Same gender shipping isn't something that’s new to fandom. It has always been present since fans had a space to explore how they viewed characters, ships, shows, etc. From early fandoms such as Star Trek to more recent ones such as Super Natural, Star Wars, Voltron, etc. Shipping, same gender ships has always been a part of fandom.
That said, it hasn’t always been good.
From harmful fetishization of mlm, to misogyny, to even the still overly praised yet harmful genre of yaoi--shipping mlm relationships hasn’t been without its flaws--especially in earlier fandom times. We’ve had to hear the harmful arguments of cishet women using mlm to ‘discover’ themselves, and we’ve seen the rise, fall and the rise again of fujoshi culture. And it wouldn’t be correct to discuss the flaws without mentioning how little wlw content occupies fandom spaces.
These are all valid concerns that must be discussed, but for this article today--I’d like to talk one huge aspect that isn’t discussed in same gender shipping relationships and that is of course--racism. Specifically focusing on mlm / nblm.
This idea that the darker skinned man in the relationship must always be larger, taller, more dominant, and sexually aggressive than their pale skinned, lighter and usually white counter part is a prevailing idea and images we’ve seen throughout fandom. This love for darker skinned men to be overly masculine and large, while feminine and femme identies are deserves for light skinned and white mlm (this includes nblm as well) is something that is common in most fandom spaces. On the contrast, in the cases where perhaps we do have a dark skinned mlm who is allowed to be smaller and skinny--they are almost always portrayed as mammies and caretakers. This caretaker role is also still seen with larger, darker skinned mlm as well.
That said, it’s important to discuss this, the possible origins, ties to racism and cisheternormativity, while also opening up on how to avoid some possible tropes.
Now there are two ideas that must be understood while we are going through this.
One--top and bottom discourse is unhealthy and shouldn’t be the meat of shipping discourse at all. This idea that one person must be a top or bottom because of how they present can be seen as homophobic and even sexist in many cases. But on the other hand, it’s important not to use this argument to shut down discussions of racism in mlm ships.
We can agree that top and bottom discourse is unhealthy, while also acknowledging that we MUST have a conversation about how it’s also unhealthy for dark skinned mlm to always be portrayed as top, muscular, and overly masculine while they are never given the privilege of being portrayed as femme, smaller, etc. And that we should normalize such portrayals without making that the gist of the relationship because for years, that has been denied to dark skinned mlm.
Secondly, the preferences of mlm exist in real life and while fandom discourse about it is inherently problematic, how mlm--esp dark skinned mlm in real life choose to explore themselves in relationships or moreso, their sexual preferences and positions in real life shouldn’t be reduced to fandom discourse or seen as they themselves being inherently sexist or homophobic for having a sexual preference. And they too should be allowed to have issues about how people who look like them --or with their skin color--are always portrayed in fan art, fanfic, etc., without being told that preferences and positions or identities “shouldn’t matter”.
That said, let’s move on.
First and foremost, you must be wondering what makes this prevailing portrayal of men of color as dominant, larger and more aggressive a bad thing? What makes it racist? And perhaps, you’d like to see some examples just to know what I am talking about.
First and foremost, this idea that dark skinned men are larger ties back to racist beliefs of dark skin--specifically black men. However it is something that now affects dark skinned men altogether, both in fields of athleticism, and even sexual intimacy. This idea that black and brown men, were and still are reduced to their bodies and therefore objectified, while their worth is based of stereotypical beliefs ties all the way back to slavery, colonialization and eugenics. Black and brown men (in particular native men) were viewed as strong in relation to work, heavy lifting and labor--in short, slavery.
This is something that has now manifested its way into fetishization depending on what spaces you exist in—in short, the fetishization of larger men of color during sexual intercourse and sexual themes in general. This idea that men of color have larger genitalia, muscles, and are in general built bigger and stronger than their lighter skinned counter parts is something that is prevalent throughout fandom even if canon doesn’t support such things. This in fact, has become so normalized in fandom that fan artists aren’t above portraying canon characters of the same height, as vastly different to match specific racial stereotypes.
For instance.
Let’s look at this photo by fanartist necrophatic. And it's important to note that this isn't to hate on the artist, or shame them. This is clearly for example.
These are the characters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Commander Cody from Star Wars. While the computer animated version, comic and live action shows an accurate depiction of them (canonically the two are the same height, with Obi-Wan having a slightly more muscular build and is a hair taller), the artist depicts Cody--the brown characters as larger where as Obi-Wan is kept small and petit.
(This also isn’t at all meant to attack the artist or say that by intention, they drew a racist caricature because I do not believe it was by intention at all)
Codywan in itself is not a stranger to racist and inaccurate portrayals of the characters. Cody is usually reduced to being aggressive, sexually dominant and violent in fics whereas Obi-Wan, who is white is portrayed as soft, shy and innocent. Cody’s size is massively increased in fics to fight specific stereotypes.
