you do not need to like garsantos. you can want santos with someone else, though i encourage you to at least consider the significance of having such a relationship on a show like “the pitt.”
however, you do need to recognize the blatant racism that has taken root in most anti-garsantos sentiments.
garcia is abrasive. at times, she can be mean. in season 2, the whole “nepo baby” situation is a bit aggressive.
but garcia is not aggressive. she, in the grand scheme of things, is not mean. her softest moments are with santos.
the conclusion that garcia is abusive, and the conclusion that she is sexually promiscuous, or a fuckboy, is rooted in racism. in prejudiced ideas that have been used to dehumanize black and brown women for centuries.
many have said this, and it is not my intention to repeat the sentiment simply for the sake of it. i bring this up again so that we might also consider the infantilization of santos that often goes hand in hand with this sort of prejudice against garcia.
with garcia painted as an abuser, santos becomes the abused. a narrative is crafted that frames santos as someone who needs to be saved from garcia, effectively stripping her of all her agency and autonomy. she is made small, relegated to the category or status of helpless victim, denied her full personhood.
infantilization is a core tenet of racism.
when you engage with fan content, particularly of other santos ships, and particularly of barantos—though i appreciate barantos, there are a non-negligible number of works that present at least one of these phenomena—do not do so idly. just because it is not real does not mean that it has no bearing on what is.
garcia is not abusive. santos is not helpless. al-hashimi is not her savior.
stop denying these women their personhood. their humanity. stop making these complicated, nuanced characters into racist caricatures.
theartofmadeline
titsay
andulkaphoto
amandla
origamiaround
turnnoffyourmind
