Definitions post: What is a woman? What's "40 or over"?
The basic rule of the Matri-Thon is that the main character of the story (or one of the two main characters in a pairing) must be a canonical woman 40 or over. But what does that mean?
In a pan-fandom environment, where we have characters who are space aliens, immortals, vampires, androids, and the like, it is necessary to define what a "woman" is and what "40 or over" means in a way that includes all fandoms. So here are the definitions.
Woman:
A woman is an adult humanoid character who identifies as female, who possesses a body that approximately resembles that of a biological human female, whether through nature, temporary artifice, or permanent artifice. In other words, the category "woman" includes:
- biological humanoid females who identify as female
- transwomen, either post-transition or who visually present as female
- androids built to look female, or holographic artificial intelligences built to look female
- shapechangers who primarily take the form of humanoid females
- anthropomorphs who are female
- any character played by a human actress who either presents as female or identifies as female
Some concrete examples: Bree from Transamerica, a post-transition transwoman, is a woman. Battlestar Galactica's female Cylons are women. R. Dorothy Wainwright from the anime Big O is a woman. The "female Founder" from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a woman. "Catgirls" are women if they are adults, as is Hepzibah from X-Men (a alien who looks like an anthropomorphic skunk). Aliens who are supposed to be females of their species, who are played by women, are women regardless of how much latex makeup they're wearing. Biologically neuter or dual-sexed/multi-sexed aliens who identify as women, such as Soren from Star Trek:TNG, are women. Giant bipedal robots with female voice actors who are supposed to be "female" giant bipedal robots, or are referred to by feminine pronouns, are women.
Examples of characters who are not women: GlaDOS, the AI from the video game Portal, is not a woman, nifty though she is, because she visually appears to be a giant computer made of spheres. Sentient starships who do *not* take female forms as androids or holograms are not women. Talking female cats are not women, talking female cars are not women (unless they turn into giant bipedal robots), and post-transition transmen are not women. Beings who can change gender at will are only women if they are in female gender in the majority of the story; otherwise they are not women. Biologically neuter, dual-sexed/multi-sexed, or male characters played by women are not women unless they identify as women.
Basically, the character has to look like a woman, or look humanoid and identify as a woman.
40 or over:
If the character is an ordinary human (at least in terms of her aging), 40 is 40. Even if the actress is actually 26, if she's playing a character who's explicitly 40 or older (or can be inferred to be because she has adult children, even if her age is never stated), she counts. If it's not a live action fandom, but the character is ordinary human, she's over 40 if she can be inferred to be even if she's drawn like a 20-something (comic fandom, I'm looking at *you*.) And if the character is drawn like a 20-something and described as a 20-something but has life accomplishments that are literally impossible for a woman under 40, such as having been the headmistress of a posh exclusive school long enough ago that a woman in her 30's considered attending her school back when she was a teen, she's over 40. (In other words, yes, Emma Frost can count if you want her to.)
If the character is not an ordinary human, and it's a live-action fandom, the character must be played by an actress who was 40 or older at some point while she was playing the character. An immortal played by a 25-year-old woman is not a woman over 40; an immortal played by a 43-year-old woman is.
If it's not a live action fandom, and the character is not an ordinary human, we need to go by cues that suggest the maturity level of the character and the stage of her life she has achieved. Being a grandmother automatically qualifies. Being the mother of an adult qualifies (yes, it's possible to be the mother of an adult and still be under 40, barely, but generally speaking the mothers of adults are over 40). Being a captain, a general, a high-ranking politician, top-rated in her field, a professor, or a veteran are all cues that suggest that an immortal being should be treated as if she is a woman over 40. If she's a vampire, siring one childe who then sires another would qualify her as over-40 (if she's actually over 40) even if she has the body of a child. We prefer to be more inclusive than exclusive, so present a good case for why a particular character should be treated as over-40 and she will probably be accepted.
Finally, canon. We're looking for stories about *canonical* women 40 and over.
The character must be a woman in canon. This is not the fest to decide that Captain Kirk is a transwoman and have her transition. Nor is the the fest for genderswaps. I love them, but the point here is to celebrate the *actual* female characters, not the characters we wish were female. Canonical transwomen are fine (cf Bree above), but characters who are canonically cismen cannot be established to be transwomen or get genderswapped in the story (well, they *can*, but the point of the story must remain some character who is canonically female.)
For over-40, the character must be 40 or over at some point in canon. This may include flash-forwards or canons that cover multiple eras where the character *had* to have been over 40 at some point, even if it wasn't explicitly stated. For instance, Yeoman Janice Rand was never shown to be over 40 to the best of my knowledge in Star Trek, but by the time of Star Trek: Generations, she had to have been at least that. However, if that's the case you must write the character during the time period when she is 40 or over. If the character is *always* 40 or over in her canon, then it's acceptable to write stories about her youth. (For instance, you can write a story about Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter as a student at Hogwarts, because she is over 40 all throughout canon, but if you want to write Uhura, Uhura wasn't over 40 until the later Star Trek movies, so you have to write her in that era.)