It’s also important to note that Cody is coded as Maori man, as the actor who originally played to clones--Temuera Morrison--is Maori himself. Maori are the native peoples to New Zealand and are certainly affected by harmful stereotypes that depict brown men as larger and more sexually aggressive when it comes to portrayals of them with white people. The clones in general, are not exempt from this racist--harmful portrayal by the fandom. Many of the clones--regardless of what gender they are shipped with tend to be seen as ‘tops’, sexually dominant whether it be with codywan, or a white or white coded oc or self insert (or even a character created by a white person).
This brings us to another part of the discussion and takes us back to more origins.
While my main discussion is of course, racism in mlm relationships--we do need to recognize that a lot of the fetishization of men of color in relationship started with white women, yet is now something we see within white women, white femme, and in general, white queer communities. It has been seen in self inserts or oc ships, just as much as canon.
(images from some recent BLM protests that showcase white women fetishizing black men)
White women and or queer people are easily able to see themselves in dainty, white or white coded self inserts and original characters. If the character in question happens to be white and or light skinned, or white coded--then changing up a few features here and there also helps said white content creators to feel recognized. Thus, darker skinned canon characters are always portrayed as larger, tops, aggressive, etc., which helps fill into harmful and racist fantasies.
This mindset and portrayal has seeped so deeply into fandom that it is difficult to diverge from it, and even when one does--it makes people uncomfortable. This idea of a larger dark skinned man and a smaller lighter skinned man is prevalent even if the source material says otherwise.
For instance, in the Voltron fandom, Keith and Lance is a famous ship with both characters being roughly the same size and build. However, Lance--who is darker skinned is always portrayed as being larger, more rough whereas Keith--the lighter skinned man in the relationship is emasculated and portrayed as much smaller, dainty, etc.
Other ships, such as Finn and Poe have also showcased some of these harmful tropes. Where, despite Finn and Poe being in similar build and height, fandom quickly subscribes more masculine and sexually aggressive traits to Finn wherein Poe is seen as more dainty and feminine.
The same could be said for some older fandoms, such as Yu-Gi-Oh. Despite the fact that the show itself presents a very equal and healthy relationship between Atem and Yugi, in both appearances, personality and narrative choices--the fandom in the past had trouble with portraying Atem as larger, stronger, and far more muscular than Yugi when they are the same height and a very similar build. This hasn’t been something I have seen recently, as the fandom has leaned in a more progressive route, but there are still small instances of fans misrepresenting Atem and his character to portray a harmful, racist stereotype.
In the case of Ryou and Yami Bakura--both the show and fandom negatively portrays the relationship in racist--harmful ways that tie back to racist portrayals of dark skinned mlm. Yami Bakura, or the Thief King Bakura, though canonically smaller than Ryou is almost always portrayed as larger, more violent and aggressive wherein Ryou Bakura, who is white is always portrayed as dainty, innocent and always needing to be saved from him.
These are just a few examples of fandom trends I myself have noticed; fandom trends within these ships that have tied back to harmful stereotypes linked in the fetishization of dark skinned mlm.
On the other hand, if darker skinned men aren’t always portrayed as sexually aggressive, larger and dominant partners--there is still the issue of the mammying of said character and tying said character to racist tropes that consist of their whole identity and worth being tied to their lighter skinned counterpart. This is something seen in both wlw and mlm relationships.
This idea that dark skinned mlm and wlw only exist to cater to their lighter skinned partner's every move ties back to the mammy trope, where in darker skinned character’s only worth is to prop up their non dark skinned counter part. For black mlm and wlw, said tropes can tie back to specific depictions of slavery and even the Jim Crowe era.
We see tropes like this in things like Black Mirror San Junipero, with Yorkie and Kelly, where Kelly gave up her one chance at seeing her daughter and husband again to make Yorkie happy. During this whole time, Kelly also fell into more stereotypes spoken about early on by means of being more sexually aggressive and dominant, portrayed very risqué and ‘free’, where as there was an emphasis on Yorkie being innocent and non sexual.
We also see something slightly similar with the wlw relationship in Carole and Tuesday, wherein Carole falls into the mammy stereotype because she is the one that must care for Tuesday and get Tuesday back on her feet for the majority of the first season. Carole is also in a way seen as Tuesday’s protector throughout various scenes in the series when Tuesday is in trouble. Carole is also portrayed as more tom boyish and more rough, wherein Tuesday is portrayed as more innocent and shy.
