Here are my thoughts on /y/a/o/i/ "yuletide," fandom, and anti-Semitism

[thuviaptarth]

Some of you have seen some of this argument already, and some of you haven't, and my feelings about arguments made on both sides are mixed, so I'm going to start with a recap and continue with tons of exposition. Those of you who haven't skipped out already, please bear with me.

mamadeb posted a complaint about Yuletide signups going live on Sukkot, a Jewish holiday. I read her tone as intended to be humorous, in a passive-aggressive way, but other people--including several on her friends list--read it as accusatory. She's said in comments that she didn't intend to accuse the Yuletide mods of deliberate malice, just carelessness. In the comments, but not in the original post, she also expresses a wish that the ficathon had a "more neutral name." In addition to the arguments in her comments, her post got picked up by Fandom Wank.

I am disturbed by some of the objections to mamadeb, and particularly by the nature of some of the responses on Fandom Wank. I'd like to make it clear that I'm not bothered by people who disagree with mamadeb's initial complaint. I do not, in fact, agree with her complaint about the timing of the signups. The signups were pre-announced and there's a two-week signup period with no penalty for signing up late in the period or reward for signing up early. The signup period is two weeks long precisely to allow people who have conflicts during that a period a long enough opening that they can find time to sign up.

I also do not criticize people who read Mama Deb's tone as accusatory; as I said, I read it as intended to be humorous, but also, as I implied by "passive-aggressive," as not quite coming off that way. Several of her initial commenters suggested steps she could take to make sure Yuletide nominations didn't conflict with Jewish holidays in the future, and her dismissal of all of these did indeed rub me wrong.

Finally, I do not agree with her dismissive attitude towards paganism and Christian holidays in the comments. She's not the spokesperson I'd have picked, and I am probably not the one she would have picked, but nevertheless I am speaking out about the few items on which I do agree with her.

I am disturbed by the number of people who disclaim a connection between the term "Yuletide" and Christianity, or for that matter between "Christmas" and Christianity; by the initial Fandom Wank post's cavalier attitude towards the possibility of a Jewish complaint; and by the outright anti-Semitism from some of the Fandom Wank commenters. (Yes, I know, they're Fandom Wank. They're still part of fandom.)

To elaborate:

1. Yuletide and Christianity
   I am aware that "Yule" was originally a pagan term and it has been reclaimed by many neo-pagans for the winter solstice holiday. However, for several centuries now, it has been associated with the Christmas holiday, and the name of the Yuletide challenge is taken from a Christmas carol. I realize that for many people in the West, especially but not exclusively Christians, Christmas has become a secular holiday because it is associated with their national culture (hi, guys, I've been in the UK in December, you cannot convince me I am being American-centric here) and because it is recognized as a holiday by their secular governments. I know Jews and members of other religious minorities in the West who are not bothered by the terms "Yuletide" or "Secret Santa" and who have Christmas trees (and who set up huge fandom-crossing obscure fandom ficathons!) and who distinguish the cultural practice of Christianity from the religious practice of Christianity. I am not one of them, partly because so few Christians seem to have an understanding of Christianity as a cultural practice, or the ways in which they receive the privilege of a cultural default, even when they themselves are not religious or choose atheism or a different religion. Why should they have this understanding? Privilege is the headache they don't know they don't have.
   
   I am going to be very explicit about this: I'm not just talking about this ficathon. I'm not asking for the name "Yuletide" to be changed. I think that would be a huge headache, to begin with, and at this point I even have positive associations with the name, because of my happy involvement with the challenge. But I am saying that "Yuletide"--whether in reference to this challenge or in general--is not nondenominational. It is not religiously neutral. It is not broadly inclusive.
   
   And really, the important part of that last paragraph for me is the "in general." This is not about an attitude specific to fandom. This is about an attitude in the cultures from which Western media fans come.
   
   And the amount of resistance to this concept--that Christianity is not everyone's default and it is not a neutral position--is what disturbs me in many responses.
   
   
2. I get the sense in this thread that some people think it's not really anti-Semitism if it just affects some Jews, not all of them. To be quite honest, this seems to me about the same reasoning as saying that forbidding French schoolgirls to wear veils isn't anti-Muslim because it only affects the really devout ones, or that forbidding black women in public offices in Florida to wear braids or dreads isn't racist because some black women like straightening their hair.
   
   No, not all Jews turn off their computers on the Sabbath or on Sukkot. I don't. But that doesn't mean I am unaffected by the mockery of traditional Jewish customs.
   
   
3. Several of the comments on Fandom Wank, including the original post, were not so much anti-Semitic as Christian-centric. This is still, frankly, a problem. An inclusive society depends on recognizing that others are not like us and that their communities, folkways, traditions, and identities are valuable to them and innately worth preserving. The failure to realize this, or to recognize specific instances of exclusion, is privilege in action; it is generally motivated by ignorance rather than malice, but the ignorance is still hurting other people.
   
