Wherein I go to bat for my girl, Buffy, again...
I came across this post on metafandom: Fiction, gender, women's pain, and MAN PAIN. I find it completely fascinating and insightful. You should go read it now because I don't have much of astonishing value to say except to apply this concept to the BtVS fandom.
Y'all know Buffy's my homegirl, and it's irksome for me to see her roundly bashed and/or criticized unfairly. I think it was local_max who pointed out that Buffy gets harshly hated upon for her closed-offed-ness in S7 while Angel, whose closed-offed-ness in AtS S5 matches and surpasses Buffy's, doesn't appear to receive as much condemnation.
There's also the vast amounts of fandom love Wesley gets for his overwhelming ANGST and MAN PAIN through AtS S3-S5...while Buffy gets criticized for being whiny in S6.
I'd never thought about it in terms of society prioritizing men's angst over women's before, but I think prozacpark provides a compelling explanation there.
It also interests me in how it resonates with the Buffy/Spike S6 dynamic and its reception in fandom.
I feel the need to add a disclaimer that most of what I discuss in this regard is in response to beliefs I used to hold about the characters and ship. So if you think I'm talking about you, you're wrong. I'm talking about me.
Buffy has a pretty justifiable reason to be angsty in S6. She was ripped from heaven, she's expected to be the Slayer again, she has to take care of Dawn, her mom is dead, Giles leaves, her friends are expecting her to be happy and okay, she is in debt, she has to work in a fast food restaurant, etc etc ad nauseum. Buffy's been battered by the angst bat, alright.
Despite all this, though, Buffy gets criticized for contributing to Spike's angst (which is primarily caused as a result of Buffy's angst). In fact, Spike's Man Pain becomes so much more important than Buffy's angst, Buffy is expected to go out of her way to ameliorate his.
This is both interesting and frustrating. Cause what we have, then, is the following scenario:
Person A is experiencing life-ruining angst for reasons X, Y, and Z.
Person B is experiencing life-ruining angst for reasons X, Y, and Z as they affect Person A.
The 'solution', apparently, is for Person A to take on Person B's angst as their responsibility, which will somehow make everything better. This is, sadly, the basis of many S6 Spuffy fanfics. *le sigh*
That's fairly nonsensical when viewed logically. If Person A takes on Person B's angst, as well, then they're just going to be adding W to their list of reasons to angst (because it's yet another responsibility). The only person it potentially helps is Person B, who is now having their emotions and needs catered to above and beyond Person A.
Which is really what a lot of it seems to come down to. Whose emotional needs are being prioritized? A lot of this is determined by simple character preference. Yet it's impossible to deny that gender plays an unconscious role in character preference and, secondarily, in people's judgment of characters. The fact that Buffy's a woman and Spike's a man isn't irrelevant, especially when taken in context of prozacpark's post about how, historically, men's angst has been emphasized as being of supreme importance. Add in the expectation that women will be the emotional caretakers of men, and you have the set-up for a very odd imbalance in fannish opinions with regards to the S6 Buffy/Spike relationship.
This leads to the situation where you have fans not only criticizing Buffy for her angst in S6, but you also have them expecting her to soothe Spike's angst, regardless of the potential detriment to her own mental state. Spike's mental and emotional well-being is considered of primary importance. Even after the break-up in AYW, Buffy is expected to cater to Spike's emotional needs to the point of curtailing her own opinions, feelings, and needs.
It's a twisty situation. It makes me want to huggle Buffy.
Y'all know Buffy's my homegirl, and it's irksome for me to see her roundly bashed and/or criticized unfairly. I think it was local_max who pointed out that Buffy gets harshly hated upon for her closed-offed-ness in S7 while Angel, whose closed-offed-ness in AtS S5 matches and surpasses Buffy's, doesn't appear to receive as much condemnation.
There's also the vast amounts of fandom love Wesley gets for his overwhelming ANGST and MAN PAIN through AtS S3-S5...while Buffy gets criticized for being whiny in S6.
I'd never thought about it in terms of society prioritizing men's angst over women's before, but I think prozacpark provides a compelling explanation there.
It also interests me in how it resonates with the Buffy/Spike S6 dynamic and its reception in fandom.
I feel the need to add a disclaimer that most of what I discuss in this regard is in response to beliefs I used to hold about the characters and ship. So if you think I'm talking about you, you're wrong. I'm talking about me.
Buffy has a pretty justifiable reason to be angsty in S6. She was ripped from heaven, she's expected to be the Slayer again, she has to take care of Dawn, her mom is dead, Giles leaves, her friends are expecting her to be happy and okay, she is in debt, she has to work in a fast food restaurant, etc etc ad nauseum. Buffy's been battered by the angst bat, alright.
Despite all this, though, Buffy gets criticized for contributing to Spike's angst (which is primarily caused as a result of Buffy's angst). In fact, Spike's Man Pain becomes so much more important than Buffy's angst, Buffy is expected to go out of her way to ameliorate his.
This is both interesting and frustrating. Cause what we have, then, is the following scenario:
Person A is experiencing life-ruining angst for reasons X, Y, and Z.
Person B is experiencing life-ruining angst for reasons X, Y, and Z as they affect Person A.
The 'solution', apparently, is for Person A to take on Person B's angst as their responsibility, which will somehow make everything better. This is, sadly, the basis of many S6 Spuffy fanfics. *le sigh*
That's fairly nonsensical when viewed logically. If Person A takes on Person B's angst, as well, then they're just going to be adding W to their list of reasons to angst (because it's yet another responsibility). The only person it potentially helps is Person B, who is now having their emotions and needs catered to above and beyond Person A.
Which is really what a lot of it seems to come down to. Whose emotional needs are being prioritized? A lot of this is determined by simple character preference. Yet it's impossible to deny that gender plays an unconscious role in character preference and, secondarily, in people's judgment of characters. The fact that Buffy's a woman and Spike's a man isn't irrelevant, especially when taken in context of prozacpark's post about how, historically, men's angst has been emphasized as being of supreme importance. Add in the expectation that women will be the emotional caretakers of men, and you have the set-up for a very odd imbalance in fannish opinions with regards to the S6 Buffy/Spike relationship.
This leads to the situation where you have fans not only criticizing Buffy for her angst in S6, but you also have them expecting her to soothe Spike's angst, regardless of the potential detriment to her own mental state. Spike's mental and emotional well-being is considered of primary importance. Even after the break-up in AYW, Buffy is expected to cater to Spike's emotional needs to the point of curtailing her own opinions, feelings, and needs.
It's a twisty situation. It makes me want to huggle Buffy.