The trope that 90% of everything is crap (I know this was mentioned before), is something that I believe is very true. I think this happens with every genre, and subsection of genre. (I don't like calling LGBT stories a genre, unless the struggle with issues surrounding it is central. Otherwise, put it in action/adventure, romance, mystery, historical fiction, horror, wherever it should go.)
And to be perfectly honest, it's the badfic that's one of the reasons I'm not really involved in fandom anymore. I don't have the patience I used to have in looking for goodfic.
I end up reading a lot of yaoi, because, well, there's a lot of fic about it. I mean, I like it, but I don't like it more or less than het or femmeslash. And geez, I don't remember the last time I read genfic on a regular basis, if only because it's so hard to find.
But the other reason I don't read a lot of fanfic anymore is because the "worst" is often what I see in the fanfic I (attempt to) read. I don't want to read about a man being shown as "girly" as part of a pairing in a fanfic if he isn't like that in the original series, just like I don't want to read about a woman being butch in a relationship if she actually isn't like that. The reason I want to read fanfic is because I want to see the characters I like so much from a series in yet another story, and them being in character.
Unfortunately, if the series itself is misogynistic or male-bashing on some respects, this will probably be something one will run into the fan fiction, too. Naruto is a good example to use here - unfortunately there are issues in the story itself. Sometimes one is lucky and finds fic that tries to right some of these wrongs, but one story can only do so much.
I'm getting rambly here, and I think I lost what I was originally trying to say.
I know that some people say that they don't want to read about what they have. They don't want to read about a stable, good functioning relationship because that's what they have. I must be weird, because the relationship I have with my boyfriend is very much one of equals, and that's exactly what I want to read. I hate misogyny and man-bashing, and don't want to see it in the stories I read, no matter what the flavor. (the exception to this is when the character doing the bashing gets called out on it and gets a verbal bitchslapping, but then again it's not something I'm fond of seeing on a regular basis.)
So I did get all rambly, and I hope there is some sense found in this long comment. But thank you for posting this, it really made me think.
I also have a post partly inspired by the bingo card you talked about in your last post, and that'll be up later. (But it'll be more about race than gender issues.)
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And to be perfectly honest, it's the badfic that's one of the reasons I'm not really involved in fandom anymore. I don't have the patience I used to have in looking for goodfic.
I end up reading a lot of yaoi, because, well, there's a lot of fic about it. I mean, I like it, but I don't like it more or less than het or femmeslash. And geez, I don't remember the last time I read genfic on a regular basis, if only because it's so hard to find.
But the other reason I don't read a lot of fanfic anymore is because the "worst" is often what I see in the fanfic I (attempt to) read. I don't want to read about a man being shown as "girly" as part of a pairing in a fanfic if he isn't like that in the original series, just like I don't want to read about a woman being butch in a relationship if she actually isn't like that. The reason I want to read fanfic is because I want to see the characters I like so much from a series in yet another story, and them being in character.
Unfortunately, if the series itself is misogynistic or male-bashing on some respects, this will probably be something one will run into the fan fiction, too. Naruto is a good example to use here - unfortunately there are issues in the story itself. Sometimes one is lucky and finds fic that tries to right some of these wrongs, but one story can only do so much.
I'm getting rambly here, and I think I lost what I was originally trying to say.
I know that some people say that they don't want to read about what they have. They don't want to read about a stable, good functioning relationship because that's what they have. I must be weird, because the relationship I have with my boyfriend is very much one of equals, and that's exactly what I want to read. I hate misogyny and man-bashing, and don't want to see it in the stories I read, no matter what the flavor. (the exception to this is when the character doing the bashing gets called out on it and gets a verbal bitchslapping, but then again it's not something I'm fond of seeing on a regular basis.)
So I did get all rambly, and I hope there is some sense found in this long comment. But thank you for posting this, it really made me think.
I also have a post partly inspired by the bingo card you talked about in your last post, and that'll be up later. (But it'll be more about race than gender issues.)