SIDHEAG HAS A WIFE

From my NAMES blog post: https://gailcarriger.com/2011/06/30/pronouncing-names-and-the-reasons-behind-them/ Why is it there? That blog post gets some of the most traction on my site. 

Soap.

I chose this name thoughtlessly and I was not aware of the modern history behind Black identity and cleanliness. If I had it to differently, I would not have chosen this name. Since learning of this mistake I’ve donated proceeds from The Finishing School series to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

I’ve no excuse. I’ve actively avoided modern American history my whole life, my interest in history tends to end when corsets do. His real name, Phineas B Crow is a reference to a friend named Phineas (by permission) and the Jim Crow laws, since I was hoping readers might look into understanding them more. Again, I apologize for clumsy handling, I will strive to do better.

Manifest Destiny.

I messed up again. I was genuinely thinking of Mandate from Heaven and chose the wrong flipping historical term. My brain is dumb.

I wrote an apology short story for this one (coming 2021). Proceeds go to The Seventh Generation Fund which supports Two-Spirts and LBGTQI identified Native Peoples and The Marsha P Johnson Institute for Black Trans Awareness. But if you feel personally wronged please email me and I will send the story to you gratis (post publication).

So yeah, I suck. I’ll try to suck less.

In case this one gets traction, here’s three posts recommending authors you might want to read instead of me:

If You Like My Books, Try These Black Authors https://gailcarriger.com/2020/06/17/if-you-like-my-books-try-these-black-authors-gail-carriger-recommends/

Black Authors Writing Queer Comfort https://gailcarriger.com/2020/06/08/2020-06-08-edited-black-authors-writing-queer-comfort/

Hi Gail. 

Please know that I am writing this with no idea as to when you first posted the “I suck :[” apology(?) edit, as the original naming conventions post appears to be from 2011, but my post you’ve linked to is from four years ago (roughly Sept 2016). So I have to assume you added the “Gail’s Name Fuck Ups” amendment somewhere within the four year span of you blocking me for mentioning this very issue on some social media, microagressing me (or allowing your fans to do so with neither condemnation or commentary from your end) for my critique on others, and now, here in 2020, where some of your more prominent (and non-Black, though I’m sure that’s no nevermind) fans are also beginning to feel uncomfortable with some of your writing/naming choices, and are thankfully getting vocal about it. 

So!

Maybe it’s just me remembering how you posted your Team Soap shirt promos shortly after my post was published, but this all rings as extremely hollow. Primarily because I’m uncertain as to whether or not you actually read and sat with the entirety of my post, as I have issues with “Soap’s” introduction that go beyond just his nickname– but we can start there.

I’m not certain how one names their character (The Nubian/The Black) B. (Pitch black bird if we want to be denotative, Jim Crow if not) and yet remains ignorant of what they’re invoking? Like… friend-name-shoutout or not, you named your Black character Negro McNegro, and in conjunction with his awful nickname, it becomes: Negro “Needs Soap More Than Most Normal Skinned People” McNegro. 

That’s bad enough, but if that did, in actuality, happen without even trying? Well that’s a very unlucky absolute circuses-worth of coincidences indeed, but I’m willing to say “sure” on the “Phineas B. Crow” part of the selection. I would think someone in the manuscript to published pipeline would run a quick Google and go “hmm”, but I guess not.

On to Soap and the rest. I find it very, very hard to believe that a self-described Vintage Maven like yourself, who puts such research into fabricating a richly anachronistic steampunk world, is somehow simultaneously unaware of the history “behind Black identity and cleanliness”. (And with your stories written with female empowerment at the forefront, I think it’s odd that in your research for one, you somehow did not manage to come in contact with the other.)

Likewise, it is very, very disingenuous to imply that the issue is exclusive to “modern history”, taking place in some Post-Corset Era that would somehow fall out of your field of knowledge/interest, and therefore be one of the sources of your mere “ignorance” on the topic. 

The concept of “Washing the Ethiopian/Blackamoor White” –which inspired some of the Pears Soap ads I linked originally– goes back as far as Aesop’s fables. That antiblack trope is like, at least Ancient Greek old. It’s simply ahistorical to pretend otherwise. 

