Intersectional Ageism

Ageism cuts across multiple marginalizations, just like Disability and Queerness and gender, please keep this in mind in community discussions about SFF.  If you're in a discussion about ageism, it's important to constantly center intersectional ageism.

Ageism hurts many folx in SFF contexts, truly, it does. It's a very real problem. But I only regularly see this argument made in defense of white people. Like Disability status.

White supremacy will weaponize any other marginalization to divide us from true solidarity. If you don't know this, you can't help address it in your own spheres of influence.

There are a whole lot of meritorious writers out there who never got the chance to BE in SFF communities, or to fully participate. There's a reason why so many brilliant, multiply marginalized authors tend to debut later in life, have fewer publications, get less community attention. There's a reason they've gotten so much less recognition.

It's not lack of talent or work or achievement or brilliant ideas.

You don't get to pretend that you are creating an inclusive space and then complain about all those newly included people being a meaningful part of that community for the first time in history.

We are not newcomers to the genre or the craft, we are newcomers to being included and recognized. It's a massive community achievement that some of these authors have even been let in the room. So it is a really bad look to complain that being exceptional in that room cannot be allowed.

We are not here to take the back seat and applaud.