Wiscon 31: General impressions and notes

This felt very different from my first Wiscon, and a lot of it was because of the Great Cultural Appropriation Debate of DOOM from last year.

Reading last year's post, the most notable things were how out of place and how voiceless I felt. Part of it was because it was my first Wiscon, part of it was because it was the first time I'd met several LJ people in person, part of it was because I don't have the same SF/F reading background that a lot of people do, and part of it was because I was Asian.

This year, I knew the rough format, I was on two panels, and I was meeting several people again. Also, more people who I've hung out with in person went too. But for me, the largest difference was that I was still pissed off from last year and determined not to have that happen again. I admittedly had a bit of a "fuck it all, why not?" attitude; I figured it was going to end up being public here on LJ anyway, and if I was going to start the next big flamewar, I might as well speak up at a few things as well ;). The other really major factor was that I (and several other people I talked to, POC and white) felt that there was a larger percentage of POC at the con.

( Race )

ETA (entire section): ( Otherness )

( Fooding )

( Book loot )

( More awesomeness )

In conclusion: I had tons of fun, my brain only exploded once or twice, I met lots of cool people who I had only seen before online, I ate a lot, and I wish it were next year already! I must remember to submit a panel idea for something on shoujo manga, because I was very sad about only being able to talk manga with a few people.

Wiscon 31: Cultural Appropriation Revisited Part One

Typing this one up first, since I suspect it's the one people are most eager to read about.

Description: As part of an ongoing discussion of the issue of cultural appropriation, this year's panel will address what is perhaps the most controversial, and certainly the most discussed, aspect of cultural appropriation in fiction: the use or exploitation of cultures across racial, ethnic, or national lines. Writers and activists who concern themselves in their work with issues of dominant and marginal cultures will discuss the use in narrative of markers and artifacts of cultures that are not the authors' own. Should this be done at all? Where do the limits fall? How is it well done and how poorly done? Sponsored by the Carl Brandon Society.

Panelists: Candra Gill (mod), K. Tempest Bradford, M. J. Hardman, Yoon Ha Lee, Nnedi Nkemdili Okorafor-Mbahu, Victor Jason Raymond

The panel description here is very different from the one suggested, for which I am infinitely grateful. Also, Claire Light had organized the panel and was supposed to moderate it, but she unfortnately came down sick and was unable to attend the con.

( Terms and caveats )

Gill explained how Light wanted the panel to be run: the panel would largely consist of the panelists talking and discussing with each other and audience participation would be limited to the very end. By and large, they kept with this, although there were a few audience remarks here and there. This was because there was a whole other programming slot devoted to the discussion afterward that was going to be moderated by someone else.

This panel felt very different from last year's; I think all the people on the panel were POC except possibly MJ Hardman, whose introduction I clearly didn't pay enough attention to. The breakdown was black (CG, KTB, NO-M), Asian (YHL) and Native American (VJR, MJH?). There were also a lot of POC in the audience; the room was full and there were a number of people standing at the back or sitting on the floor in the front.

( More notes )

Wow, this is also really long. I will have to put my reactions to the discussion afterward in another post.

ETA: transcript

ETA2: ktempest's write up

ETA3: Fixed Kublai Khan reference, added link

Wiscon 31: Cultural Appropriation Revisited Part Two

Description: The panel on cultural appropriation at WisCon last year raised issues that were hotly discussed online, and the panel that this forum follows is likely to do the same. This open forum is meant to give you the chance to explore these issues and how they matter to you. Through passionate discussion we can improve our awareness and find the common understanding that lies beneath our disagreements. The open forum will be facilitated by Alan Bostick, who has been practicing Worldwork since 2003. Worldwork is a process-oriented approach to group facilitation and conflict developed by psychologist Arnold Mindell (author of Sitting in the Fire and The Deep Democracy of Open Forums) and collaborators. Attendees are strongly urged to also attend the immediately preceding panel discussion on cultural appropriation.

Moderator: Alan Bostick

Please see my write up on the first panel for terms and caveats. A further caveat is that I am identifying the race of the speakers here because I think it was very important in the discussion. Please note that I am not advocating racial essentialism, but rather noting that because our society is a racist one, race still matters, much as I wish it didn't. (I think I need to record all my terms and caveats and just replay them every time! Or put them into a separate post so I can just link to it as a shortcut, heh.)

This discussion was very odd. Despite the description, most of the audience for the first part of the panel ended up leaving, so the audience was a) much smaller and b) pretty diferent. Also, as mentioned, this was intended to be a discussion with no panelists. The chairs in the room were rearranged as a circle (or, more accurately, a misshapen ellipse).

Most notably, the racial composition of the room changed dramatically, with maybe 6 or so POC among 20 some people (please correct me on this! I am horrible at estimating numbers in my head), and the lack of POC really affected the discussion.

In general, while the discussion started out with cultural appropriation and covered much of the same Cultural Appropriation 101 territory that the panel did, the discssion largely ended with White Guilt 101. Pretty much everyone in the room tried to be very thoughtful and considerate and non-confrontational, which I very much appreciated, but I got the sense that everyone, POC and non-POC alike, felt extremely uncomfortable and unsafe.

( Cut for length )