Spinning in Circles...
I'm tired of the cyclic fandom discussions. Feminism, racism, sexism, real person fic, slash. It all goes round and round and never stops. Part of the problem is that the observer affects the observed. We tend to collect evidence that favors the way that we already think and throw out the things that disagree.
You can make the argument that fandom is racist or sexist -- but, really, the problem still lies in the fact that much of society is racist or sexist. And most of it is subconscious. Though some of it isn't -- I still remember with horror the day my dad stopped watching an episode of television because the white woman slept with the black guy. There I was, enjoying the (hot) character interaction and my dad was seeing in colors and caring about the difference. My dad is a example of a middle-class white man who thinks that affirmative action unfairly pushed him down.
And you can say -- hey, I don't think that Joss Whedon is really a feminist -- he's a woman-hating liar -- just look at the differences between how women are treated on Buffy vs Angel. Which apparently has nothing to do with BtVS being the point of view of a strong and modern women and AtS being the point of view of a strong man who is 200+ years old and not so modern. Because his love and respect for women isn't shown, apparently, unless women are strong in a certain type of way. Because Dawn isn't good enough for the people making the arguments. Kaylee and Zoe aren't. Because Anne apparently wasn't a hell of an impressive woman by the end. Not all the strong women in Joss's universes have superpowers. And... is the word 'metaphor' meaningless now? Because if it is, I should just hang up my hat.
I'm just... tired of the same arguments. Too tired to get involved.
You can make the argument that fandom is racist or sexist -- but, really, the problem still lies in the fact that much of society is racist or sexist. And most of it is subconscious. Though some of it isn't -- I still remember with horror the day my dad stopped watching an episode of television because the white woman slept with the black guy. There I was, enjoying the (hot) character interaction and my dad was seeing in colors and caring about the difference. My dad is a example of a middle-class white man who thinks that affirmative action unfairly pushed him down.
And you can say -- hey, I don't think that Joss Whedon is really a feminist -- he's a woman-hating liar -- just look at the differences between how women are treated on Buffy vs Angel. Which apparently has nothing to do with BtVS being the point of view of a strong and modern women and AtS being the point of view of a strong man who is 200+ years old and not so modern. Because his love and respect for women isn't shown, apparently, unless women are strong in a certain type of way. Because Dawn isn't good enough for the people making the arguments. Kaylee and Zoe aren't. Because Anne apparently wasn't a hell of an impressive woman by the end. Not all the strong women in Joss's universes have superpowers. And... is the word 'metaphor' meaningless now? Because if it is, I should just hang up my hat.
I'm just... tired of the same arguments. Too tired to get involved.