On the awesomeness of female characters
So there's been discussion happening in various places lately about whether slash (predominant in the discussion) or a more generalised focus on male characters (auxiliary to it) is misogynistic in its exclusion of female characters. It's a pretty complex issue and I've only encountered edges of the main conversation, but I think there are some valid points coming out of it. Fandom can be very blind to its own prejudice, at times, no doubt because, being predominantly born of and influenced by mainstream Western society, it's informed by the same background static of sexism that exists in Western culture. I think it would be worthwhile to take a step back and examine exculpatory statements like 'female characters are less interesting', 'female characters are more likely to be Mary Sues', 'it's rare for female characters to be well written', 'I only like female characters who subvert gender roles', 'female characters aren't written in interesting enough roles', etc etc etc, because they can be troubling in and of themselves in terms of unconscious sexism. Yes, women are still being badly written, but there are countless awesome female characters out there if you're willing to look. It would be fantastic if there were recognition of the leagues of incredible women in sci fi and fantasy all the time, not just in response to a discussion meme on whether female characters are as interesting as guys and whether they deserve to be represented as much in creative fan works.
I do think that Star Wars fanfic, or at least the areas of it I'm most familiar with (namely: the OT and EU), is one of the better communities I've encountered in terms of recognition of female characters. That said, it is possible that removing pairing fic - as the focus is often there on the relationship rather than on the characters themselves - would skew the balance back the other way again. (Something which makes me look twice at my own fics in terms of gender representation.) I don't know, what are other people's thoughts on the matter?
And I'm not even going to get into the reception/relative harshness of judgement on female characters vs. male characters in fan circles because, well, why bother going there again.
I do think that Star Wars fanfic, or at least the areas of it I'm most familiar with (namely: the OT and EU), is one of the better communities I've encountered in terms of recognition of female characters. That said, it is possible that removing pairing fic - as the focus is often there on the relationship rather than on the characters themselves - would skew the balance back the other way again. (Something which makes me look twice at my own fics in terms of gender representation.) I don't know, what are other people's thoughts on the matter?
And I'm not even going to get into the reception/relative harshness of judgement on female characters vs. male characters in fan circles because, well, why bother going there again.