Black Women, Slash, Fandom, and Canon (Long Meta Is Long)
There are so many thoughts tumbling around in my head regarding subsections of fandom and how they respond to each other, particularly certain types of slashers and certain het ships. I’m particularly focused on slashers, specifically m/m slashers and het ships in two particular fandoms-Star Trek and Merlin because those are the two that dominate
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If I gave the impression that I was satisfied with the backstories these women get in canon, that was a mistake on my part, because I don't, but I do think there is less of the "I'm here for you and only you!" in a romantic sense than most women are shown in text. In that Gwen cares about Arthur as much as what kind of king he will be, which isn't romantic, than "will they, won't they", which is. I would like to know, in canon, where/who her mother is, but until then, I can read/write fic that give me answers. Nevertheless, the name of the show is Merlin and when you think of Merlin, you think of Arthur, so I understand why Gwen will probably not get storylines that are too independent of either lead male. (And even "To Kill the King" was more about Morgana than about Gwen...which is actually another example of how the black woman is getting erased in her own textual story that has nothing to do with romance!).
As for Uhura, same issue with regard to the Reboot (and TOS...well...a whole heap of things was working against her then). In my earlier rant about Uhura, I wondered why we couldn't see her being awesome instead of having men tell us she is. She's a grown-ass woman who can speak for herself--and should've!
But thank you for reading this long rant! lol Hopefully in S3 of Merlin and Star Trek XII these things will be remedied...at least a little bit!
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