We have multiple main characters characters of color, an entire series that is a running social commentary on how awful Victorian colonialism is/was, an endgame interracial couple and a second one on it’s way, countless mentions of the disparities on race, class, and gender (and their intersections) in the Victorian era, literally an entire series on how girls are trained to use gender discrimination to their advantage, and I have actually lost count of how many LGBTQ characters we have across 15 something books because there are literally that many.

First, I can’t speak for Gail because I am not Gail. However, I can own up to my own words, cuz they’re up there in that post.

Second, in the original post, I was racist and wrong (for reasons I will unpack below). Thank you @jhenne-bean for calling me (and Gail, whom I was defending in the OP) out. My loud, wrong, and racist opinions are on me, and I’m sorry. I perpetuated an act of racism through my comments and as a white person it’s on me to own up to and apologize for my past actions, as well as my place in white supremacy (past, present, and future).

White people are really fucking good at that doing shit, and I was no exception. It’s super important for white people to listen and learn from Black folks and other people of color about how micro and macro aggression pertaining to to race manifest in media and publishing (and in all other aspects of culture and society). After listening and learning it is then up to white people to do what Black and brown folks ask and work to correct themselves and others. This is a long process, and for white people it is NEVER done! We gotta fix our racist shit, and then try and fix our racist friends, family, coworkers, and structures we find ourselves inside of.

I am going to do some corrections and debunking for my past self so that other folks who might have the same opinions that I did can see how my thinking was misguided and perpetuated racism. 

Inclusion of Queer characters/discussions of class/subverting of gender norms/social commentary on colonialism/inclusion of interracial couples =/= antiracist activities, as my original post suggests. (For those who don’t know, antiracist refers to people who are actively seeking not only to raise their consciousness about race and racism, but also to take action when they see racial power inequities in everyday life.)

As white people we always need interrogate our racist bias. Sometimes we can’t always see that, no matter how many books we’ve read or things we’ve learned, because we don’t have lived experience. This is why sensitivity readers are important. This is why including more Black and brown folks among the ranks of agents and editors in publishing are important. ESPECIALLY in YA, but in all publishing brackets.

You can still be “not racist” in a macro way (i.e. not shouting slurs at people or enacting physical violence against Black and brown folks) but perpetuate white supremacy through other “micro” means (making Black/brown folks constantly defer to or take care of white folks in plotlines, naming characters incorrectly/not understanding cultures behind naming, etc). In the case of Soap, as @jhenne-bean says in response to my post, this includes trying to be funny/comedic using wordplay around naming conventions and make one offs like “I need [soap] more than most” in reference. While white people might think this wordplay is funny, it can and is hurtful to Black and brown readers. A non-white editor, beta reader, or Black sensitivity reader would probably have caught this in manuscripts and drafts and sent it back for corrections.

When Black folks says you’re being racist, don’t be defensive. Don’t try to explain it away via point #1. Listen to the Black and brown folks calling that shit own, own your problematic/racist viewpoints, and move forward being ready to learn and be better. YOU AS A WHITE PERSON ARE NEVER RIGHT ON ISSUES OF RACE. The sooner you learn that, the better.

I’ve learned a lot since I made the OP, and I’m still learning. Hopefully my breakdown helps some of the white folks who follow me understand how I was racist and wrong, and how they are also wrong if they hold the same viewpoint. Remember, we’re all entrenched in white supremacy and we all need to do the work to unlearn our biases. It’s not fun to be wrong and/or realize you perpetuated racism, but if you shut up and fucking listen, you’ll come out as a better person.

If you’d like to do more reading/learning on this topic, which you should, there are tons of people doing the work over multiple social medias (although these days it seems to be collected largely on Twitter). I recommend following @nkjemisin, @jyneonyang, @emeryleewho, @AlyssaColeLit, @rgay, and @nickydrayden, just to name a few. I learn from them every day, and I’m grateful.

Buying and reading books by Black and brown authors, along with other authors of color, can give you insight into experiences that are not your own. This is very important for white people. It’s also important to support these authors, as supporting shows publishing we care about these stories and want more of them. I’ve reblogged lots of books you can read in the past few months, and the authors I’ve tagged above all have good books you should buy and read.

