What Fandom Racism Looks Like: PickMe POC
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| Title: | What Fandom Racism Looks Like: PickMe POC |
| Creator: | Stitch |
| Date(s): | October 3, 2019 |
| Medium: | Posted to Stitch's Media Mix |
| Fandom: | Pan-Fandom |
| Topic: | Racism in Fandom |
| External Links: | What Fandom Racism Looks Like: PickMe POC, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
What Fandom Racism Looks Like: PickMe POC is a 2019 essay posted to Stitch's Media Mix by Stitch, part of the What Fandom Racism Looks Like series of meta essays on racism in fandom.
It deals with the topic of "Pick Mes" or "PickMe POC", a term originating from a similar concept in African American Vernacular English, and the role they are perceived to play in discussions about fandom racism. In the essay, Stitch outlines this behaviour from fans of colour as she has observed it in various fandoms, giving examples in Star Wars, the MCU, Teen Wolf and K-pop fandom, and explains why they believe it is unhelpful to constructive discussions of race issues in fandom.
Origins of the Term "Pick Me"
"Pick Me" is a term originating in AAVE, defined by Urban Dictionary as "a woman that is willing to do anything for male approval".[1] The intersectional feminist content platform for African women Our Collective Vagina defines it thus on Facebook:
1) 1. “Pick Me is AAVE (African American vernacular English), as is PMAB (pick me ass bitch). That's not up for debate.
2) It was coined by black women on twitter as a way to callout (originally) white women who would put down black women to get chosen/picked by (mainly) black men.
3) It has since become expanded upon to include anyone who uses misogyny/misogynoir/sexism/shaming to tear down other women/men/people in order to get chosen/picked.[2]
"PickMe POC" specifically as a term is used both inside and outside of fandom.[3] In their essay, Stitch defines the term "PickMe POC" as they use it:
“Pick Mes” have a home on the internet. It’s a term borne from African American Vernacular English (AAVE) that calls to mind the mental image of people jumping up and down and begging to be picked for a game. (“Pick me! Pick me!”) Only, in the usual context, it’s someone leaping up and down and trying to get the attention of someone that treats them with disdain.
[...]
In fandom, PickMes serve much of the same function: their goal is to disrupt conversations and make it “okay” not to pay attention to conversations being had by marginalized people in fandom.[4]
Some Key Quotes
From the introduction to the essay:
When I used to be on Tumblr, I’d get a lot of messages and reblogs from people who made it a point to let other people know that I didn’t speak for all POC.
I was never arguing that I did, of course, but it was imperative to these other people of color to let me and white people in fandom know that they were here, they weren’t white, and that they thought I was full of shit about fandom racism. [4]
On the role of PickMe POC in fandom discourse:
Pick Mes in fandom are the fandom equivalent of a racist’s friend of color and they have two main jobs in fannish discourse.
First, they exist to make white fans feel more comfortable not just ignoring other fans of color’s concern about racism in fandom – but in acting aggressively towards fans of color who are critical of fandom’s racism.
They provide permission for white fans – or, in the case of a Black Pick Me, non-Black fans of color – to be racist. But because it’s a fan of color they’re modeling their behavior after and that fan says it’s not racist… it’s not. (To them.)
They tend to be the ones who rush to wail about how their ship/fandom/show isn’t racist because they personally don’t think about race/racism when they got into it.[4]
On PickMe POC in Star Wars fandom:
The Star Wars fandom – especially the Rey/Kylo contingent – is rife with PickMe POC. They pop out of the woodwork to tell white fans that they’re being racist (for pointing out pretty clear patterns of racism in fandom) and to tell other fans of color that they don’t speak for all of the fandom.
These PickMe POC are part of a fandom that other fans of color accuse of racism because of their focus on rehabilitating a fictional fascist (Kylo Ren) at the expense of a hero of color (Finn). They say things like “I’m Black, how can I be a Nazi apologist/shipping a racist ship” and accuse people who point out that the fandom is largely dominated by white women of erasing the fans of color who ship it. [4]
On PickMe POC in K-pop fandom:
PickMe POC in this fandom space seem to be invested in protecting their favorite idols’ feelings at the expense of… Their own, almost.
Even though their idols largely never see or respond to criticism in the event of cultural appropriation, it’s more important that they and the fandom be protected than we have these conversations about how to be better – and how to get our idols to be more aware.[4]
Responses
Positive
Tell them.
Great post BTW. Pity the people who can learn from it won’t and will continue being racist (whites) and will continue perpetuating their internalised racism (pick me PoC).[5]
That was a great post and it dealt with an aspect of racism I didn’t think about in a certain context. yes, this is totally race buffering/shielding which is disgusting.[6]
I feel this post to the depths of my soul.[7]
Critical
Other criticism has been levied at Stitch's use of the term "PickMe POC", both within and outside this essay, to refer to other fans of colour, with some viewing the term negatively (while others support their usage of the term).[9][10] This pushback resulted in Stitch's publication of a follow-up essay, "POC TOO: Revisiting PickMe POC in 2021" two years later.
Follow-Up Essay: "POC TOO: Revisiting PickMe POC in 2021"
Exactly two years on from the original "PickMe POC" essay, Stitch published a follow-up essay, "POC TOO: Revisiting PickMe POC in 2021", which discussed the response - and backlash - that the original essay and her use of the term "PickMe POC" had engendered.
Back in 2019, I wrote What Fandom Racism Looks Like: PickMe POC to talk about trends I’d been noticing in transformative fandom – queer/women’s fandom focusing on creating transformative fandom works to (re) claim the text as their own – where some fans of color would trot themselves into the line of fire and set themselves up as racists’ first line of defense from “mean” people of color who dare to talk about racism in fandom.
[...]
As a result, I have been called "racist against mixed people", accused of using a "misogynistic and racist" slur, have then been called misogynistic slurs, and have had my usage of the word used as a reason for people to call for me to be fired from Teen Vogue where I freelance. Since I love and appreciate feedback, as absolutely unhinged and racist as it may be from these weenies, I have decided to heed the haters who hate the term “PickMe POC” so much. I have chosen, of my own free will and in my free time, to (temporarily) retire the term.[11]
Part of the definition Stitch gives for this term is as follows (the full definition can be read in the essay):
A POC TOO is a person of color who uses their identity as a person of color (who’s often but not always ALSO queer) in order to defend white racists and excuse their own racism/compliance with the racist status quo.[11]
References
- ^ Pick me, Urban Dictionary, December 1, 2020. (Accessed February 2, 2022).
- ^ Facebook post by Our Collective Vagina, published January 31, 2020 (Accessed February 10, 2022).
- ^ A search for "PickMe POC" on Twitter shows it in use in numerous contexts, including politics, gaming, fandom and more.
- ^ a b c d e What Fandom Racism Looks Like: PickMe POC, Stitch's Media Mix. Published October 3, 2019 (Accessed February 10, 2022.
- ^ Comment by nutheadgee, October 3, 2019 (Accessed February 10, 2022).
- ^ Comment by ospreyshire, October 3, 2019 (Accessed February 10, 2022).
- ^ Comment by lyana, October 3, 2019 (Accessed February 10, 2022).
- ^ Tweet by @spacewolfcub, October 4, 2019.
- ^ Tweet by IncognitoBagel, February 11, 2021.
- ^ Tweet by fiercynonym, February 9, 20221.
- ^ a b POC TOO: Revisiting PickMe POC in 2021, Stitch's Media Mix. Published October 3, 2021 (Accessed February 10, 2022).