On Female Agency
I like shifting the terms of the discussion to "female agency," but I think it's important to remember that agency can occur within limiting situations (cultural, temporal, etc). What do we do with characters who have agency within circumscribed limits which they can't escape? I admire these characters as much as their fully self-actualized counterparts. I think "agency" is a good frame--thanks to pellucid for pointing me to this strand of her discussion.
As useful as I find it, there is a perverse part of me that is tired of hearing about the agency of the subject, the history of the individual, and the issue of "objectification" (however, the problem persists, so I understand why we must still talk about it). I'm still thinking about how we might explore relationships BETWEEN objects in a positive way, rather than in the usual "objectification is bad" kind of way.
The problem with agency, is that it is tied up with the history of the individual subject. And last time I checked, patriarchal values exist there, too. "Female agency" isn't a final solution to the problems inherent in the words "strong" and "weak." But it's an interesting place to begin. I'm not ready to abandon ship on the words "Strong," and "strength." In fact, I kind of like it that their definitions change across time and between cultures (and between genres: an archtypal SFC in scifi =/= a SFC in soap operas).
As useful as I find it, there is a perverse part of me that is tired of hearing about the agency of the subject, the history of the individual, and the issue of "objectification" (however, the problem persists, so I understand why we must still talk about it). I'm still thinking about how we might explore relationships BETWEEN objects in a positive way, rather than in the usual "objectification is bad" kind of way.
The problem with agency, is that it is tied up with the history of the individual subject. And last time I checked, patriarchal values exist there, too. "Female agency" isn't a final solution to the problems inherent in the words "strong" and "weak." But it's an interesting place to begin. I'm not ready to abandon ship on the words "Strong," and "strength." In fact, I kind of like it that their definitions change across time and between cultures (and between genres: an archtypal SFC in scifi =/= a SFC in soap operas).