On POC self hatred in fan fiction… a thought sparked by a friends LJ post

My LJ pal Karynthia wrote the post below; and it resonated with me because I’ve finally stopped to think about the fandoms I’m interested in and how the few people of color are portrayed in their respective series. When you dip over to the fanficton section, there’s so much that irritates me. It took Karnythia’s post to spark my interest and thought processes about this topic.

Read and discuss

Dear Who batshit fanbrats,

When writing Martha comparing herself to Rose? You might want to leave off having her hate her skin, and hair, and race as not being good enough to attract the Doctor. Passages like:

It was more than just jealousy, jealousy of this girl, this friend, this lover I knew nothing about. It was the way he said it – the way his voice cracked and his smile slipped and his shoulders slumped, the way that even the turquoise heart of the TARDIS seemed to wane – that told me I would never be able to compete, compete with a name so fresh and chaste and so very English. I didn’t know of course, but it conjured up images of hair dripping over pearly shoulders like honey and a porcelain face, of cornflower blue eyes and damask lips he’d kissed a thousands times.

Catching my own reflection in the polished console – dark and incongruous – I cursed my deep skin and dense hair, the width of my nose and my rusty lips. I hated him for making me do that, for damning a heritage I should be proud of not ashamed of because it made me different. But I would be lying if I said he had been the first man to make me do it; they were always blonde.

People, there’s plenty of room in this fandom for all kinds of shippiness, and crack fic and just about any damned concept. Let’s leave off the tired racist cliches. Because they just make me want to hit you with a nail studded bat.

No love,

Black Who fan who is tired of racist morons in her fandom.