No More Diversity Panels, It’s Time to Move On

Spurred on by my previous comments about the Hugo Awards, I’ve been observing and participating in online conversations about diversity panels at conventions started by Annalee over at The Bias.com. The existence of the Hugo mess, and the resolution of it, have brought me to the conclusion that I see a number of other commenters coming to: that it is time to move beyond The Diversity Panel as a fixture of science fiction and fantasy conventions. A lot of the politics of SFF happen at conventions, small and large, fan-run or corporate-sponsored. Conventions are the physical meeting spot where old and new ideas come into conflict and can be worked out face-to-face, not digitally. They are also mostly the domain of the Old Guard, and as such have serious trickle down effects through what is considered “legitimate” in the genre, regardless of the medium. Lastly, and most importantly, they are where a lot of fun can be had and where the concept of fandom as a community comes into reality. One of the core pillars of any convention is the panels. Panels are, nominally at least, what people pay their money to attend: talking sessions with knowledgeable people, or at least interesting ones. I’ve attended a few conventions, and sat on many a panel. One of the current staples of convention programming is The Diversity Panel. This can take a few forms: Women in Science Fiction. African Americans in Science Fiction. Insert-marginalized-group-name-here in Science Fiction. They’re predictab…