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This article on Clarice Starling makes me want to rewatch Silence of the Lambs and also drives home how( vague hannibal spoilers )
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(It was hard picking which ~provocative~ icon to use for this post, let me tell you.)
The combination of a conversation I was having with fairest1 and reading the first Psy-Changling book (Slave to Sensation, which I’d heard raves about and is not living up to the hype) reminded me that a lot of fandom and the larger cultural context (especially with romance novels) seems to think it’s just so. damn. sexy. to have a virgin heroine. And I am just 100% not on board with this trope. Just… no. It’s almost 2014, can we please, please, please stop with this.
I’m not even going to go into how virginity is a bullshit patriarchal and heteronormative construction (but it totally is, and the more you learn about how and why it was constructed and the very real consequences of that, the more horrifying it is), I am going to stick with the fact that I JUST DON’T FIND VIRGINITY SEXY.
I come to fandom and romance novels for entertaining, titillating fiction, and do you know what I find sexy? People who know what the fuck to do in bed. People who have previous sexual experiences (good and bad) that inform how they interact and what they feel about their current partner.
I am so not down with the whole virgin protag that I don’t even like the male subversion where he’s the virgin and she’s more experienced (those two Steve/Darcy fics, excluded, you know the ones what I’m talking about).
The combination of a conversation I was having with fairest1 and reading the first Psy-Changling book (Slave to Sensation, which I’d heard raves about and is not living up to the hype) reminded me that a lot of fandom and the larger cultural context (especially with romance novels) seems to think it’s just so. damn. sexy. to have a virgin heroine. And I am just 100% not on board with this trope. Just… no. It’s almost 2014, can we please, please, please stop with this.
I’m not even going to go into how virginity is a bullshit patriarchal and heteronormative construction (but it totally is, and the more you learn about how and why it was constructed and the very real consequences of that, the more horrifying it is), I am going to stick with the fact that I JUST DON’T FIND VIRGINITY SEXY.
I come to fandom and romance novels for entertaining, titillating fiction, and do you know what I find sexy? People who know what the fuck to do in bed. People who have previous sexual experiences (good and bad) that inform how they interact and what they feel about their current partner.
I am so not down with the whole virgin protag that I don’t even like the male subversion where he’s the virgin and she’s more experienced (those two Steve/Darcy fics, excluded, you know the ones what I’m talking about).
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I feel this Skittles commercial is both entertainingly feminist AND grade A nightmare fuel.
She ate his teeth. She. Ate. His. Teeth.
She ate his teeth. She. Ate. His. Teeth.
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Look, I am not arguing with how awesome it is to have a canon gay biracial love story in a hugely popular podcast. And I’m not arguing that as a gay man who is clearly swayed by masculine beauty it’s out of character for Cecil to be all about the D.
But sweet fucking Christ, when Cecil starts shilling for a six-headed, guilty-of-insurance-fraud, fire-breathing dragon to take over from mayor Pamela Winchell, I want to drive to Cecil’s studio, grab his microphone and beat him with it.
Like, given that Nightvale is Nightvale, I cannot even begin to judge whether or not the mayor is doing a good job or not, but I’m going to assume yes, and Cecil is blinded by the fact the six-headed prospective mayoral usurper has a cock.
But sweet fucking Christ, when Cecil starts shilling for a six-headed, guilty-of-insurance-fraud, fire-breathing dragon to take over from mayor Pamela Winchell, I want to drive to Cecil’s studio, grab his microphone and beat him with it.
Like, given that Nightvale is Nightvale, I cannot even begin to judge whether or not the mayor is doing a good job or not, but I’m going to assume yes, and Cecil is blinded by the fact the six-headed prospective mayoral usurper has a cock.
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There was this great post on tumblr that prompted me to have Tony/Pepper feelings, which are:
Pepper pushing the button at the climax of Iron Man is one of the least significant roles she plays in the story. Iron Man falls apart if Pepper isn't there because Tony's reaction to Pepper lets us know pretty immediately that while Tony is living this playboy life style he also has people that he cares about and ALSO, Pepper's reaction to Tony, the rooftop, the martini, show that just because you're a superhero, doesn't mean you get a pass on treating people well.
