If you really don't understand why people are finding it difficult, here are a couple things off the top of my head:
1. People will generally, I think, accept that ableism is bad, at least in the abstract. So when you are saying "Label your stories where Charles isn't disabled with 'abelism'" it may be making people feel like their stories are bad, or they are ableist (which is bad) for wanting those stories. (Some people will say "good!" or at least, "Well, they should think about *why* they want those stories, because that desire may be rooted in ableism." People aren't really going to *like* those answers. Hence, difficulties.)
2. You're saying that people don't have to be right all the time, but if there's an objection they should add a warning. This presupposes that the people objecting are "right", and that there is a "right", which... sometimes yes sometimes no? Obviously, those people are "right" in saying that they personally were offended, but the people writing the stories may feel like putting that warning on their stories is incorrect. And a lot of those people will be clueless CAB* folks who are overlooking their privilege, but some of those people might in fact be disabled folks who just don't fucking want to deal with disability in their story because they deal with it in their lives. Or they deal with it a different way than the person objecting. (There is... a lot of difference between how people deal with disability and the way people deal with other identities, I think. Many similarities, but in a lot of ways, disability isn't the same as race, gender, sexuality.) Then, like one poster already has, they have to pull out the "Well, in fact, I am also disabled!" thing, or be called clueless and privileged etc. Not everybody wants to do that, and they really shouldn't have to. And then we get into "You just have internalized ableism!" and that is never, ever a fun conversation.
3. Warnings do, in fact, sometimes change the way a person reads a story. Personally, I generally like warnings. I read fanfiction mostly for comfort, so I like knowing what I'm getting into. Others feel that takes away from the joy of reading- you prepare yourself and don't get to feel the full emotional punch. Some people want that punch and so when they write the story, they feel like labels are taking something away. Hence the popularity of the grey-on-grey warnings- which are not possible in anon comments and so not possible here.
I'm not arguing that any of these things are the correct stance, incidentally. As a reader, I like warnings. As a writer, I find them paralyzing. (Fortunately I don't write much, so I don't have to deal with this conflict often.) I think making fandom a better space for marginalized folks is a really great goal, though I don't actually know if warnings are the key to that. (Not that I have any great solutions myself, you understand.) Just that these are possible reasons for pushback.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-06-26 07:13 am (UTC)1. People will generally, I think, accept that ableism is bad, at least in the abstract. So when you are saying "Label your stories where Charles isn't disabled with 'abelism'" it may be making people feel like their stories are bad, or they are ableist (which is bad) for wanting those stories. (Some people will say "good!" or at least, "Well, they should think about *why* they want those stories, because that desire may be rooted in ableism." People aren't really going to *like* those answers. Hence, difficulties.)
2. You're saying that people don't have to be right all the time, but if there's an objection they should add a warning. This presupposes that the people objecting are "right", and that there is a "right", which... sometimes yes sometimes no? Obviously, those people are "right" in saying that they personally were offended, but the people writing the stories may feel like putting that warning on their stories is incorrect. And a lot of those people will be clueless CAB* folks who are overlooking their privilege, but some of those people might in fact be disabled folks who just don't fucking want to deal with disability in their story because they deal with it in their lives. Or they deal with it a different way than the person objecting. (There is... a lot of difference between how people deal with disability and the way people deal with other identities, I think. Many similarities, but in a lot of ways, disability isn't the same as race, gender, sexuality.)
Then, like one poster already has, they have to pull out the "Well, in fact, I am also disabled!" thing, or be called clueless and privileged etc. Not everybody wants to do that, and they really shouldn't have to. And then we get into "You just have internalized ableism!" and that is never, ever a fun conversation.
3. Warnings do, in fact, sometimes change the way a person reads a story. Personally, I generally like warnings. I read fanfiction mostly for comfort, so I like knowing what I'm getting into. Others feel that takes away from the joy of reading- you prepare yourself and don't get to feel the full emotional punch. Some people want that punch and so when they write the story, they feel like labels are taking something away. Hence the popularity of the grey-on-grey warnings- which are not possible in anon comments and so not possible here.
I'm not arguing that any of these things are the correct stance, incidentally. As a reader, I like warnings. As a writer, I find them paralyzing. (Fortunately I don't write much, so I don't have to deal with this conflict often.) I think making fandom a better space for marginalized folks is a really great goal, though I don't actually know if warnings are the key to that. (Not that I have any great solutions myself, you understand.) Just that these are possible reasons for pushback.