Entry tags:
OPINIONS ARE CAPLSOCK, aka, tl;dr
Eventually I read enough meta on something and become MADE OF RAGE. I usually just froth impotently at my computer, but I'm going to try posting it for a change!
Warning for slash normalizes the idea that gays and lesbians are offensive: I warn for slash. And for het, and femslash, and poly, and for fucking gen. BECAUSE A WARNING IS WHERE YOU INFORM PEOPLE OF CONTENT THEY MAY WISH TO AVOID, whether that avoidance is because they hate fandom's portrayal of lesbians or because they think slash is misogynist or because being queer in a homophobic society makes reading het unbearable or because they want less kissing with their swordfights or BECAUSE WHYEVER. SURPRISING PEOPLE WITH SHIT THEY DON'T WANT TO READ IS NOT OKAY, HOW ABOUT THAT. I mean, fuck homophobes, really, but: I rec a lot of fandoms, okay; I can't assume everyone who sees them knows what gender that particular Sam from that particular fandom happens to be in canon, let alone in that particular fic. Sometimes authors like mystery pairings and don't mark their fic as ANYTHING; sometimes a story with a main poly pairing (m/m/f) is actually DISTURBINGLY HETERONORMATIVE regarding the rest of its gigantic cast (which includes canon lesbians, so...); sometimes a story is full of stuff-that-is-not-a-pairing-but-also-not-gen and you can bet that's getting labeled multiple ways, aka, don't read this pre-slash unless you like both gen and slash! Also, they are RECS; clearly I find these stories worthwhile and that big "Warning: these stories contain..." at the top of the post means "Warning: this group of 10 - 50 stories contains stories with the following content, which may or may not be marked on the individual fics" and not "Warning: these stories have icky gay people and I'm telling you to read them because if you burn out your eyes, we can all be blind together!".
Slash is inherently misogynist: FUCK YOU TOO, BTW. I actually have a WHOLE KNEEJERK RAGE THING about how not liking your pairing/character/fandom/trope DOES NOT MAKE ME homophobic/racist/misogynist/culturally narrowminded/religously intolerant. YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS? IT MEANS WE HAVE DIFFERENT LIKES AND DISLIKES, aka, YOU != ME. I like ladies! I like reading about ladies! You want people to write more about awesome ladies, I am on your side! You pull this shit, and RAGE, I HAVE IT; COHERENCY, NOT SO MUCH, SO LET'S GO WITH SOME BULLET POINTS.
Warning for slash normalizes the idea that gays and lesbians are offensive: I warn for slash. And for het, and femslash, and poly, and for fucking gen. BECAUSE A WARNING IS WHERE YOU INFORM PEOPLE OF CONTENT THEY MAY WISH TO AVOID, whether that avoidance is because they hate fandom's portrayal of lesbians or because they think slash is misogynist or because being queer in a homophobic society makes reading het unbearable or because they want less kissing with their swordfights or BECAUSE WHYEVER. SURPRISING PEOPLE WITH SHIT THEY DON'T WANT TO READ IS NOT OKAY, HOW ABOUT THAT. I mean, fuck homophobes, really, but: I rec a lot of fandoms, okay; I can't assume everyone who sees them knows what gender that particular Sam from that particular fandom happens to be in canon, let alone in that particular fic. Sometimes authors like mystery pairings and don't mark their fic as ANYTHING; sometimes a story with a main poly pairing (m/m/f) is actually DISTURBINGLY HETERONORMATIVE regarding the rest of its gigantic cast (which includes canon lesbians, so...); sometimes a story is full of stuff-that-is-not-a-pairing-but-also-not-gen and you can bet that's getting labeled multiple ways, aka, don't read this pre-slash unless you like both gen and slash! Also, they are RECS; clearly I find these stories worthwhile and that big "Warning: these stories contain..." at the top of the post means "Warning: this group of 10 - 50 stories contains stories with the following content, which may or may not be marked on the individual fics" and not "Warning: these stories have icky gay people and I'm telling you to read them because if you burn out your eyes, we can all be blind together!".
Slash is inherently misogynist: FUCK YOU TOO, BTW. I actually have a WHOLE KNEEJERK RAGE THING about how not liking your pairing/character/fandom/trope DOES NOT MAKE ME homophobic/racist/misogynist/culturally narrowminded/religously intolerant. YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS? IT MEANS WE HAVE DIFFERENT LIKES AND DISLIKES, aka, YOU != ME. I like ladies! I like reading about ladies! You want people to write more about awesome ladies, I am on your side! You pull this shit, and RAGE, I HAVE IT; COHERENCY, NOT SO MUCH, SO LET'S GO WITH SOME BULLET POINTS.
- Fandom is mostly made up of ladies, but there are also quite a few male and genderqueer fans! Can they write slash without being dirty misogynists? Or should only women be able to write about characters like them? BECAUSE GOD KNOWS THE ONLY WAY TO FIGHT OPPRESSION IS TO PASS IT ON!
- Thanks for boiling whole people down to their genitals! I only like Wesley Wyndham-Price because of his MAGIC PEEN, not because I enjoy his complicated paternal relationship and his bookishness and the way no matter what he does, he's somehow wrong! I only dislike Gwen Cooper because of her SCARY VAGINA, not because I find some of her behavior problematic!
- By reading fanfiction about boys, I am somehow perpetuating the television/book/movie/other media industry-wide cycle of no one writes female characters because no one likes female characters because no one writes female characters that anyone likes. UM, NO. My money spent on books about ladies is about double my money spent on books about boys (and my money spent on books about triples my money spent on any other kind of media) and I am PRETTY SURE Hollywood et al. just care about my dollar bills, not my free time!
- Reading a lot more slash than het has nothing to do with the fact that I love over-the-top hurt/comfort with all my soul and yet would be horrified/uncomfortable/triggered by reading about women being gangraped/forced into marriage while underage/trading sex for food, WHAT DO YOU MEAN SOMETIMES IT REALLY IS BETTER NOT TO IDENTIFY WITH THE STORY'S PROTAGANIST.
- As a girl reading about girls, I insist on a level of believability/realism that most fanfiction just doesn't meet (why is she wandering around alone in the dark in a city, DOES SHE HAVE MACE, IS SHE SECRETLY A NINJA, I BETTER GO AHEAD AND BRACE MYSELF FOR AN ATTEMPTED RAPE/that's not how my vag works, IS IT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT, IF I FIND OUT I HAVE AN ABNORMAL VAG BY GOOGLING SHIT FROM FANFIC I AM GOING TO BE V. IRRITATED), while as a girl reading about boys, I am much more c'est la vie (I don't have a dick, how would I know?).
no subject
no subject
no subject
I think often it's people who don't think it through to realise that fandom exists all over the place, and that people exist outside of fandom. There is at least one cow in Scotland, one side of which appears to be brown.
no subject
I guess it's the entitlement? It is a free-range internet, you are welcome to hang out wherever you're happiest; no one is trying to shame you into reading/writing anything you don't want to, so please extend others the same courtesy.