Mod Post: So let's talk about this ableism thing.

[iambickilometer.livejournal.com]

Disclaimer: After writing this, I sent it to the other mods and some friends of mine to check to make sure it didn't say anything problematic, but if they or I missed something important or said something wrong, please don't hesitate to let me know. I'm still learning.

Something's been brought to our attention in regards to language people have been using re: disability, and problematic depictions thereof. It's great that we have a character in this fandom who is disabled, and it's great that there is a lot of interest in writing about him! But there are people on this meme who are also disabled, and insensitive or simply ignorant words can really hurt them. As our goal with this meme is to maintain a space where everyone present can feel comfortable participating, we'd like to keep this from happening, and we hope you feel the same way.

You may have noticed that "ableism" has been added to the list of triggers to warn for. If you're not familiar with the word, it refers to any speech, action, or treatment that hurts, oppresses, or discriminates against disabled people. Words like "cripple" and "gimp" fall into this category. Prompts using these words (with a few exceptions, noted below) will be deleted. So do stories that depict Charles' disability as disgusting or unacceptable, or erase it completely. Language like “the crippled man”, “the disabled man”, and “the handicapped man” focuses on his disability, perpetuating the common mindset that disabled people are only disabled, and never have any other defining traits.

Now, we're not going to ask you to stop writing these stories, because this is a kink meme and it is not our business what you choose to ask for or write about. But we do ask that you warn for it, if you think your prompt or fill contains it. Wanting stories about Charles and Erik having acrobatic post-movie sex does not make you a bad person, but that doesn't really matter to someone with a disability who reads it and is hurt by that erasure. Taking the time to consider if your content could hurt someone is just the considerate thing to do.

Likewise, it’s entirely possible to write about ableism without taking part in it yourself -- for instance, depicting Charles dealing with being visibly different for the first time and showing the ways people treat him. Unless they are part of the prompt (“someone calls Charles a “cripple”, cue him defending himself/the team defending him”), ableist slurs are unnecessary; comments in which the prompter casually uses them to refer to a character are unacceptable. But no matter how you write about it, any ableist content needs a warning.

The mods will treat this as any other warning issue: if we see ableist language or actions in your fill or prompt (or it's called to our attention by someone else) and there is no warning, we will ask you to post it again with that warning and delete the offending prompt or fill. We'd rather not do this, so please just be aware of what you're writing so that we can all enjoy this meme.

Please also be aware that we are not perfect; if you find unwarned-for ableist content that we haven’t caught, please feel free to contact the poster or us about it.

So to clarify: I am asking you to either change your wordings or warn for your content. Not because of politics or what bothers you, but because this is a space for everyone to enjoy their kinks and it's courteous to let people know that you've written content that might upset them.

And appended: took "crazy" out of the post because it's not that relevant to the discussion and I was informed that lumping mental and physical disabilities together was a bit insensitive, which, yes, I see now. I am leaving the computer for a while; if I don't get to replying to you in a timely fashion, that's why.

One more edit. Someone suggested having a "choose not to warn" option. Is this something people can agree on/ are interested in? It's not ideal but it seems like a good compromise so that we can all get back to the meme. 

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

"So do stories that depict Charles' disability as disgusting or unacceptable, or erase it completely." (...) "Now, we're not going to ask you to stop writing these stories..."

Either it's forbidden or it's not. You can NOT have it both ways and decide on a whim what's okay and what's not. Give us clear rules, not something that will allow you to do whatever you want, whenever you want. That's bad mod'ing. Either stand for the one or the other, no grey middle ground.

And why can't I write an AU fic where Charles does NOT get shot in the spine? So, it's okay to have Charles as a woman. To have him pregnant. To have him lose his telepathy. But it's NOT okay to have him walk?

Wow. No, really, just wow. What will be next? Charles can't be an intersex because it might hurt intersex people? Charles can't be a woman because it's misogynist towards the women who already exist in the movie? Erik can't have a happy childhood because it's hurtful towards Holocaust victims?

Newsflash, it's called ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. Wow, and I thought that the other comm's "no sex till 18" was nuts. This tops it.

[(Anonymous)]

Settle down, Angry McAngerson.

