And this officially makes me a bitch

[soophelia]

I normally don't comment on things in Downton Abbey fandom because fandom hates everything that I love, but I had to comment on someone picking Mary for the WomenLoveFest on Livejournal. Mary is universally loved in fandom (and everyone but me hates Edith, O'Brien and Daisy. I'm the only one that loves them that I could find. Seriously I cannot

Comments

[soophelia]

While it's wonderful that Womenlovefest celebrates all female characters, it would be wonderful if people actually defended the females in fandom that are hated the most (oftentimes for no reason whatsoever other than they're not "character x"). And yes I do believe that it's possible to even defend O'Brien (The interviews in the press pack for season 1 often gave more insight into some of the characters like O'Brien, Mrs Hughes and Thomas than the show did). It's more difficult to defend a female character like Edith or O'Brien than someone that a lot of people like such as Mary.

(The storm of support for Lincoln Lee as opposed to Astrid Farnesworth on "Fringe," the preemptive character-bashing of Leslie Knope in "Parks & Rec" fandom.)

I can't comment (in depth) on either show because I don't watch either one. I have seen a few animated gifs from Parks and Recs and I think it's sad that people hate Amy Pohler's character (I'm assuming she's Leslie).

I'm shocked that people would come up to Dan and tell them what they think of the characters. He's not a writer so he can't change what they don't like. (And even if he was a writer for the show, I don't think it should be changed).

I don't care whether Matthew and Mary end up together. And I certainly would NOT want Sybil or Edith to end up with Matthew. Matthew is too bland (and shallow) for either Sybil or Edith. (Matthew and Mary are Mr and Mrs Bennet in their younger years: both attracted to each other by looks, but not much else).

I wouldn't want Edith or Sybil to end up with Downton either. It's Mary's and that's fine. And I agree that yes that system was sexist and oppressive, but I think Mary definitely has an advantage in that system because she is charming and beautiful (so she is valued in that society/system) whereas Edith and Sybil have to rely on their intellects. While I agree that Mary's frustration at not being in control of her own destiny is valid, the Matthew/Mary storyline is a large part of her struggle (i.e. her desire for him vs her desire for rebelling against her parents).

Mary is too forward-thinking, Edith too backward-thinking. Edith doesn't have Mary's charm and beauty and belongs a generation past, when women were cherished for their silences rather than their wit.

Oddly enough, I view Mary as belonging to the past because she has to rely on her beauty and charms whereas Edith (as well as Sybil) took an interest in things that at that time were considered inappropriate for women to talk about. Someone once remarked that Edith and Sybil were more prepared for the changes that would be coming as opposed to Mary and I have to agree. That's not to say that Mary won't change because obviously I'm sure she will. (War will definitely change all the characters.)

Thirdly, Thomas, Edith, and Daisy all have firm supporters in the fandom. I literally have never seen anyone say anything negative about Daisy.

Where are these places? I'm being serious. It would be nice to talk about the show without people bashing other female characters.

but I'm looking forward to an O'Brien redemption arc this season,

I'm also looking forward to O'Brien being redeemed this season.

[allthingsholy]

Late to respond to this, but I came across something in defense of Thomas and thought I'd share. I do most of my Downton fandom-ing on Tumblr, so maybe my opinions are biased in favor of what I've seen there as opposed to what I've seen on LJ, but. This is a big rambly "in defense of Thomas" thing which I got from dollsome's Tumblr. Just check the tag for Downton Abbey and you'll come across plenty of Thomas fangirls. Edith's love is harder to find, but if you want the names of some Edith fans to follow, I'm sure I can find you some.

[soophelia]

Thank you so much!

It's difficult to search the tags

I do plan on watching the second series soon (I have the first 2 episodes ready to watch) and the promos pictures look interesting.