Don't Fetishise Slavery

A while ago on TikTok, someone made a video and to make sure I don't put words in their mouth, I'm going to be quoting a lot of what this person said. To avoid any kind of harassment, I won't be using their username but trust me when I say I'm not making this up. I didn't think I would have to tell people this but don't fetishise slavery.

The influencer started their videos (and there are several) about how someone negatively reviewing a book doesn't mean that others won't find enjoyment in said book. The person who reviewed the book didn't like it because the slavery aspect was poorly done, especially for a rom-com. The influencer responded, "I need the title because any sci-fi romance with slavery in it, I will read the shit out of that. I know that's fucking problematic, but like...I love it; that's one of my kinks."

Now I won't mention the book in question because I don't want the book to blow up in popularity, whether the popularity is famous or infamous. It's best if this storytelling doesn't see the light of day as fetishising slavery is disgusting.

I like how the influencers stated in their own video they know this is problematic. I should also mention this influencer is also white.

After that video was made, there was backlash (obviously). Still, the influencer only addressed the backlash from one person, maybe two but claimed there were multiple. There's a good chance the influencer simply deleted those comments but kept the remarks which were in support.

In their next video, the influencer said in response to someone asking why is that your favourite trope? "Is it my favourite? No. Do I enjoy it in sci-fi when there are non-humans involved? Yes."

This is where the problems begin.

Even if slavery isn't your {influencer} number one trope, why do you enjoy it? Secondly, the fact of the matter is alien slaves, and human slaves are not different.

Most of the time, aliens are coded as people in minority communities, but their traits are brought out to eleven. Here are a few examples of the negative stereotypes in sci-fi and why it's no different from the real world.

The Krogan (Mass Effect Series) deals with a heavy topic known as the 'genophage'. The Krogan were sterilised because they were seen as 'dangerous' and had to be kept 'under control'. Sterilising women in a marginalised community is sadly nothing new.

"More recently, forced and coerced sterilisation against marginalised women has been documented in countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, including Chile, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Hungary, India, Kenya, Mexico, Namibia, Slovakia, South Africa, Swaziland, USA, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela" Priti Patel (2017) 'Forced sterilisation of women as discrimination' https://publichealthreviews.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40985-017-0060-9

Patel forgot about Puerto Rico and how the United States were the one who did it.

Not all aliens in media are giant frog-like creatures; some are like the Jedi, who are just humans but with superpowers.

"Most of last century's science fiction is notoriously tales of white, male humans—no matter how far in the future or how distant a planet it is set. Other-worldly stories of strong, white, human-like aliens rescuing a beautiful damsel in distress set an unfair standard for both males and females while ignoring non-binary people. Not to mention that other alien races were generally portrayed as a threat, or corrupt in some way, or less intelligent." Carla Ra (2021) 'Racism and Sexism in Early Sci-Fi' [https://www.authorcarlara.com/post/racism-and-sexism-in-early-sci-fi]

What does all of this have to do with the slavery trope?

"Black men and boys are imagined as dangerous, threatening, inherently criminal and superhuman — bigger, faster, stronger and less likely to feel pain. These views have roots in chattel slavery." -Tamari Kitossa The conversation (2020) https://theconversation.com/how-hollywoods-alien-and-predator-movies-reinforce-anti-black-racism-127088

Let me highlight what Kitossa said, about slavery. Real-world slavery. That was about the predator alien from... 'Predator'. Just because a book is written about aliens doesn't mean it doesn't draw on real-world events. Humans write what we know. The only thing we know is our own history and culture and, therefore, can't create anything 100% brand new and original.

When creating an alien race, something will link it back to the real world; that's just how it is.

In the same video, the influencer said, "Liking something in a book doesn't mean you like it in real life."

This is where the white privilege comes out and says hello.

Throughout history, the chances of you being a victim of slavery are low if you're white. I'm only alive because my Taíno ancestors were enslaved, so slavery is a touchy subject for me.

Growing up as a white person whose ancestors were never enslaved gives you {the influencer} a sort of privilege that many people don't have. Those who are a victim of slavery can't trace their ancestor's lineage that far back. Many of their history and culture were destroyed. The Taiño community, my people, are labelled as extinct because of slavery even though we're still alive! Hearing people talk about my community as if we're no longer around is really hard to deal with, even though no one hears us, no matter how loud we shout. That's what's it like when your ancestors are victims of slavery; that's a privilege some people (mainly white people) don't have to deal with because their ancestors were the ones doing the killings. You may be able to ignore that history when it's a fictional alien, but we see the history and connections.