"This is a kink meme. You can request whatever you want and I will not police that. What I am asking is that you think about if the wording your prompt could hurt someone."

http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/2029.html?thread=752109#t752109

"I'm not here to say what people can and cannot request or write. All I can do is ask that people use warnings so that readers who don't want to read stories like that can skip over them."

http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/2029.html?thread=756461#t756461

"what I'm asking is that you make the best call you can and then be open to add warnings at the request of others. Asking people to be right all the time would actually be ridiculous, and I'm sorry if I made it seem like that was what was going on. "

http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/2029.html?thread=795629#t795629

"This kink meme is not a safe space. I am merely asking people to be courteous"

http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/2029.html?thread=757997#t757997

No one is forbidding anything.

I repeat, NO ONE IS FORBIDDING ANYTHING.

You are being asked to make an attempt to leave a warning if your prompt contains content that you think might be hurtful. Further, you're not being asked to warn for every possible piece of hurtful content. If you don't feel like warning, be prepared to deal with the possibility of people who were triggered or otherwise hurt confronting you about it. This is all that the mod is asking.

Now let's return to our regularly scheduled porngramming.

[(Anonymous)]

So, I somehow misunderstood the part where the mod clearly said that prompts that erase Charles' disability will be deleted? Erase, as in AU where he doesn't end up in a wheelchair?

"You may have noticed that "ableism" has been added to the list of triggers to warn for. If you're not familiar with the word, it refers to any speech, action, or treatment that hurts, oppresses, or discriminates against disabled people. Words like "cripple" and "gimp" fall into this category. Prompts using these words (with a few exceptions, noted below) will be deleted. So do stories that depict Charles' disability as disgusting or unacceptable, or erase it completely. Language like “the crippled man”, “the disabled man”, and “the handicapped man” focuses on his disability, perpetuating the common mindset that disabled people are only disabled, and never have any other defining traits."

Ya betcha I'm angry when I'm automatically labeled an ableist just because I love AUs where Charles doesn't end up paralyzed.

[(Anonymous)]

I got the impression that prompts and fills containing ableist content would only be deleted if they don't warn and no warning is appended in the event someone complains that they were hurt or triggered by it (and subsequently complains to a mod). So if you're requesting or writing an AU where Charles was never paralyzed, just add a note in the subject line or at the beginning of your comment being like 'guys, just a heads up, in this prompt/fic Charles can walk' sort of the same way you'd be like 'just a warning, there's non-con in this fic.'

[(Anonymous)]

This makes sense to me, and helps clarify the one sentence in the mods' post that I had found problematic. Thank you!

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, so this is all about you.

[(Anonymous)]

This is about me and every author whom this comm labels an ableist because they wish something horrifying hadn't happened to their favorite character. This is about me and every author who write stories where Charles can walk and who are lumped together in the same sack as people who call others cripples and other rude words, who belittle disabled people and do it with gusto. And yes, just as others say they are hurt by these stories, I'm hurt by their unfair accusations. Welcome to the fact that these things go both ways.

[(Anonymous)]

ayrt

lol, things go both ways? Are you seriously saying someone calling your actions ableist (not that I agree that's what's happening here btw, and no one is calling little poor you ableist) is the same thing as facing ableism?

Sorry, no, ableism isn't just using slurs and obviously belittling disabled; just like every -ism, there can be more subtle and unconscious ways to be ableist. So stop with your persecution complex and get some fucking perspective.

[(Anonymous)]

I have a persecution complex, huh? Thank you for telling me. So, when I'm not an ableist, I need to "get a fucking perpective" because I don't agree with your opinion. Right. And, of course, to be falsely accused of something can't hurt anyone. Thank you for clearing that up for me. Obviously, you have never been on the other side of the fence.

My whole point was that just as authors should be careful of hurting their readers, their readers should be careful with their accusations. This is a two-way street.

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

Well, you've certainly given everyone enough information to judge you now

[iambickilometer.livejournal.com]

It's not forbidden. It just has to be warned for. You can write whatever you want to, I can't and won't stop you. However if you don't warn for it and don't add warnings when/if you're asked to, that's when we'll delete your post.

As I said in the post you just replied to, I am asking you to either change your wordings or warn for your content.