Con or Bust
Mar. 1st, 2012 10:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yagathaiSomeone mentioned in conversation with me the other day that they're surprised that I haven't written or commented about Con or Bust at all, considering my strong opinions on dragging fandom into some vague semblance of today, or failing that at least a yesterday in which we have parties and deodorant and Heinlein is dead and I love him too but please shut up about him already.
The reason I haven't written about it or supported it is, to put it plainly, I really don't think it's a great idea. On a social policy level, I don't think that busing is the right answer. On a personal level, as a nonwhite person I feel like it's patronizing and vaguely offensive to suggest that by virtue of our racial loadout we are handicapped in our efforts to make it to conventions under our own steam in a way that our honkier brethren and sistren do not share. Yes, I know that's not the intention. Yes, I know a significant number of the people behind it would, like me, fail to pass the paper bag test (at least in the summertime -- I'm borderline). Nevertheless, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
When Con or Bust was a thing restricted to Wiscon, I had less trouble with it. Less trouble, not none -- I'm on record about some of the extremely troubling decisions Wiscon and Wiscon-attendees have made considering race, politics and dissent -- but as a Wiscon thing it seemed much more to me like a community reaching out to other members of that community, saying something like "we value your perspective and want you here." Also, I'm not directly a member of the Wiscon community and so not only was its impact on me significantly removed, but also I didn't really have anything invested one way or another in how the Wisconian (Winscontian? Winsconite? Winscolyte? Wiskkadian?) community chooses to apply its power. But the broader focus has, I think, diluted that feeling, made it less about a community holding out a helping hand and more about demographic engineering. As a member of the demographics being engineered, now I feel like it's become more personal, and I don't like that feeling.
On the other hand, I do have friends that have directly benefited from Con or Bust, and it is undeniably well-intentioned, albeit in a paternalistic, colonialistic kind of way. While I don't support it (and sometimes wish that I had a way to filter any mention it out of my twitter feed), ultimately if it makes white people happy to feel like they're helping out the dusky and exotic, why not let them spend their money, and if my fellow aforementioneds don't have my perhaps misplaced and admittedly overdeveloped sense of pride, well, they're probably smarter and more functional than I am.
In balance, my opposition to Con or Bust is fairly mild, in the same way I'm against thousand year-old eggs. I'm against them and decline to partake in their manufacture or consumption, but while I wouldn't shed any tears if they suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth, neither would I eradicate them even if I had the power to do so.
Aren't you glad someone asked?
The reason I haven't written about it or supported it is, to put it plainly, I really don't think it's a great idea. On a social policy level, I don't think that busing is the right answer. On a personal level, as a nonwhite person I feel like it's patronizing and vaguely offensive to suggest that by virtue of our racial loadout we are handicapped in our efforts to make it to conventions under our own steam in a way that our honkier brethren and sistren do not share. Yes, I know that's not the intention. Yes, I know a significant number of the people behind it would, like me, fail to pass the paper bag test (at least in the summertime -- I'm borderline). Nevertheless, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
When Con or Bust was a thing restricted to Wiscon, I had less trouble with it. Less trouble, not none -- I'm on record about some of the extremely troubling decisions Wiscon and Wiscon-attendees have made considering race, politics and dissent -- but as a Wiscon thing it seemed much more to me like a community reaching out to other members of that community, saying something like "we value your perspective and want you here." Also, I'm not directly a member of the Wiscon community and so not only was its impact on me significantly removed, but also I didn't really have anything invested one way or another in how the Wisconian (Winscontian? Winsconite? Winscolyte? Wiskkadian?) community chooses to apply its power. But the broader focus has, I think, diluted that feeling, made it less about a community holding out a helping hand and more about demographic engineering. As a member of the demographics being engineered, now I feel like it's become more personal, and I don't like that feeling.
On the other hand, I do have friends that have directly benefited from Con or Bust, and it is undeniably well-intentioned, albeit in a paternalistic, colonialistic kind of way. While I don't support it (and sometimes wish that I had a way to filter any mention it out of my twitter feed), ultimately if it makes white people happy to feel like they're helping out the dusky and exotic, why not let them spend their money, and if my fellow aforementioneds don't have my perhaps misplaced and admittedly overdeveloped sense of pride, well, they're probably smarter and more functional than I am.
In balance, my opposition to Con or Bust is fairly mild, in the same way I'm against thousand year-old eggs. I'm against them and decline to partake in their manufacture or consumption, but while I wouldn't shed any tears if they suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth, neither would I eradicate them even if I had the power to do so.
Aren't you glad someone asked?
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no subject
Date: 2012-03-01 10:59 pm (UTC)You no proper Chinese. You ded to me.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-01 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-02 05:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-02 06:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-01 11:30 pm (UTC)as a matter of fact, yes. this is interesting.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-02 05:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-02 02:45 pm (UTC)