Thanks for the stats, fems! I think the beef of the reviews (yep, there's another one now) is that I chose to have Sam's attacker be a black man. For that reason they feel like I'm perpetuating racial stereotypes and will be hurting some people's feelings. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this. My initial reaction is: why aren't they mad that a man was portrayed as the attacker? Or, that a woman was portrayed as the victim?
The more time I spend thinking about this, the more upset I am. There's a portion of the original review that says:
So...two mentions of a black man being the main aggressor in this fic are more egregious than many scenes of a strong and thoughtful friendship between a Sam and yet another black man are restorative?
I'd worry that I'd personally affronted the first reviewer, except s/he seems to be coming at it from a place of political correctness. I don't think this is an issue of race but rather an issue of a bad guy doing a bad thing. I don't think I went out of my way to paint black people as bad. I don't think I even really harped on the fact that the character was black. Unless I'm sorely mistaken (after all, I only wrote the damn thing), there really were only two references to the color of his skin.
Was I really out of line? Do I have to ensure that anytime I write a bad guy he's white? Just to...I don't know... Even the score? Why should I have to base my characters on ANYTHING other than the necessary juxtapositions, models or characteristics to tell the story? Do I have a social responsibility to never make minorities into bad guys?
At this point I feel I need to address this with the reviewers but I'm starting to get angry instead of defensive and that's not a good place to comment from either. The first reviewer suggested I go back and excise some adjectives from the story. Those are the only two sections from with any adjectives pertaining to the coloration of the Jaffa could be inferred. Does s/he have a point? Am I standing my ground too firmly?
Spoilered for the two places in the story I could find where any race could be inferred. Though, in the second, the implication wasn't entirely race but meant to be a metaphor for the people in their entirety.
(I'm harping, I know. But I'm upset that I'm either completely oblivious to an egregious mistake making me an actual racist or that I'm being unjustly accused of latent racism.)
The more time I spend thinking about this, the more upset I am. There's a portion of the original review that says:
I am certain this was never your intention but the repeated adjectives of darkness with regard to the Jaffa play into old cultural memes about sexuality, violence and race. The presence of Teal'c as a strong, grounded subsidiary character isn't really mitigating that for this reader.
I'd worry that I'd personally affronted the first reviewer, except s/he seems to be coming at it from a place of political correctness. I don't think this is an issue of race but rather an issue of a bad guy doing a bad thing. I don't think I went out of my way to paint black people as bad. I don't think I even really harped on the fact that the character was black. Unless I'm sorely mistaken (after all, I only wrote the damn thing), there really were only two references to the color of his skin.
Was I really out of line? Do I have to ensure that anytime I write a bad guy he's white? Just to...I don't know... Even the score? Why should I have to base my characters on ANYTHING other than the necessary juxtapositions, models or characteristics to tell the story? Do I have a social responsibility to never make minorities into bad guys?
At this point I feel I need to address this with the reviewers but I'm starting to get angry instead of defensive and that's not a good place to comment from either. The first reviewer suggested I go back and excise some adjectives from the story. Those are the only two sections from with any adjectives pertaining to the coloration of the Jaffa could be inferred. Does s/he have a point? Am I standing my ground too firmly?
Spoilered for the two places in the story I could find where any race could be inferred. Though, in the second, the implication wasn't entirely race but meant to be a metaphor for the people in their entirety.
Spoiler:
(I'm harping, I know. But I'm upset that I'm either completely oblivious to an egregious mistake making me an actual racist or that I'm being unjustly accused of latent racism.)
I'm feeling much better now. I no longer feel, as I put it elsewhere, a failure of the progressive movement. It hit me hard, probably, because while I don't really do politically correct, I'm an incredibly open and typically fair minded person. For someone to insinuate that I was exacerbating racial stereotypes actually challenged more than my writing but my own self image. I've been writing for the public for over 15 years and I've had my fair share of bad reviews. This wasn't that. As a matter of fact, the reviewers were otherwise complimentary. This felt personal and that, to me, is where lines get crossed.
At this point, I think I'm just pissed about the tone the whole thing has taken which is why I eventually responded. Of course, now I'm mad at myself for engaging.
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