Dotjings

i’m personally a mostly binary trans man, but i dress incredibly GNC and as such not uncommonly get mistaken for being nonbinary (or a trans woman sometimes).

it’s really only been more of a recent thing for (neo)liberals to be ‘okay’ with nonbinary people, having previously fought tooth and nail to make it clear that you can only be a man or a woman and you can kind of switch genders but not really. even now it’s very common for neoliberals to say that SEX is binary but GENDER isn’t, despite this also being completely wrong given the fact sex also doesn’t really exist but that’s a whole other tangent. with homophobia/transphobia being on the rise again due to the administration and shitheads feeling empowered to be shitheads, i’ve seen plenty of queer people on other platforms come out of the woodwork to say something like “im not woke enough for catgender or adhdgender, go outside and get a job” in an attempt to distance themselves away from what they see as the undesirables. they’ll say that they’re the reason the queer community ‘isn’t taken seriously’ or somehow try to say that it’ll make conservatives want to kill us more and somehow directly cause gay marriage to become illegal again, and it’s important we bully these people back into conformity to match the societal picture of what it means to be one of the only three(two) acceptable choices.

obviously a lot of people who use neopronouns/xenogenders are kids and bullying kids is horrible, but just mentioning that feels like giving credence to the idea that anyone who identifies as something unconventional has to be a child. the media at large consistently reinforces the idea that nonconformity is childish and something you need to let go of so you can go into the ‘real world.’ you’re expected at some point to stop fighting and to just give in. continuing to not conform is inherently punished with ridicule and ostracism. and the community meant to give shelter to these people who don’t fit the molds that nobody really fits in the first place just feeds them to the dogs because they think it’ll save their own hide.

asides from the 3d reference rule [which i wont speak on in this post, if thats what you were expecting] specifically the countryhumans/balls based on fictional countries being outright banned is tripping me up

i get the concept. i get the idea. i get the vision. i get that they can still be inspired on real things and thus can possibly perpetuate stereotypes which i get one wouldnt want on the site. but outright banning EVERY single one even if they arent based on ANYTHING real is just. insane ??

i have so many countryhumans/balls-esque OCs which arent inherently even based on a country because i really like drawing characters with interesting colors and patterns and am severely autistic for iconography like in flags and signs and whatnot so i love capturing the essence of that aesthetic, but now im not allowed to draw my green ball with a flower on her face because despite her being based on NOTHING but my liking for the color green n flowers, thats somehow perpetuating stereotypes ????

or ALL MY AND ONE OCS. they have a countryhumans-esque art style because i made them all based on AND ONE albums and their covers. i think propeller and zerstörer are my biggest examples of such. they suddenly wouldnt be allowed FOR A RULE THAT DOESNT APPLY TO THEM ?

like chat am i cooked am i coookeeddddd this isnt even all my ocs that could technically be offending but i still think this is literally so unfair

i also have had to consider this problem and it is part of the reason i have never fully participated in artfight

while i understand the base of the rule, portraying real life and cultures respectfully, they ALSO do not permit fictional countries - something that is completely separate and unrelated. they are only connected by the fact they use the same species. it also makes people who use characters with patterned faces or flag motifs catch strays, because the a layman probably cannot tell the difference between a countryhumans oc and a character with tricolour facepaint or something. i can totally get the idea of the rule for real countries, but fictional personified countries are often completely innocent. they are at risk of portraying stereotypes no more than any other type of character. id argue less so, really. country personification artists are perfectly aware of the potential harm in their work and, typically, try to avoid it consciously. it is something we are always considering, because it is important for the medium. but yeah ive just found it a little disheartening. its the only individual fandom listed directly on the rules page. like did they have an outbreak of countryhumans in the past or something that made them completely ban us entirely

My sympathies for both of you, you did not deserve this 😭

I might differ a little from these statements, because my personal opinion is the justification for the ban on country personifications as a whole is plain out ridiculous, as if you push it to it's logical conclusion, it negates the validity of the idea of referring to countries as any kind of cohesive entity whatsoever.

I believe it would be SO MUCH MORE REASONABLE if it was said countryhumans couldn't be submitted as ocs because of how much they rely on real world factors, and how often, designs from different people are still somewhat uniform

I theorized there might be someone in Artfight's staff with a Personal vendetta against Ch. Like. It bizarrely is the single fandom directly mentioned, when MIND YOU IT IS NOT A BIG FANDOM AT ALL

Not giving any room for ambiguity for fictional countries that might be completely original, while they DID JUST GRANT the benefit of the doubt to some tracing scenarios is also a big slap in the face of several artists passionate about world building

Pointing out how every original character might fall into stereotypes is very pertinent, it is REALLY difficult to not read it like this rule was written by someone who hates the concept itself, and isn't actually worried about respectful representations of cultures.

hell theres also some people in the ch fandom who make countryhumans explicitly based on very specific people like leaders so they arent even trying to stereotype the countries themselves but instead are making portrayals of actions of people and stuff that actually happened which seems people ONLY have an issue with if its done in the countryhumans fandom and nowhere else

but also insisting that any portrayal = stereotype and stereotype = BAD just straight up screams "YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO REPRESENT ANYTHING" so like wtf

^ at that point just ban concept of fiction altogether because then no one should be allowed to portray anything whether stuff being portrayed actually happened or is entirely fictional

it feels like these people are stuck in the mindset that ch fandom is the same as the one from like 8 years ago when people would do nothing but make offensive art and ship things and dont care about anything else

so again .. you're telling me i can portray xyz but if i do that but make my oc be colored like a flag i suddenly cannot portray that anymore and should be banned. like ok thanks

I also think the banning of Countryhumans as a whole is just plain dumb. Especially their new, fictional ones must be banned too, rule.

Countryhumans have become more so about learning history, understanding other cultures, and just having fun world building. Less and less we see the “stereotypical” designs, and hey, you can argue anything’s a stereotype.

Stereotypes are based on fact, on something that is true, but is often taken as an overgeneralization or extreme. Nowadays, it’s really easy to label someone trying to represent their culture as someone stereotyping.

The ban of countryhumans may have originally been ignored, but banning a media really shouldn’t be a solution. I do agree that it seems oddly targeted, why are Countryhumans mentioned and not, say, Hetalia. They’re personifications of countries, i’ve seen OC’s from Hetalia, why aren’t they being mentioned too? Simple, Bias. I can go on and on about the stigma of Countryhumans, but I digress

Anyone can make a stereotypical, appropriating, or offensive character, and I feel like this one needs to be handled on an individual basis, not a ban. As I’ve said before, someone wanting to represent their culture could be seen as appropriating to others.

The ban of fiction made ones too is completely unjustifiable. They aren’t stereotyping, they’re expressing themselves in a way that feels right. Also, their reasoning is horrible, as my reasons stated above, but also EVERYTHING IN FICTION STEMS FROM REALITY. For example, aliens, they stem from weird creatures on earth or us.

And i’m ranting, sorry-

Everyone acting like Zarya and Hoovy wouldn’t get along but I mean