the talk of the town.
So, yes, fandom would probably have reacted a lot differently had Castiel been a woman. I say probably, because- whilst I tend to suspend my disbelief so willing that I’m not at all a good judge of on-screen acting- I think Misha is doing a pretty fucking badass job. If a woman of the same calibre had been cast for she!Castiel I like to think we’d have all gone ‘HEY SHE’S BADASS LET’S LOVE HER’ (see also: wee!Mary.) But on the other hand, fandom would probably have reacted a lot differently had Castiel been a woman.
I think that this is a problem in a lot of fandoms, and I think the TV industry's got a lot to blame for it. Generally, whenever a new woman’s added to the cast, it’s to be someone’s love interest, and I know a lot of people who hate that. I know I hate that- not because I omg Hate Women, or whatever; rather, the assumption that a woman is there to be fallen in love with is what I hate. (An assumption that, thinking about it, we’re all kind of perpetuating when we assume that a female addition to a cast is just going to be a love interest, but anyway--) I’ve seen this in Dr Who, with every new companion; in House, with the new girl on the diagnostic team; even in small fandoms like Life on Mars, the spin-off of which was essentially ‘once more with heterosexuality’.
Maybe Supernatural fandom seem to get angrier about it than other fandoms, but I think everyone can agree- whether they’re all for the vagina or not- that in a show that relies so heavily on the dynamic of all two of its main characters, adding a new person would seriously fuck it up. In an ensemble cast, there's always someone you can become attached to if your favourite character falls in love, but these two guys are all we've got. (And I have seen people worrying about the damage Castiel is going to cause to Sam and Dean’s relationship, so that’s not purely a girl thing.)
And on top of that, we’re on a network that apparently does like to push girls in wherever it can. Whilst Kripke & co are more than aware that love interests won't get them anywhere, if someone up above decided some long-term heterosexual romance was absolutely what Supernatural needed, it would quite possibly ruin the show; and I’ve never seen any fanbase as terrified of being cancelled as this one. Females = danger in a way that new male characters just can’t, because we know the show is never going to go there. And it sucks that we think that, but people are so invested in this show and the relationship between Sam and Dean that it’s hard not to be scared by the slightest flash of cleavage.
For the majority of people- majority, not all, because, yes, there are haters and there are haters and there are people who want to drown Cassie in bathtubs; and people just like it in almost every fandom I’ve been in-- For the majority of people, I don’t think it’s anything more than fear. Maybe it’s a valid fear, or maybe it’s just sexism with a fancy hat, but it’s a sexism that’s inherent in the industry, and in all TV shows. It’s not just us, and it’s really not just ours.
Also, whilst I wholeheartedly agree that the prevalence of stunningly attractive people on Supernatural- on any TV show- is a problem, it’s really not Supernatural’s fault so we should probably stop blaming Kripke for the hotties. (fyi, complaining about twenty-something girls in their designer clothes whilst you're denouncing the rest of fandom for being sexist is just a little bit hypocritical.) But the industry is what it is, especially in the States, and it’s going to take a long time to change it. And that’s with me optimistically assuming it’ll ever change at all.
(And for the record, I loved Bella and especially Ruby, and what seems like the vast majority of my flist did so too. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have a favourite female character or two, and honestly- most of the time, I see a lot more talk about how much we all hate women that I do actual hating. Then again, I tend to stick to my own happy corner of fandom love, so what do I know?)
Obviously, this is all just my own opinion/interpretation of it. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do it again with bigger words in a few months.
I think that this is a problem in a lot of fandoms, and I think the TV industry's got a lot to blame for it. Generally, whenever a new woman’s added to the cast, it’s to be someone’s love interest, and I know a lot of people who hate that. I know I hate that- not because I omg Hate Women, or whatever; rather, the assumption that a woman is there to be fallen in love with is what I hate. (An assumption that, thinking about it, we’re all kind of perpetuating when we assume that a female addition to a cast is just going to be a love interest, but anyway--) I’ve seen this in Dr Who, with every new companion; in House, with the new girl on the diagnostic team; even in small fandoms like Life on Mars, the spin-off of which was essentially ‘once more with heterosexuality’.
Maybe Supernatural fandom seem to get angrier about it than other fandoms, but I think everyone can agree- whether they’re all for the vagina or not- that in a show that relies so heavily on the dynamic of all two of its main characters, adding a new person would seriously fuck it up. In an ensemble cast, there's always someone you can become attached to if your favourite character falls in love, but these two guys are all we've got. (And I have seen people worrying about the damage Castiel is going to cause to Sam and Dean’s relationship, so that’s not purely a girl thing.)
And on top of that, we’re on a network that apparently does like to push girls in wherever it can. Whilst Kripke & co are more than aware that love interests won't get them anywhere, if someone up above decided some long-term heterosexual romance was absolutely what Supernatural needed, it would quite possibly ruin the show; and I’ve never seen any fanbase as terrified of being cancelled as this one. Females = danger in a way that new male characters just can’t, because we know the show is never going to go there. And it sucks that we think that, but people are so invested in this show and the relationship between Sam and Dean that it’s hard not to be scared by the slightest flash of cleavage.
For the majority of people- majority, not all, because, yes, there are haters and there are haters and there are people who want to drown Cassie in bathtubs; and people just like it in almost every fandom I’ve been in-- For the majority of people, I don’t think it’s anything more than fear. Maybe it’s a valid fear, or maybe it’s just sexism with a fancy hat, but it’s a sexism that’s inherent in the industry, and in all TV shows. It’s not just us, and it’s really not just ours.
Also, whilst I wholeheartedly agree that the prevalence of stunningly attractive people on Supernatural- on any TV show- is a problem, it’s really not Supernatural’s fault so we should probably stop blaming Kripke for the hotties. (fyi, complaining about twenty-something girls in their designer clothes whilst you're denouncing the rest of fandom for being sexist is just a little bit hypocritical.) But the industry is what it is, especially in the States, and it’s going to take a long time to change it. And that’s with me optimistically assuming it’ll ever change at all.
(And for the record, I loved Bella and especially Ruby, and what seems like the vast majority of my flist did so too. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have a favourite female character or two, and honestly- most of the time, I see a lot more talk about how much we all hate women that I do actual hating. Then again, I tend to stick to my own happy corner of fandom love, so what do I know?)
Obviously, this is all just my own opinion/interpretation of it. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do it again with bigger words in a few months.