This article is a load of trashy white feminism that completely ignores and invalidates non-white people in fandom. Itâs also a mess of some really badly done statistical analysis.
Hereâs a link to a counter article that discusses some of the issues with the original article:
Itâs a Trap: Reylos, Racism, and the Whiteness of Data in the Harassment of Women Online
But McCort shifts between the general and the specific, here, and does nothing to distinguish between what is likely to be actual hate (âmental case,â âinbred,â) and what might be valid accusations (âsexistâ and âracistâ). If her critique is going to be intersectional, it must, surely, recognise that (particularly white) women in any fandom can display abusive behaviours, and that without clear evidence or further commentary on her part, the list of abuses she includes is questionable. Itâs starting to read like none of these accusations can ever stand because women are oppressed as a single class â and that would seem, given McCortâs own identity, to be a class of white women. Itâs telling that later, when McCort discusses Kelly Marie Tran being hounded off social media, it is because Tran is a woman and not because she is a woman of colour. Well, so much for intersectionality.Â
Again, the essay gains traction here by offering enough criticism of the alt-right that it feels like a balanced and fair assessment because the reader likely shares McCortâs politics in this instance. However, when she discusses âantisâ â that is, specifically the women she accuses of far-left âpearl-clutchingâ â she slips into misogynistic language herself by denigrating progressive women for their moral or ethical concerns and accuses them of bullying. Thereâs also a lot going on in terms of her linguistic jumps: she seems to conflate âwomenâ in this context with âwomen of colour,â and then refers to women of colour as âantisâ throughout the rest of the essay. Itâs a wild ride of semantics, for thatâs sure.
Further to its discussions of Boyega, McCortâs essay also includes screenshots of âantisâ bullying Reylos that are all taken out of context. The comments seem, for the most part, to be replies to Reylo posts that are written by (again, McCort never explicitly states this) women of colour. For example, âGenuinely curious, is Reylo a white personâs ship?â seems like a valid question and suggests the writer is a woman of colour â Iâm guessing weâre meant to infer that the writer is being âracistâ toward Reylos by drawing attention to their whiteness. Itâs not entirely clear. Then thereâs âstupid dumbfuck Reylo really thinking some screenshots is gonna erase my memory of the racism ive had to deal with from reylos like LMFAO like i dont have the receipts.â This screenshot is more obviously positioned to outrage the reader about an act of aggression toward a Reylo (who is probably white) from an âantiâ (who is probably a woman of colour). However, as the comment suggests, the writer has experienced multiple instances of racism from within the Reylo community, which likely explains the tone of their post.
Why donât we see any of the original Reylo posts? By focusing on the replies and using âwomenâ vs âantis,â McCortâs work covertly erases race from the narrative while simultaneously amplifying the feelings of white women who are allegedly endangered by the anger of women of colour. Never mind if that anger is justified. You got your screenshots. Nothing more to see here.
White women disingenuously continuing to portray people in fandom who stand up to instances of fandom racism as âantisâ, comparing them to fucking alt-right trolls, using arguments about free speech and the like to shut down any legitimate and valid criticism people might have of their abject racism--you love to see it.