I'm going to skip over some of the other stuff the influencers said, trying to defend themselves because they go into kink talk, something I know nothing about. However, I will only bring up things I think are relevant to the discussion.

"When somebody has a kink that they do not act out in the real world, um… who are any of us to judge?"

I hope you {the influencer} don't act out slavery in the real world.

As for enjoying things in a book but not liking them in real life and trying not to judge others who have kinks only in fantasy, where is the line drawn? How would that kink form be my biggest question? What part of being a slave made you {the influencer} enjoy it to the point where it became a kink? That question gets answered later.

Another video later. "Slavery trope in literature is the same as slave play because it is consensual. The reader is consenting to the content."

Trying to stick with only books here; is why that kind of thinking is flawed.

I will be the first to admit that I know nothing about slave play, BDSM, etc. However, I know a popular book where that kink is the main focus. Love it or hate it, Fifty Shades of Grey.

Fifty Shades of Grey is a story about a power dynamic. Both parties consent via contract. The slavery trope in fantasy is not like that because the enslaved person in the book isn't consenting. That's how consenting works; both parties need to agree to it.

The idea that the slavery trope is consensual because the reader is consenting via reading is wrong. A reader is a witness to a story; they're observing what's going on but can't do anything to stop it. When someone reads a book, if the book is written well enough, that fantasy becomes a reality as the reader gets sucked into that world. The same can be said when watching a movie. The viewer can't change the story, the story is already told, so whenever something happens to a character, it will always happen to that character. Here I give the example of the numerous, take your pick, rape scenes in the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' book series and the 'Game of Thrones' TV series.

Several actors were uncomfortable with what they were doing because of the real-world implications, and several viewers were uncomfortable watching it because of traumatic events. The only ones who consented to all of this were the show's writer and the book's writer.

"Whenever discussions come up about the depictions of women in fantasy shows that take place in a fictional past or in an altered version of our past, there are many excuses that are allowed to be passed around. "Women didn't have as many rights in the past" is not an excuse for subjecting women to sexual violence, writing them using sexist tropes, or giving them a passive position." -Princess Weekes (2019) The Mary Sue [https://www.themarysue.com/perils-of-sexist-racist-medieval-fantasy-historical-reasons/]

Everything that I just said applies to sci-fi. Sci-fi isn't a genre that escapes from these tropes as it's the same but now in space. Like I said before, writers create what they know. When making slaves for an alien race, taking a look at real-world slavery is a resource one can use.

In the same video, the influencer said, "There is no victim because the characters are fictional and the reader is consenting, so there's no victimisation."

Again, that's just wrong. The victim is still the slave. Yes, everything is fictional and fake, but fake stories have real-world repercussions. You can't tell me people don't inspire to be like Indiana Jones. Because of Indiana Jones, looters of archaeological dig sites ramped up during Indy's hay day. I suggest reading this article here if you would like to know more about looters. [https://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2014/09/09/why-archeologists-hate-indiana-jones/comment-page-1/]

Fetishising slavery is a quick way to turn something in a book back into reality even though slavery is still around. Those who enjoy the slavery trope might try to recreate it in the real world and with a partner who agrees. That's fine until the 'slave' isn't acting enough like a real slave and the consenting party quickly doesn't last. I'm not saying the influencer does that; they very clearly stated they don't. However, we can't deny the effect fictional stories and characters have on the real world. Just because a story might be fake doesn't mean it can't inspire another story that isn't.

The influencer repeats themselves a few times and goes around in circles in other videos. Still, the last main argument that I want to take away from all of this is why they enjoyed it in the first place. I lost the video for the exact quote, but the influencer said they enjoy the power dynamic between an enslaved person and a slave owner. They enjoy it when someone holds all of the power but falls in love with a slave, and throughout the story, the two of them become one. That kind of love story can easily be done without having actual enslaved people in it.

Anyone who writes actual slaves, sci-fi or not and then romances them is fetishising something that's still happening today, just not talked about as much. The Guardian estimated in 2019, about 40 million people were in slavery (Kate Hodal' One in 200 people is a slave. Why?' https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/feb/25/modern-slavery-trafficking-persons-one-in-200)

Writing about slavery is fine; fetishising it is not. Also, trying to find more books about that trope and buying it is not all right. The more people who buy these books, the more people will keep making them. The more these books keep getting made, the fewer people will see this as a bad thing, and they might start recreating a fantasy and turning it into reality. Don't engage in that trope; thanks for coming to my Ted Talk