Fantasy World Meme

[sangate]

You find yourself in front of seven identical doors.
                A voice from above tells you:
"These seven doors lead to seven places:
Narnia, Neverland, Wonderland, Hogwarts, Camelot, Middle-earth, and Westeros.
Which door do you go through?
Why that door? What happens?"I've had a good think on this and realised it's a very difficult

Comments

[sangate]

Ooh now there's a question :D It has a few sides to it and I'm not sure I can answer it satisfactory here. I'll try though and hope you don't think I'm a moron at the end LOL

I should start by saying that I think a lot of these views developed with me because of Sam Carter. I only realised that a few years ago, but the reason I don't see any difference in men and women on a 'what can you do with your life'-scale, is because Sam showed me from the age of 10 in my favourite tv show (and I was a fangirl from a young age, so this meant: thinking about the show all day long LOL) that I can be anything what a man can be and no one questions it on the show. So from a young age, I have never seen or experienced a difference between man and woman. I was never confronted with it. Of course I knew women had a looooong way before they could be treated equally to men (and even Stargate deals with that, so it's not like I wasn't aware of it) and I'm not saying we're actually there yet (because even in today's society, we're not, far from it), but because I've seen from a young age that we CAN do it, I for some reason can't really argue the cause from a personal standpoint. Does that make any sense at all? The idea of unequality in the society I live in between man and woman just hasn't developed with me.

I am all for equality though. And by saying that, it might actually seem as if I should be a feminist because women are not treated equally, but in my life, I haven't encountered it. So hearing friends now come out and talk about women not being treated normally in this country, I sort of let that pass me by, because there's a lot of people not being treated normally. Be they geeks, short people, fat people, brown people or gingers. I can't commit to the cause of feminism, because for me there are other issues that are closer to my heart, like bullying, geeks FTW, poverty, etc. You know what I mean?

So that being said, if I had been born in a different decade, I'm pretty sure there would have been a big chance I WOULD have been a feminist. It's all circumstances, you know? What you're confronted with in life, with what ideas you grow up with, experiences. Because to be clear, when I hear my country was one of the last ones to allow women the right to vote, my blood absolutely boils. And when I hear the catholics in Vatican talk against birth control for women or Taliban against girls schools, the same thing. But it doesn't make me a feminist, it makes me more of a communist I guess LOL Does that make any sense? I hope so :o

This became essay long, didn't it LOL I'm really curious what you think about this issue now :)

[quirky_thoughts]

Nope...definitely don't think you're a moron! XD

Ooh..there's a lot of thinky thoughts in there. You've thought about it a lot I see.

I think it's great that there are characters like Sam in TV shows and fiction in general. It wasn't so many years ago when most female characters were there to be a love interest, the sexy siren, or just to shriek at their impending doom! Is that art imitating life? Or does it give females good role models to aspire to? A bit of both maybe. Just like you, it makes me happy to see females that I want to identify with...strong, smart, and likable and having the skills to actually take on the bad guys themselves. But unlike you I had to wait for society to catch up as these kind of female roles models were few and far between when I could have done with them.

As for feminism, I think the more aggressive forms have disappeared because it's not needed anymore...most of the bigger battles have been won. Like you said, not everywhere, but in our own world. But if you believe in equality then I'd have to argue you're a feminist by default.

You're right we have to chose our battles carefully as some things are more important than others(and we only have so much energy!) and mostly, females don't have it too badly these days.

This is an interesting thing to have a look at:

Sexism in the Scifi and Fantasy genres.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21033708

http://thehawkeyeinitiative.com/

Seems like there’s still a bit of work to do. :D (and it's refreshing to see that it's a guy who's making a stand.)

[sangate]

I hear you completely on all you said, I really do. And especially when it comes to fiction, there is a serious lack of females in that world. I remember seeing interviews with Scarlett Johansson and she made a stand when RDJ got really interesting character questions and she was asked if she could wear underwear beneath her suit and what diet she was on. I'd have been furious too! Plus it shows there's still a long way to go, because often people aren't even aware that they do it.

It's part of why I don't read comic books. I find the drawing of female characters often highly offensive. The only problem I have with the hawkeyeinitiative (there's been lots of shit about it online), is that it takes a known comic hero, but maybe that's its strenght.

I completely agree on women in a lot of on screen fiction though. There is a reason actresses moan about not having any roles past their 30. And that's not moaning, that's an actual, logical and fair argument and annoyance. Look at movies these days!

I loved this little comment from GRRM on why he writes such powerful female characters. He answered: "Erm.. they are people, thats why." Voilá. No difference, just equals.

And I hate myself for not having more female icons.. I'm shallow, I admit it LOL