Yet Again, top/bottom discourse
Sorry folks, for the long post.
I woke up to a DM related to the top/bottom discourse this morning that is weighing really heavily on my mind, and I feel like I need to address some of the points this person made publicly.
This person suggested that I am “inciting a war” between top and bottom Harry stans and that my recent commentary on this has rekindled this controversy and that I am putting “top Harry stans” at risk.
Perhaps I haven’t been clear enough? Note: I’m using the terms “top Harry stan” and “bottom Harry stan” here, even though it makes me PROFOUNDLY UNCOMFORTABLE to reduce people in this way, because it’s the language that was sent to me.
As I have said repeatedly, I don’t care what people’s preferences are. Just because I don’t personally have a preference one way or the other does not mean I am judging anyone who does have a preference, and it absolutely does not mean that I actually secretly prefer “bottom Harry” and think that’s the only content that should be produced.
Over and over again, I have stated that my issue is with the people who not only feel entitled to particular dynamics but who go out and harass or threaten content creators because they don’t like the dynamic those creators are creating. I have stated over and over again that I believe people should write what they want, read what they want, and not be mean to content creators. That’s really it.
Absolutely nothing has come across my Tumblr feed about “bottom Harry stans” being harassed or called names. Nothing has come across my feed about people deliberately mistagging their works. Obviously, none of that is okay, but I am not doing that. I am not seeing people doing that. I am certainly not encouraging anyone to do that. And I have absolutely no control over anyone else’s behavior. I’m actually kind of amused at the idea that I might have any influence at all here.
This message also said that the harassment that content creators are getting around this issue is being perpetrated by one person and that it’s unfair for “top Harry stans” to be punished and denied the content they want for the behavior of one bad apple. First, it’s completely untrue that it’s just one person. This has been going on for the years I’ve been in fandom (and I’m sure much longer than that), and it goes on in just about every fandom I read in. It’s a hot button topic for whatever reason, though I have no idea why.
To the second point, the idea that when I’m writing I’m choosing a particular dynamic to appease readers is just not how I work. I write what I think works with the characters and serves the particular story at that moment. And I will be quite honest and say that I get frustrated when someone takes, for example, a 60K fic that I’ve worked on for months, that I’ve poured my heart, soul, effort and time into simply because I want to tell a story, and they reduce it to who takes it up the ass.
I’ve also said it before and I’ll say it again. The way people talk about this dynamic when they have such strong preferences often seems very rooted in misogyny and homophobia to me, and also seems like it’s often coming from people who may not understand a lot about the incredible nuance and complexity of human sexuality. To care to the point that you actually are “triggered” by the “wrong” content is very concerning to me. (I’m going to be respectful of the term that people are using and accept that they genuinely have a traumatic response to this content, and it’s not simply that they just don’t like it, aka a squick).
There are really good, important, and big conversations to have in fandom about, among other things, misogyny, gender essentialism, homophobia, racism. But fundamentally, this is fiction and it’s all opt-in. If something isn’t clearly tagged to give you the information you want, that’s the information you need, which is that this fic is not safe for you. If it’s not tagged, you can take a chance and read something you might not like. You can have a friend read it and tell you. You can even reach out to the author and ask (and they may or may not answer). But, and this is my main point, you should not be harassing, abusing, or threatening content creators for how they’ve chosen to create.
I mean, no one should be abusing, harrassing, sending hate or death threats to anyone over fictional characters’ sex lives!
I guess my last small point is, if you care so deeply about a particular dynamic, maybe it’s not the responsibility of content creators to give you that. Maybe you should write it? Or at the very least, find the people who write what you love and support them. I’m pretty sure there are content creators who care deeply about who tops and who bottoms, and who write that dynamic in such a way that you’ll enjoy it.
I’m pretty sure that’s not me though.