And though this next ship isn’t exactly identical to the two wlw relationships mentioned before, it is worth mentioning the racist imagery that many fanartists subscribe to it. Even though canon presents differently, fandom has gone out of its way to portray another famous wlw ship Bubbeline from Adventure Time as falling into some of these harmful tropes. The character Marceline, is always depicted as more tom boyish and masc leaning in fanart and is always drawn as black (given she has a black mother). Where as Princess Bubblegum, is always portrayed as overly feminine and soft in fanart and is drawn as either light skinned or nonblack.
A popular fandom mlm ship we see this in, is the relationship between both Atem and Seto Kaiba. Both the series and fandom portray Atem as an asset to Kaiba, wherein it is up to Atem to heal Kaiba’s trauma or in some cases, it is up to Atem to be ‘blamed’ for Kaiba’s trauma and be the one to fix it. Atem in some aspects of this relationship is portrayed as a ‘mammy’, meaning it is up to him to not only coddle Kaiba and his past abuse, but also put Kaiba’s well being and happiness over his own, while also being acknowledged as a cause for Kaiba’s unresolved trauma.
There isn’t an equal balance portrayed by canon or fandom, simply Atem existing as a facet for Kaiba to heal with no true narrative room for himself. Even though in this relationship Atem is smaller, he is still portrayed in a very harmful racist stereotype where he is a mammy. Atem is still also heavily sexualized, which is another issue that smaller, dark skinned characters--both mlm and wlw face in same gender relationships and while it is nice to for once, see them not portrayed as sexually dominant tops, it is still extremely problematic when their worth is tied to being sexually fetishized and mammies.
This is also somewhat seen in the Avatar the Last Airbender ship Zukka and the popular Silmarillion Ship - Russingon (specifically from my experience, and what I have seen. My personal experiences which may not reflect others). Where both darker skinned characters who are canonically smaller are either portrayed as sexually dominant partners or mammies--many times both. Their worth only exists to cater to, or be used as a sexual device for their light skinner partners. This is also something seen with Klance—though this ship was mentioned above.
These are just examples of fandom trends that rely heavily on racist coding and stereotypes. It’s important to note that not all of this is done intentionally however. White or non dark skinned artists and writers do not decide to portray darker skinned characters in certain ways because they want to be racist, they do so because this is engrained. This is what is seen as ‘safe’ and the norm in fandom. The mere possibilities that diverges from idea darker skinned characters being anything other than caretakers or larger sexual doms makes people uncomfortable and has been responsible for years of fandom racism that has unfortunately been limited to ‘top and bottom’ discourse. It isn’t discourse, it’s racism--plain and simple and should be acknowledged as such.
That said, there are certainly ways to go forward without falling into racist, harmful stereotypes of dark skinned mlm. In the same vein, it’s also good to note that no, by default not all of these tropes I mentioned above are overtly harmful if handled in proper ways. Making a dark skinned mlm a sexual ‘top’ or ‘dom’ during intimacy is okay if that isn’t your only portrayal of dark skinned mlm, or if that isn’t your main mlm pairing. It is sometimes okay if their whole personality, sexual life and identity isn’t based on being sexually dominant and invulnerable.
Falling on harmful stereotypes, for instance -- bigger muscles, bigger bodies, bigger genitalia that are made larger than they are in canon, where as their white partner is allowed to stay the same or be portrayed as smaller is a racist portrayal and it is important to realize this.
On the other hand, having a dark skinned mlm (and wlw) cater to and care for their non-dark skinned partner isn’t bad. Just make sure that isn’t the only thing their character revolves around. Allow them to have their own narrative and worth outside of their light skinned partners narrative. Allow their light skinned partner to care for them and allow them to be vulnerable and cared for. A great example of this is Yugi and Atem--who in the show are both shown to equally care for each other and be each other’s strength. Atem helps Yugi and vice versa, and they depend on each other.
On the same note, for me personally I think it’s important to look for potential ships that avoid harmful or racist portrayals, or stay away from fandoms who portray such harmful portrayals. Investing in ships, or shipping certain things in ways where darker skinned characters are treated well is also extremely helpful. Invest in ships where there are two darker skinned characters as well. Even doing simple things like race bending in your own headcanons and fanart, which is something I do to help me better relate to characters and to ships where there can be two darker skinned people, can also make a difference.
That said, these are simply some ways to ratify harmful stereotypes that are possibly present within your own writing.
In conclusion, it’s important to realize it’s okay to ship certain things but also look at your own ingrained racism. Look at why you feel the need to portray certain people of specific skin colors as a certain way even if it heavily diverges from canon. If you are a white content creator, whether you are a woman, man, nonbinary, gender fluid, etc., it is your duty to make sure you properly handle both wlw and mlm in your ships and creations.
The way darker skinned characters are portrayed in fiction affects how they are seen in real life so it’s everyone’s duty to make sure specific groups exist outside of racist tropes so everyone can enjoy fandom and shipping together.
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