If you’d like some resources that are not Twitter or fiction, here are some articles and book lists:

https://www.vulture.com/2017/08/the-toxic-drama-of-ya-twitter.html

https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/in-ya-where-is-the-line-between-criticism-and-cancel-culture

https://www.thebookseller.com/blogs/time-publishers-get-serious-about-anti-racism-was-yesterday-1207523

https://www.vulture.com/2020/06/publishing-strike-racism-book-industry.html

https://www.literatibookstore.com/antiracist-book-list

https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/204842963/1357692923

https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/07/your-anti-racism-books-are-means-not-end/614281/

Remember white people: You can “listen” and “learn” all you like, but if you don’t put that into actionable change, you aren’t doing anything with your white privilege. Don’t give “listening and learning” lip service–listen, learn, and then USE your newfound knowledge to ACT and change things that are wrong…whether it be to confront racial bias in fiction, teach your friends and family what you’ve learned, tear down structural inequality in systems that seek to marginalized and exclude people of color (like publishing), and otherwise create concrete economic and legislative changes.

I can’t tell you how to interrogate your fanship towards Gail and the “Gailverse”.

I do hope that there is more than surface level disagreement over the Obvious (or what should be, the Obvious) occurring on your end, in order for your advocacy to be meaningful and true, rather than lip service. Like, because of my critiques, I’m blocked by her on multiple social media sites. Maybe her fans who aren’t could engage her on her naming choices and how they ring problematic and offensive, as we both agree on the harm. That would be a fine use of privilege; spreading the word on “Soap”, and how messed up that is. Because even recently, on Instagram, she continues to post her Team Soap shirt promotional picture (which she originally uploaded in 2016 not long after my post gained traction, and then deleted after I took up the subject matter with her fans in the comments, but I digress). 

She is still, obviously, of the mind that her choices were acceptable, or at the very least defensible, when in truth they are not. It would be heartening, if there were fans of hers who made a point of addressing the antiblack choices, in addition to all the “OMG TEAM SOAP 😍” and “I LOVE SOAP” comments. Especially because I don’t believe that the entirety of her fans are aware of the racist naming tropes to begin with, and genuinely just enjoy the character, which is understandable. Fan-to-Fan discussions could easily change minds/influence people to cosign less racism, and confront it in a meaningful way when they encounter it, even from a favorite author. 

Push her to change– beyond apparently realizing for the first time in June 2020 that she can actually use her platform to boost #OwnVoices stories -something she started doing as soon as it became in vogue to do so. Ask her about her choices. 

I think that should be a significant part of the actionable change you’re seeking and encouraging for others. No, you can’t speak for her, but you can speak to her. 

She isn’t JKR, she can still be spoken to by her fans and readers. Y'all should take it upon yourselves to do so. 

___________________________________

And, ARE her naming choices supposed to be taken as jokes? 

This is a genuine question. 

Is it funny? Was it an uninformed accident where he was named “incorrectly” or without “cultural understanding” and sensitivity, or was it an intentional joke? Was it supposed to be comedic wordplay?

It’s pretty fucked up either way, honestly.

Even if someone found Phineas B. Crow (Black B. Black, ohoho!) chuckleworthy, the line: “He wasn’t simply dirty; he was actually black.” is deeply racist. His entire introduction, even beyond his name and nicknames themselves, is deeply racist. An editor could have caught it, but she should know better.

I shouldn’t have to write her a “Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Name Your Token Black Character Blackity ‘Needs Soap More Than Most Normal Non-Soot Colored People’ McNegro” post. She should know better, and do better.

She should know what Golliwog and Jim Crow imagery is. She should know what the optics of his eyes and teeth being “startlingly white in a dark face” is rooted in. 

She should know that. 

She probably does. She just thought the racism was funny. 

Because, as a self proclaimed “vintage maven”, I find it hard to believe that she has no awareness of the historical antiblackness she was leaning on– it seems that someone with her breadth of knowledge simply came to ignore the violence of that entire history, and still find her name selection/nicknames not only tenable, but funny.

(And I don’t consider the “needs it more than most” point a one off– it’s literally the (alleged) joke behind his nickname. The reference, the tentpole that the name is fastened to, is the antiblackness. He needs more soap *because* his skin is black, *because* it is, according to Sophronia, “soot-colored by nature”.)

As you say, Soap was just the beginning of a larger problem with Black and brown characters in the Gailverse. Thank you for calling it out then and now.

Followers, especially my white ones:

We have a reckoning we have to undertake with these books.

