I'll ramble, and I'll rant, and I'll blow your house down

[lyras]

You know what really winds me up? People reading fic so they can gloat over a woman not getting the guy because (OMG!) he turns out to fancy Sirius or Draco or whoever. And other assorted instances of misogyny and sexism in fandom - of which I've seen plenty recently, both in fic and in people's behaviour. It really disturbs me the way some

Comments

[ragdoll]

Woo hoo! I agree with you wholeheartedly. This is the argument I have with some friends who are hardcore slashers -- I'm sorry but cock =/= superiority. Not by a long stretch. Women who think that all female characters are boring or stupid or bitchy bother me. Women who are straight or bi and yet complain that het sex is gross, or are gay and think femmeslash is gross, and anyone who thinks female parts are gross (and have stupid names) make me want to tear my hair out. It's not just HP fandom -- I've been having this fight since I was a kid and played in Star Trek fandoms, Quantum Leap fandom, Robin of Sherwood fandom, Man from UNCLE fandom and so on...bah!

Here's a clue -- if you don't like the way a female character is portrayed in a fandom, maybe you can try to fix it rather than just making the situation worse? (not YOU, obviously! :))

[flyingcarpet]

Women who think that all female characters are boring or stupid or bitchy bother me. Women who are straight or bi and yet complain that het sex is gross, or are gay and think femmeslash is gross, and anyone who thinks female parts are gross (and have stupid names) make me want to tear my hair out.

AGREED!!! no, wait, that's not enough: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do not think I will ever understand the people who are *practicing heterosexuals* and yet think that het fic is gross. It will never add up in my head.

[ragdoll]

They're entitled to their opinions but I really do not understand it. I've got a lot of het friends who go on about how het sex is gross and I'm like...but, ummmmm you're straight. There's nothing wrong with finding boy/boy sex hot (I do too), but when it's the only thing that isn't gross, it just is beyond my ken.

And then the disdain for anyone who thinks different really makes me sad.

[sodzilla]

...maybe BECAUSE they're straight, they feel the need to rag on het sex because if there wasn't the "transgressive", "gay-empowering" slash aspect to their porn consumption, people might think they were just in fandom looking for things that get them hot? Women, after all, are not supposed to like porn that has no DEPTH and DRAMA to it.

I may be talking through my ass, though. I don't understand this phenomenon either, and am theorizing wildly.

[flyingcarpet]

Seriously. I see this a lot, as a result of writers who are too LAZY to think of a decent reason to split up a canon pairing, just so they can slash (or other-het-ship) the characters. So they turn Ginny or whoever else into a shrieking harpy just to give the guy a reason to stray.

Whatever happened to the good-old "it just didn't work out"? That's what I want to know.

[lyras]

I've seen some really vicious portrayals of Ginny in fic (and really vicious attacks on Bonnie Wright for playing her). Funny how it's rarely the bloke who undergoes a personality transplant so that the girl can go off with someone else :(.

[flyingcarpet]

Yeah, and then when I see a NORMAL portrayal of her, people all comment and say "wow, I've never seen a Ginny like this one, but I like her!" and I'm left thinking "um, did you read the books??"

[lyras]

What are you talking about? The Ginny in the books is a slutty, gold-digging bully with no personality - which books did you read? :P

[dolorous_ett]

WORD

[lyras]

I got the carrots icon! x\o/x

[remeciel]

Ah, what a refreshing post.
I of course totally agree.

[lyras]

I'm glad to hear it :).

[halfeatenmoon]

Yes indeed. I have always been horrified by the level of woman hating in anime fandom, from the male fans who don't want girls playing in their sandbox to the women who write female characters in fanfiction as OOC harpies. "Stay away from my Sasuke, you whore, he's supposed to be with Naruto!"

I don't even like Naruto much but someone it's the fandom I always wind up using to prove a point.

[lyras]

*sigh* It's kind of depressing to realise that this sort of thing goes on in every fandom.