Thread by @sirens_con

And now it's time for Here Be Dragons: Gender and Speculative Spaces!

@faye_bi introduces our guests -- @LyssaDee, @AAhairto, @reniwamoto, @ausmazehanat, @nilaffle, and @writersyndrome -- and asks "What does feminism mean to you?"

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Collins and Hairston begin with a discussion of Black feminism and its importance. Hairston: being Black is inherently speculative.

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Iwamoto: Gender should be something we build, not something deconstructed. Tools to a more equal landscape.

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Khan speaks to the erasure of women from Islamic texts, community, and public spaces, and her writing as pushing back against that.

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Magruder: "When I hear the word equality, my brain always inserts equity." Needs of different groups at different times.

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Magruder speaks to the need to be intentional about correcting inequity.

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Bi asks: What possibilities does speculative fiction open up for gender equality that other spaces might not?

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Khan: Not enough for books to be picked up -- they need marketing behind them, too! Necessary to help marginalized authors get their voices out.

But -- notes that these stories *are* picked up more in spec fic than other genres.

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Hairston believes that speculative fiction "has helped us speculate ourselves into existence".

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Pho: The yoke of capitalism imposes barriers, causes cycles of diversity inclusion in response to events -- and then, backlash and backsliding.

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Pho: Silver lining is that each cycle pushes further, in a different direction. Still leaves you holding your breath, wondering what's gonna happen next.

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Iwamoto: Academic spec work is fundamentally working toward gender equality, because everything else has already been done. We've had the opinions of white men about other white men. Next!

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Collins speaks to the difficulty of caring for students and creating inclusive spaces while on Zoom -- and the space-time continuum rippled, as every educator watching this panel nodded and sighed in solidarity.

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Iwamoto asks if the other panelists ever worry that we're in an echo chamber, telling each other about things we already believe matter.

Pho considers the difference between an echo chamber and a rejuvenation space.

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Pho talks about the damaging effect of lacking physical touch and physical connection to others. Stress driving even more need for that rejuvenation space -- a need that spec fic and storytelling can help fill.

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Hairston: "I think the choir needs help, so it's nice to sing and preach to them!" Speaks to how we can inspire, bolster each other, prepare ourselves to go out in the world.

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Gruber talks about lack of programming for physical artists in SFF spaces. Graphic novelists unable to access certain communities/conventions/conversations.

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Bi asks panelists to expand on what's changing, what's promising, and what still needs work across the spectrum of industries they represent.

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Khan: Bigger book deals, more promotion, more and better film/tv options for marginalized authors telling stories about characters from marginalized communities. Also speaks to adaptations flattening nuance in complex works.

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@bardic_lady Gah! Thank you. I am clearly trying to do too many things simultaneously.

Pho suggests that a lot of the publishing/entertainment industry "is not imagining radically enough".

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*Magruder, with apologies for the error!

Hairston talks about the history of blaxploitation and other moments in the various cycles of promoting diversity, without entertainment industries making meaningful permanent change.

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Hairston and Khan both discuss people who have issues with encountering words that are culturally unfamiliar to them. Hairston - Isn't that part of the fun of reading a book? Go look it up!

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Magruder: Would love to see entertainment get to a place where "we can be extremely specific" with stories; not feel pressure to represent an entire community.

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Bi ends by asking panelists for examples of something they've read/seen/etc that gives them hope and sustains them.

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Magruder takes it back to pre-K, tells a story about first time understanding "being different somehow". Later on, as an illustrator coming back to her school, drawing a princess as an example, giving her Black features, teacher told a Black child, "That's you!"

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Khan: "I wrote the future that I wanted, not the one that exists"

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Iwamoto: Creating time, creating the future. Finds hope in the idea of history and future curated by multiple people.

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Pho: Seeing inclusive children's entertainment and knowing that today's kids are growing up seeing themselves in media.

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Collins: Talking to people both younger and older than her who are doing this work, across different industries.

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Hairston: "Talking to you all, right now, gives me hope!"

Also thinking about how we can use what we recover from the past to build a future.

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Thanks for joining us for Here Be Dragons! We're opening the discussion room now, so click on over to a new Zoom if you want to join us to chat about all of the AMAZING ideas we just heard!

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