   Comments I would place in this category include:
   
   
   
   
   • If mamadeb is so upset and bothered by Yuletide signups beginning on Sukkot (and Yuletide's name), why is she even bothering with Yuletide?
     
     If it bothers her that much, then why be a part of it?
     
     As at least two subsequent commenters did point out, it's not unreasonable to criticize an institution which excludes you.
     
     
   • Uhm, just curious, does anyone know why mamadeb has an issue with the term "Yuletide"? (No sarcasm, I really do want to know.) and several of the responses, expressing disbelief, contempt, indifference to the exclusion of Judaism and other religions, and--this may be my favorite--the idea that since the Christmas carol the challenge name came from was originally a pagan Welsh hymn, it's not really Christian, even though Wales was converted to Christianity in about the fifth century of the Common Era (a fact I found by about five minutes' Googling, and if you don't know what the Common Era is, you too can Google to find out) and the hymn has been used as a Christmas carol throughout the English-speaking world for at least two hundred years now.
     
   
   
   
4. ETA 9:17pm: I'm leaving this up because people responded to it, and it affected my mood, but mayatawi offered an explanation for the exchange here, so I retract the accusation of anti-Semitism. I still think the conversation was ill-advised, but I don't think there was any malice involved.END ETA
   
   Comments which passed right over Christian-centric to anti-Semitic came up in this thread:
   
   

   
   panthea: Uh, at a guess... because most non-Jews have never even heard of Sukkot, let alone know when it is?
   
   Mamadeb waved the same persecution flag when sign-ups for the Muskrat Jamboree (tiny tiny slash con in Boston this year) opened on... some other Jewish holiday. I wanna say Rosh Hashanah, but that's just because it's fun to say.
   
   mindset: My non-Jewish boyfriend's favorite Jewish holiday is Sukkot, just because he enjoys pronouncing it "suck it". He is a great big silly. :)

   
   
   Do I have to explain what's wrong with this? Do I really have to explain what's so insulting about someone not just saying that Jewish holidays aren't well-known in the West, but implying that they're not worth knowing? Do I have to explain why it's exoticizing and insulting and just generally not okay to make fun of the name of Jewish holidays, or to take a holiday name and turn it into a sexual slur/insult? Do I really, really, really have to explain why someone saying "Suck it" instead of "Sukkot" isn't being a great big silly, he's being an asshole, and so is the person quoting this with approval?
   
   Do I really?
   
   ETA 9:17pm: mayatawi offers an explanation for the exchange here, so I retract the accusation of anti-Semitism. I still think the conversation was ill-advised, but I don't think there was any malice involved.
   

Comments

[the_rck]

I've been trying to come up with a coherent response to this for the last few hours. I hadn't seen mamadeb's post or any responses to it apart from yours.

The Yuletide terminology *does* leave out those who aren't Christian or secular Christian. (I count myself in the latter category because I have some ethical difficulties with Original Sin and Christ as the only means of salvation. Plus, I was raised by atheist secular Christians who were appalled when I even considered being religiously Christian.) I'm sorry for that but also selfish enough that I don't want to give up on the exchange. I love the chance to write and the stories that come out of the exchange.

I suspect that this is another case of how privilege and prejudice are so bound into our cultural assumptions that, when we have privilege, we often can't even *see* it without having it pointed out (or, sometimes, not even when it is pointed out).

Is there anything that individual Yuletide participants can do to make non-Christians feel more welcome?

[thuviaptarth.livejournal.com]

I don't think Yuletide is a covert conversion mechanism, especially since both tzikeh and astolat, who co-founded it IIRC, are Jewish. ;) Seriously, I wouldn't participate if I felt like it were requiring some commitment to Christianity--as opposed to a commitment to gift-giving--from me.

Is there anything that individual Yuletide participants can do to make non-Christians feel more welcome?

Oh, that's an interesting question. Hmm. There are two things I can think of offhand:

(1) You know how Tzikeh did an announcement to remind people or inform that Yuletide *isn't* a slash challenge and that het and gen are welcome? If you're trying to recruit people on your f'list, mention that it's a holiday-organized ficathon, not a holiday-*themed* ficathon. They don't have to write about or request stories about Christmas.

I want to add that I do think it is perfectly okay for Christians to request stories about Christmas! In fact, if my recipient's heart is set on it, I hope she does specify that, because it wouldn't occur to me as a default. But I wouldn't want a Christmas-themed story myself, because it's just not holiday. And it's not a necessary requirement of the ficathon. I haven't included it in any of my stories, and I don't think any of the recipients minded. (Although two of the stories ended up relying extensively on Christian themes or imagery, because that's the way the fandoms went, but I knew that when I signed up for them.)

(2) is a corollary of (1): Don't assume your recipient wants a Christmas-themed story unless she says so.

[the_rck]

Don't assume your recipient wants a Christmas-themed story unless she says so.

