enragement = empowerment
So over the last couple weeks I've been reading the building wankstorm of:
ZOMG RADICAL FEMINIST YO! vs. Feminism is good, but chill out vs. holy fuck, calm down, you crazy people
It's been kind of amusing, so naturally I have things to say. Also, I may or may not have just made a comment in one of the debates. So here's my obligatory entry.
Radical feminists? So losing this battle. I mean, that's kind of self-evident when you take on the entirety of the slash fandom. No, not ONE slash fandom. All of them.
...
Take a moment to think about the magnitude of "all slash fandoms."
...
Yeah, that's what I said.
I realized as a radical feminist, Dissenter may have not realized what she was getting into. After all, she probably (and this is pure conjecture based on the overall tone of her essay) would not condescend to interact with the banal and common folk that comprise the slash fandom. We tend to be silly, over-dramatic, and -- very oftentimes -- ridiculously hyperdefensive of our particular pairing. The same could be said of het fans. And femslash fans.
Oh, but that's right. Dissenter doesn't want to hear about femslash because women are still ZOMG OPPRESORDZ!!!1!!!
I don't care how fantastic and perfect someone's arguments are; if you couch the arguments in terms, discussion, and diction that place them in an inherently negative light, the targeted group will feel offended. And they will react negatively, angrily, and sometimes even violently. The topic will spread, the link will get distrbuted -- insidiously at first, maybe then openly, and then with an open-air mocking. A sense of "Holy shit, can you believe what this girl said?!"
Crazy idea, I know, but true.
The comments that haven't been screened (yet) are screaming for a research log, and I would echo the sentiment. I must be the 2^x person who's requested the fansites where she's been getting her slash, but as of yet I see no result. And I am more and more inclined to feel like a pissed off, angry, offended slash fan. And that's considering I'm pretty much an Anyone/Anyone shipper. Slash? Good for the guys; mmm, more of what I see in Torchwood? Brilliant! Het? Oh yeah, Doctor and Rose, you get on with your crazy het selves! That's fuckin' hot!! Alex and Olivia on SVU? Hell yeah, I'll still read that!
Strangely enough, this has made me curl up into a little het-defensive ball on the floor. The kind that screams "LEAVE MY DOCTOR/ROSE SQUEE ALONE!!!"
I know they're my OTP, but this is vaguely embarassing. And also mildly confusing, as slash is the target and not het.
...
Wait, so you're saying any attack on any radical-feminist-approved-sexuality is an attack on my sexuality? Well, SHIT!
Also, I think this undermines me from the start, but I'm giving in to the temptation here and now to call these radical feminists cheesy stupidheads that like to eat their own farts. I feel this is the level upon which they've engaged me, so I welcome their return volley.
ETA:
To break slash down for the people that dun ge't:
1 penis + 1 penis = 2 much fun!
ya fun!
EETA:
BUNNY IS WIN!
ZOMG RADICAL FEMINIST YO! vs. Feminism is good, but chill out vs. holy fuck, calm down, you crazy people
It's been kind of amusing, so naturally I have things to say. Also, I may or may not have just made a comment in one of the debates. So here's my obligatory entry.
Radical feminists? So losing this battle. I mean, that's kind of self-evident when you take on the entirety of the slash fandom. No, not ONE slash fandom. All of them.
...
Take a moment to think about the magnitude of "all slash fandoms."
...
Yeah, that's what I said.
I realized as a radical feminist, Dissenter may have not realized what she was getting into. After all, she probably (and this is pure conjecture based on the overall tone of her essay) would not condescend to interact with the banal and common folk that comprise the slash fandom. We tend to be silly, over-dramatic, and -- very oftentimes -- ridiculously hyperdefensive of our particular pairing. The same could be said of het fans. And femslash fans.
Oh, but that's right. Dissenter doesn't want to hear about femslash because women are still ZOMG OPPRESORDZ!!!1!!!
I don't care how fantastic and perfect someone's arguments are; if you couch the arguments in terms, discussion, and diction that place them in an inherently negative light, the targeted group will feel offended. And they will react negatively, angrily, and sometimes even violently. The topic will spread, the link will get distrbuted -- insidiously at first, maybe then openly, and then with an open-air mocking. A sense of "Holy shit, can you believe what this girl said?!"
Crazy idea, I know, but true.
The comments that haven't been screened (yet) are screaming for a research log, and I would echo the sentiment. I must be the 2^x person who's requested the fansites where she's been getting her slash, but as of yet I see no result. And I am more and more inclined to feel like a pissed off, angry, offended slash fan. And that's considering I'm pretty much an Anyone/Anyone shipper. Slash? Good for the guys; mmm, more of what I see in Torchwood? Brilliant! Het? Oh yeah, Doctor and Rose, you get on with your crazy het selves! That's fuckin' hot!! Alex and Olivia on SVU? Hell yeah, I'll still read that!
Strangely enough, this has made me curl up into a little het-defensive ball on the floor. The kind that screams "LEAVE MY DOCTOR/ROSE SQUEE ALONE!!!"
I know they're my OTP, but this is vaguely embarassing. And also mildly confusing, as slash is the target and not het.
...
Wait, so you're saying any attack on any radical-feminist-approved-sexuality is an attack on my sexuality? Well, SHIT!
Also, I think this undermines me from the start, but I'm giving in to the temptation here and now to call these radical feminists cheesy stupidheads that like to eat their own farts. I feel this is the level upon which they've engaged me, so I welcome their return volley.
ETA:
To break slash down for the people that dun ge't:
1 penis + 1 penis = 2 much fun!
ya fun!
EETA:
BUNNY IS WIN!