“While it might seem self-evident that online patterns are repeated in offline spaces, it is vital to note that these exclusions occur within spaces already marked by the language of representation and inclusion. That is, queer fans of color are often called upon to support such spaces and movements through such labor as supporting hashtags, creating fanwork, and contributing to campaigns to buy billboards as well as through their emotional investments by the promise of representation. However, when they find these spaces to be, once again, structured by the logics of white supremacy, their discomfort and disappointment are seen to be the problem within the fannish space. These logics are highlighted only in moments of conflict but must be seen as a constant context within which fans of color have to operate even as they seek modes of contingent and tenuous representation.”
Pande, Rukmini, and Swati Moitra. “Whose Representation Is It Anyway? Contemporary Debates in Femslash Fandoms.” In Fandom, Now in Color, 151-163. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2020.
Fan Labor and the Promise of Representation