Sorry to jump in! Can't resist a good gender conversation and all that ^^;
What saddens me in the world of gender is that people get judged for their preferences, even though those are not the same as their values. My values are those of a feminist and a queer activist, or at least that's what I hope they are, and yet I worry about being judged for liking things in fic and fandom that might appear to fit into a sexist paradigm. So, more specifically--what's wrong with liking to read and write slash that might not include women? (Heck, any fic centered around a pairing might not even include any other characters at all, whether it's slash or not.) I know that fiction affects how people think about the real world, and I'm all for people writing fic with strong female characters, but I think the situation is a lot more complicated than that. In short, can a person really by misogynistic just because they don't tend to prefer the fic out there that includes girls?
Secondly, the link to the bingo card in your other comment... Embarrassingly, that does remind me of myself and some of my friends around the age of 14. But I don't know any slash writers my age now who fall into those, and it hurts a little to see my online community perceived that way. Not to say that you're doing that--just commenting on what I think about the bingo card ^^;;
Also, source material-wise as opposed to fic-wise... I'm not sure I could discount a fandom I really like just because it has no female characters. As a feminist, I like to read/watch things about women, for sure! But as a non-man-hating feminist, I think I can like fandoms that don't have female characters as well, and not feel guilty about it.
Sorry again for the long comment butting into your conversation!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2011-06-08 04:52 am (UTC)What saddens me in the world of gender is that people get judged for their preferences, even though those are not the same as their values. My values are those of a feminist and a queer activist, or at least that's what I hope they are, and yet I worry about being judged for liking things in fic and fandom that might appear to fit into a sexist paradigm. So, more specifically--what's wrong with liking to read and write slash that might not include women? (Heck, any fic centered around a pairing might not even include any other characters at all, whether it's slash or not.) I know that fiction affects how people think about the real world, and I'm all for people writing fic with strong female characters, but I think the situation is a lot more complicated than that. In short, can a person really by misogynistic just because they don't tend to prefer the fic out there that includes girls?
Secondly, the link to the bingo card in your other comment... Embarrassingly, that does remind me of myself and some of my friends around the age of 14. But I don't know any slash writers my age now who fall into those, and it hurts a little to see my online community perceived that way. Not to say that you're doing that--just commenting on what I think about the bingo card ^^;;
Also, source material-wise as opposed to fic-wise... I'm not sure I could discount a fandom I really like just because it has no female characters. As a feminist, I like to read/watch things about women, for sure! But as a non-man-hating feminist, I think I can like fandoms that don't have female characters as well, and not feel guilty about it.
Sorry again for the long comment butting into your conversation!