It is clearly no longer an issue of a one-off issue or one of “not being educated” in the past, etc. These are large and persistent problems that stretch through The Parasol Protectorate/Finishing School Series (and probably the Custard Protocol as well) and now are included quite blatantly in the San Andreas Shifters series. All of these books have racist undertones and other harmful stereotyping of Black and brown folks, as well as gay men. The Enforcer Enigma has many of these problems and more, including issues I laid out recently in my post re: The Enforcer Enigma. The Omega Objection has them as well re: Isaac, another Black gay male MC, but I haven’t read that book in a while and I frankly don’t really want to reread it.

Okay, y’all.

We need to talk about The Enforcer Enigma because I have many, many problems with it.

I’ve been sitting on my feelings for this book for a month or so, after I got my ARC of it and I read it. It’s been hard to decide what I was going to say, how I was going to approach this. Like I’ve said before, my relationship with Gail exists in a liminal space between fan and friend, and is even more complicated than that.

I’ve decided, as both a fan AND friend, that I can’t ignore the problems in this book.

Which is where this post comes from.

When I first I heard it was dealing with the Selkie mob I was excited, because I loved how ridiculous they were in the short story and I think the concept is gloriously ludicrous. But this book overall felt very contrived, very basic, and very tone deaf in a racist way. The gay boys felt objectified and cookie cutter, and the racist treatment of Judd made me very, very upset.

I’m going to get to my issues with the treatment of Judd, as best as I can as a white person with a lot to learn, but I want to start with something I am able to speak better on, and that’s the gay characters in this book.

So let’s get into it. Spoilers, obviously, and lots of talk about systematic racism and homophobia, stereotypes, etc.

(Also, Gail, since you follow me on this blog and I know you’ll probably see this—READ THE WHOLE THING. Think about it. And then if you’d like to talk about it, you know how to contact me.)

This is going behind a cut, not because of the content but because it’s almost 6 pages long.

Y’ALL! THIS NOVELLA IS SO AMAZING!!!!!!

Glorious Day by Skye Kilaen

This novella is the wlw sci-fi I wanted as a child and never got. Seriously.

I grew up in SF/F fandom, teething on Star Trek and spending many weekends at Sci-Fi/Fantasy conventions. I grew up immersed in space shit, with paintings of imagined worlds and the space ports that serviced them hanging in my parent’s home. I grew up dreaming of speculative worlds like this, and I can’t say how meaningful it would have been to me to read something like this when I was younger, just a tiny gay who wanted to see themselves reflected in the worlds they grew up in.

Y'all. I feel seen in this spaceport Chili’s tonight.

This novella is beautifully written and has amazing characters, worldbuilding, and plot. Tons of disability and nonbinary rep, which made me so happy to see. Elsenna is a delightfully grouchy protagonist and her voice is strong and sure. The pining and angst is SO SO GOOD, with a very sweet HEA. The romance is SO SWEET and the political bits are suspenseful and hard hitting. So much packed into a novella, but it doesn’t seem rushed or forced at all. Masterful, masterful pacing.

This is a beautiful debut novella and I wish I could read it a thousand times with fresh eyes. Just…..wow.

5/5 stars, please go and pre-order immediately. 

OUT AUGUST 3, 2020!

A disclaimer: Skye is one of my betas, and I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review. But even if I hadn’t known Skye, I would have gushed over this book. Princess/bodyguard f/f HEA in SPACE!

KEEP REBLOGGING!

MAKE SURE YOU PREORDER!

We have multiple main characters characters of color, an entire series that is a running social commentary on how awful Victorian colonialism is/was, an endgame interracial couple and a second one on it’s way, countless mentions of the disparities on race, class, and gender (and their intersections) in the Victorian era, literally an entire series on how girls are trained to use gender discrimination to their advantage, and I have actually lost count of how many LGBTQ characters we have across 15 something books because there are literally that many.

First, I can’t speak for Gail because I am not Gail. However, I can own up to my own words, cuz they’re up there in that post.

Second, in the original post, I was racist and wrong (for reasons I will unpack below). Thank you @jhenne-bean for calling me (and Gail, whom I was defending in the OP) out. My loud, wrong, and racist opinions are on me, and I’m sorry. I perpetuated an act of racism through my comments and as a white person it’s on me to own up to and apologize for my past actions, as well as my place in white supremacy (past, present, and future).