That's definitely good advice. I don't think it would occur to me to write a Christmas story in most fandoms, but then, I write a lot of anime/manga fandoms, and a Christmas story would be out of place in a lot of them. (Also, up until last year, it had been a long time since Christmas was a big deal in my household. Now that my daughter's old enough to notice it, it matters, but it didn't matter until she started paying attention.)

It occurs to me-- I had thought a little bit about this issue before. My recipient for, I think, Yuletide 2005 was (and presumably still is) Jewish and religious. I asked a Jewish friend I trust to beta the story particularly looking for anything utterly moronic I might put in the story. The fandom was Zenna Henderson's People stories, and there're a lot of biblical allusions in the stories (and their titles) along with a strong sense of spirituality and faith that's relatively generic but includes references to church going and, to me, implies at least the forms of Christianity (Though there's no Watsonian reason for the People to be Christians. There are Doylist reasons, though, and Watsonian reasons why they might choose the forms of Christianity in order to fit in better with the humans around them). I was afraid that I'd make an assumption without even noticing it and end up with something that would leave a nasty taste in my recipient's mouth.

I'm still very grateful to my friend for the beta, the moreso because she disliked the style in which I was writing.

[hyperfocused.livejournal.com]

My recipient for, I think, Yuletide 2005 was (and presumably still is) Jewish and religious. I asked a Jewish friend I trust to beta the story particularly looking for anything utterly moronic I might put in the story. The fandom was Zenna Henderson's People stories, and there're a lot of biblical allusions in the stories (and their titles) along with a strong sense of spirituality and faith that's relatively generic but includes references to church going and, to me, implies at least the forms of Christianity (Though there's no Watsonian reason for the People to be Christians. There are Doylist reasons, though, and Watsonian reasons why they might choose the forms of Christianity in order to fit in better with the humans around them). I was afraid that I'd make an assumption without even noticing it and end up with something that would leave a nasty taste in my recipient's mouth.

Aforementioned Recipient here. This is very interesting. I hope you know I thought you did a wonderful job with my story. Even though some of my knowledge of specifically Christian references in ZH's People stories may have passed me by, I probably do get the bulk of them. (It's hard not to pick stuff up simply from beimg part of American culture.) I've always thought of the spirituality of her stories as being more universal than specific. A general 'these are the precepts of decency' which could just as easily be "Be excellent to each other" as somethng directly or solely part of one faith. Generally speaking, love and acceptance and doing our best for each other. So while I do think the People adopted Christianity, I think that was mostly because that was the majority belief system in the area to which they were trying to assimilate. Or more properly, it was the majority belief system that fit with theirs. Actually, thinking about it more, it's more like they didn't care what names one used, they cared how one acted in service of said Name. You know, embracing similarities instead of fighting because of differences.

(sorry to Untrue_Accounts for bogarting the comment box. Honestly, reading through all this has been incredibly disturbing, and makes me both angry at the unpleasant bits of fandom who reveal their prejudices, and proud of the supportive, strong parts of fandom who rise up to fight injustice.)

::using my only Jewish icon::

[the_rck]

've always thought of the spirituality of her stories as being more universal than specific. A general 'these are the precepts of decency' which could just as easily be "Be excellent to each other" as somethng directly or solely part of one faith. Generally speaking, love and acceptance and doing our best for each other. So while I do think the People adopted Christianity, I think that was mostly because that was the majority belief system in the area to which they were trying to assimilate.

When I first read Henderson's stories, I took the People's references to their faith as not at all connected to Christianity. When I reread later, I noted that an outsider from the nearby town talked about them coming into town for church every Sunday. That led me to think they were following Christian forms but possibly not Christian doctrines because the things they said about their beliefs seemed more flexible than what some of my religiously Christian relatives said.

I like their faith because it's kind and inclusive and joyous. None of those qualities make them automatically Christians (or automatically not) or automatically anything in particular. I suspect that, if they'd landed somewhere else, somewhere with a different majority faith, they'd have adopted the version of that faith most closely fit their beliefs.

I mainly asked my friend for the beta read because my sense of religious references in Henderson's stories made me worry that I'd drop a reference that would connect to any of the vast number of anti-Semitic bits of Christian history, Christian assumptions and so on, especially since I've had more exposure to the Christian New Testament than to the Christian Old Testament. I knew that checking wouldn't assure that I wouldn't be stupid (plus what might bother you might not bother her and vice versa), but I thought that it was a good idea to make the effort.

I think that it's important for writers in fic exchanges-- any fic exchanges-- to try to find out a bit more about their recipients than they get from the request. I've gotten enough well intended (non-fic) presents over the years to know how disappointing it can be. Earrings when I don't have pierced ears (or wear jewelry), wool sweaters when I'm allergic to wool, empire waist dresses when they look hideous on me, candy filled with nuts when I'm allergic to nuts, etc. I may end up doing that to somebody some day-- I expect most people do through lack of information or inspiration and so on-- but I don't want to.