Somehow, that doesn't still sound like the selfless and generous gift, but like a gift with a lot of conditions, all set by me without room for negotiation.
Every group effort run by a few people comes with some kind of conditions. Yuletide has always come with conditions. You have to be a fiction writer, not a fanartist or a vidder. You have to sign up in November and write your fic in the last two months of the year, not in February or August. You have to post your fiction to the archive, not to some other location. You have to agree that it will be hosted there permanently (at least, for the last three years, this has been the rule.) You have to abide by Yuletide anonymity. Etc.
That doesn't mean that the time, work and money that the mods have put into this challenge over the years are any less "freely given." The rules are the way they are because that's the only way to *accomplish anything* without making things impossibly hard for the mods. You can't submit vids instead of stories, because the archive isn't set up to provide that kind of bandwidth. You can't sign up any time of year, because matching would be impossible. We're talking about *practicalities* here, not random mod whims, and that's what I don't see people really grasping.
The power imbalance in such a relationship is profound,
So is the "who actually does the hard work of running the challenge" imbalance. I think it's an imbalance most people are pretty comfortable with, when you look at it like that.
If I want to throw a party at my house and say "Hey guys, just so you know, I've become a vegetarian, and I'm not serving my famous chicken wings," I can do that. You know why? I pay the rent on the house. I paid for the food that I'm serving. I'm the one that is doing all the work of cooking and serving and cleaning and decorating and hosting the party. Is it really reasonable to respond, "But I love your chicken wings SO MUCH, you HAVE to cook them this year. You just have to. I love this party and I love your chicken wings, and if you don't serve meat you're FORCING me not to come. It's like you're throwing me out on the street where I'll never see my friends again! I might even starve to death! I want all the birthday presents I ever gave you back! I'm going to get the other guests together and take a vote and MAKE you cook those chicken wings!"
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-01-05 07:52 am (UTC)Every group effort run by a few people comes with some kind of conditions. Yuletide has always come with conditions. You have to be a fiction writer, not a fanartist or a vidder. You have to sign up in November and write your fic in the last two months of the year, not in February or August. You have to post your fiction to the archive, not to some other location. You have to agree that it will be hosted there permanently (at least, for the last three years, this has been the rule.) You have to abide by Yuletide anonymity. Etc.
That doesn't mean that the time, work and money that the mods have put into this challenge over the years are any less "freely given." The rules are the way they are because that's the only way to *accomplish anything* without making things impossibly hard for the mods. You can't submit vids instead of stories, because the archive isn't set up to provide that kind of bandwidth. You can't sign up any time of year, because matching would be impossible. We're talking about *practicalities* here, not random mod whims, and that's what I don't see people really grasping.
The power imbalance in such a relationship is profound,
So is the "who actually does the hard work of running the challenge" imbalance. I think it's an imbalance most people are pretty comfortable with, when you look at it like that.
If I want to throw a party at my house and say "Hey guys, just so you know, I've become a vegetarian, and I'm not serving my famous chicken wings," I can do that. You know why? I pay the rent on the house. I paid for the food that I'm serving. I'm the one that is doing all the work of cooking and serving and cleaning and decorating and hosting the party. Is it really reasonable to respond, "But I love your chicken wings SO MUCH, you HAVE to cook them this year. You just have to. I love this party and I love your chicken wings, and if you don't serve meat you're FORCING me not to come. It's like you're throwing me out on the street where I'll never see my friends again! I might even starve to death! I want all the birthday presents I ever gave you back! I'm going to get the other guests together and take a vote and MAKE you cook those chicken wings!"
Really? C'mon now.