White people are really fucking good at that doing shit, and I was no exception. It’s super important for white people to listen and learn from Black folks and other people of color about how micro and macro aggression pertaining to to race manifest in media and publishing (and in all other aspects of culture and society). After listening and learning it is then up to white people to do what Black and brown folks ask and work to correct themselves and others. This is a long process, and for white people it is NEVER done! We gotta fix our racist shit, and then try and fix our racist friends, family, coworkers, and structures we find ourselves inside of.

I am going to do some corrections and debunking for my past self so that other folks who might have the same opinions that I did can see how my thinking was misguided and perpetuated racism. 

Inclusion of Queer characters/discussions of class/subverting of gender norms/social commentary on colonialism/inclusion of interracial couples =/= antiracist activities, as my original post suggests. (For those who don’t know, antiracist refers to people who are actively seeking not only to raise their consciousness about race and racism, but also to take action when they see racial power inequities in everyday life.)

As white people we always need interrogate our racist bias. Sometimes we can’t always see that, no matter how many books we’ve read or things we’ve learned, because we don’t have lived experience. This is why sensitivity readers are important. This is why including more Black and brown folks among the ranks of agents and editors in publishing are important. ESPECIALLY in YA, but in all publishing brackets.

You can still be “not racist” in a macro way (i.e. not shouting slurs at people or enacting physical violence against Black and brown folks) but perpetuate white supremacy through other “micro” means (making Black/brown folks constantly defer to or take care of white folks in plotlines, naming characters incorrectly/not understanding cultures behind naming, etc). In the case of Soap, as @jhenne-bean says in response to my post, this includes trying to be funny/comedic using wordplay around naming conventions and make one offs like “I need [soap] more than most” in reference. While white people might think this wordplay is funny, it can and is hurtful to Black and brown readers. A non-white editor, beta reader, or Black sensitivity reader would probably have caught this in manuscripts and drafts and sent it back for corrections.

When Black folks says you’re being racist, don’t be defensive. Don’t try to explain it away via point #1. Listen to the Black and brown folks calling that shit own, own your problematic/racist viewpoints, and move forward being ready to learn and be better. YOU AS A WHITE PERSON ARE NEVER RIGHT ON ISSUES OF RACE. The sooner you learn that, the better.

I’ve learned a lot since I made the OP, and I’m still learning. Hopefully my breakdown helps some of the white folks who follow me understand how I was racist and wrong, and how they are also wrong if they hold the same viewpoint. Remember, we’re all entrenched in white supremacy and we all need to do the work to unlearn our biases. It’s not fun to be wrong and/or realize you perpetuated racism, but if you shut up and fucking listen, you’ll come out as a better person.

If you’d like to do more reading/learning on this topic, which you should, there are tons of people doing the work over multiple social medias (although these days it seems to be collected largely on Twitter). I recommend following @nkjemisin, @jyneonyang, @emeryleewho, @AlyssaColeLit, @rgay, and @nickydrayden, just to name a few. I learn from them every day, and I’m grateful.

Buying and reading books by Black and brown authors, along with other authors of color, can give you insight into experiences that are not your own. This is very important for white people. It’s also important to support these authors, as supporting shows publishing we care about these stories and want more of them. I’ve reblogged lots of books you can read in the past few months, and the authors I’ve tagged above all have good books you should buy and read.

If you’d like some resources that are not Twitter or fiction, here are some articles and book lists:

https://www.vulture.com/2017/08/the-toxic-drama-of-ya-twitter.html

https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/in-ya-where-is-the-line-between-criticism-and-cancel-culture

https://www.thebookseller.com/blogs/time-publishers-get-serious-about-anti-racism-was-yesterday-1207523

https://www.vulture.com/2020/06/publishing-strike-racism-book-industry.html

https://www.literatibookstore.com/antiracist-book-list

https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/204842963/1357692923

https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/07/your-anti-racism-books-are-means-not-end/614281/

Remember white people: You can “listen” and “learn” all you like, but if you don’t put that into actionable change, you aren’t doing anything with your white privilege. Don’t give “listening and learning” lip service--listen, learn, and then USE your newfound knowledge to ACT and change things that are wrong...whether it be to confront racial bias in fiction, teach your friends and family what you’ve learned, tear down structural inequality in systems that seek to marginalized and exclude people of color (like publishing), and otherwise create concrete economic and legislative changes.