the top hats.

I'm really hoping that, if the artistic movement is around for long enough, it will evolve a political soul. Right now, if there is one, I think it's in its infancy.

[legionseagle]

I get the impression that thanks to people like Jaymee Goh there are people looking at some aspects of the colonial thing (though they aren't looking at coaling stations which, for me, are absolutely integral to the whole structure) and that's good, don't get me wrong, but the class problems of "steam kills" threatens to topple the whole edifice so that people like me saying "steam kills in general - how does your steam not kill in particular?" is something people are so hostile to that it's very rare to have someone like you prepared to even talk about it.

[branchandroot]

I believe it. Kind of the way a really freaking annoying subset of anime/manga fans react when I or anyone else point out the embedded misogyny. They don't want to think about that! This is just for fun! And anyway, it can't be real/that bad/right to point out for X spurious reason! *snorts* No. The cost is always there, and pretending it isn't is inexcusable.

[legionseagle]

Yes. So while I'm prepared to believe that I'm being inconsistent, compared to people I do read (Kipling!) I do have problems with steampunk that go beyond the obvious, and I get the impression that a lot of the writers in the sector haven't given any thought to the cost.

Thank you for being so understanding. I didn't set out to harsh your squee, just to mark where I stood in this regard. And while I know people are tackling the colonialism (though not many of them) I find the embedded classism just a bridge too far - surely someone should by now have spotted there's an issue, why am I the only person talking about it, oh look, there's this carpet and this brush and the darkness falls as usual.