If anyone wants to suggest changes to the definitions or wants to ask a question about them, feel free to do so in this post.
In a pan-fandom environment, where we have characters who are space aliens, immortals, vampires, androids, and the like, it is necessary to define what a "woman" is and what "40 or over" means in a way that includes all fandoms. So here are the definitions.
Woman:
A woman is an adult humanoid character who identifies as female, who possesses a body that approximately resembles that of a biological human female, whether through nature, temporary artifice, or permanent artifice. In other words, the category "woman" includes:
- biological humanoid females who identify as female
- transwomen, either post-transition or who visually present as female
- androids built to look female, or holographic artificial intelligences built to look female
- shapechangers who primarily take the form of humanoid females
- anthropomorphs who are female
- any character played by a human actress who either presents as female or identifies as female
Some concrete examples: Bree from Transamerica, a post-transition transwoman, is a woman. Battlestar Galactica's female Cylons are women. R. Dorothy Wainwright from the anime Big O is a woman. The "female Founder" from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a woman. "Catgirls" are women if they are adults, as is Hepzibah from X-Men (a alien who looks like an anthropomorphic skunk). Aliens who are supposed to be females of their species, who are played by women, are women regardless of how much latex makeup they're wearing. Biologically neuter or dual-sexed/multi-sexed aliens who identify as women, such as Soren from Star Trek:TNG, are women. Giant bipedal robots with female voice actors who are supposed to be "female" giant bipedal robots, or are referred to by feminine pronouns, are women.
Examples of characters who are not women: GlaDOS, the AI from the video game Portal, is not a woman, nifty though she is, because she visually appears to be a giant computer made of spheres. Sentient starships who do *not* take female forms as androids or holograms are not women. Talking female cats are not women, talking female cars are not women (unless they turn into giant bipedal robots), and post-transition transmen are not women. Beings who can change gender at will are only women if they are in female gender in the majority of the story; otherwise they are not women. Biologically neuter, dual-sexed/multi-sexed, or male characters played by women are not women unless they identify as women.
Basically, the character has to look like a woman, or look humanoid and identify as a woman.
40 or over:
If the character is an ordinary human (at least in terms of her aging), 40 is 40. Even if the actress is actually 26, if she's playing a character who's explicitly 40 or older (or can be inferred to be because she has adult children, even if her age is never stated), she counts. If it's not a live action fandom, but the character is ordinary human, she's over 40 if she can be inferred to be even if she's drawn like a 20-something (comic fandom, I'm looking at *you*.) And if the character is drawn like a 20-something and described as a 20-something but has life accomplishments that are literally impossible for a woman under 40, such as having been the headmistress of a posh exclusive school long enough ago that a woman in her 30's considered attending her school back when she was a teen, she's over 40. (In other words, yes, Emma Frost can count if you want her to.)
If the character is not an ordinary human, and it's a live-action fandom, the character must be played by an actress who was 40 or older at some point while she was playing the character. An immortal played by a 25-year-old woman is not a woman over 40; an immortal played by a 43-year-old woman is.
If it's not a live action fandom, and the character is not an ordinary human, we need to go by cues that suggest the maturity level of the character and the stage of her life she has achieved. Being a grandmother automatically qualifies. Being the mother of an adult qualifies (yes, it's possible to be the mother of an adult and still be under 40, barely, but generally speaking the mothers of adults are over 40). Being a captain, a general, a high-ranking politician, top-rated in her field, a professor, or a veteran are all cues that suggest that an immortal being should be treated as if she is a woman over 40. If she's a vampire, siring one childe who then sires another would qualify her as over-40 (if she's actually over 40) even if she has the body of a child. We prefer to be more inclusive than exclusive, so present a good case for why a particular character should be treated as over-40 and she will probably be accepted.
Finally, canon. We're looking for stories about *canonical* women 40 and over.
The character must be a woman in canon. This is not the fest to decide that Captain Kirk is a transwoman and have her transition. Nor is the the fest for genderswaps. I love them, but the point here is to celebrate the *actual* female characters, not the characters we wish were female. Canonical transwomen are fine (cf Bree above), but characters who are canonically cismen cannot be established to be transwomen or get genderswapped in the story (well, they *can*, but the point of the story must remain some character who is canonically female.)
For over-40, the character must be 40 or over at some point in canon. This may include flash-forwards or canons that cover multiple eras where the character *had* to have been over 40 at some point, even if it wasn't explicitly stated. For instance, Yeoman Janice Rand was never shown to be over 40 to the best of my knowledge in Star Trek, but by the time of Star Trek: Generations, she had to have been at least that. However, if that's the case you must write the character during the time period when she is 40 or over. If the character is *always* 40 or over in her canon, then it's acceptable to write stories about her youth. (For instance, you can write a story about Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter as a student at Hogwarts, because she is over 40 all throughout canon, but if you want to write Uhura, Uhura wasn't over 40 until the later Star Trek movies, so you have to write her in that era.)
If anyone wants to suggest changes to the definitions or wants to ask a question about them, feel free to do so in this post.