Pepper pushing the button at the climax of Iron Man is one of the least significant roles she plays in the story. Iron Man falls apart if Pepper isn't there because Tony's reaction to Pepper lets us know pretty immediately that while Tony is living this playboy life style he also has people that he cares about and ALSO, Pepper's reaction to Tony, the rooftop, the martini, show that just because you're a superhero, doesn't mean you get a pass on treating people well.
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Before I get into the bulk of my post, let me just clarify that I am aware of and agree that the concept of virginity is 100% socially constructed from sexist and heternormative grounds.
That said, can we talk about that awesome (to me, at least, I'm aware I could be alone here) storyline in last Monday's Teen Wolf, where we learn that a character who had just been killed was a virgin, and we know this because that night was supposed to be the dead girl's first time, and her girlfriend wanted to make it special.
How fucking awesome was that?
That Teen Wolf presented one girl having sex for the first time with her girlfriend as real and something to be treated as special*, and just as valid as if one of them had been a guy.
*I'm not saying that you have to treat your virginity as a special gift or whatever, but don't try to tell me that virginity and people's opinions about it aren't something that has huge weight attached to it.
That said, can we talk about that awesome (to me, at least, I'm aware I could be alone here) storyline in last Monday's Teen Wolf, where we learn that a character who had just been killed was a virgin, and we know this because that night was supposed to be the dead girl's first time, and her girlfriend wanted to make it special.
How fucking awesome was that?
That Teen Wolf presented one girl having sex for the first time with her girlfriend as real and something to be treated as special*, and just as valid as if one of them had been a guy.
*I'm not saying that you have to treat your virginity as a special gift or whatever, but don't try to tell me that virginity and people's opinions about it aren't something that has huge weight attached to it.
The meta meme is still going strong.
what I've written:
villains, anti-heroes, antagonists, and sexism
arya and sansa's narratives
why do popular slash ships have different dynamics than popular femmeslash ships?
death of the author
why will graham is an unusual protagonist
can you rule 63 nice guy syndrome? (no)
Also, fyi, my meta prompts start on page 5.
FREE-FOR-ALL META COMMENT-A-THON!
(click on the picture)
what I've written:
villains, anti-heroes, antagonists, and sexism
arya and sansa's narratives
why do popular slash ships have different dynamics than popular femmeslash ships?
death of the author
why will graham is an unusual protagonist
can you rule 63 nice guy syndrome? (no)
Also, fyi, my meta prompts start on page 5.
FREE-FOR-ALL META COMMENT-A-THON!
(click on the picture)
So, apparently we’re going to be getting a Peggy Carter short? I’m really excited. Please have her hunting Nazis post movie. PLEASE.
I mean, I have my complaints about the writing in the Captain America movie, especially in regards to Peggy, but it fills me with delight that Hayley Atwell and Marvel had enough people invested in that character and asking after her that Marvel decided it was a good movie to make a short starring her. Seriously, I’m getting misty.
I mean, I have my complaints about the writing in the Captain America movie, especially in regards to Peggy, but it fills me with delight that Hayley Atwell and Marvel had enough people invested in that character and asking after her that Marvel decided it was a good movie to make a short starring her. Seriously, I’m getting misty.
So, a couple of things showed up at the same time in my fannish life that I want to talk about. First, I learned about Ginnifer Goodwin's comment that Swan Queen was never going to happen because Once Upon A Time is a "family show", I was listening to femmeslash for fans show on Subtext 101,
and then I read this article, Why Embracing Slash Is Good For Everybody.
Let me bottom line it.
SUBTEXT IS NOT FUCKING REPRESENTATION.
ABC is not going to write Swan Queen (or ANY homosexual romance in their show about true love and blood family) because they are not going to risk offending viewers.
RDJ's Sherlock Holmes was never going to make out with John Watson because the studio isn't going to risk offending viewers.
Trust me, studios are already "embracing slash" in their 100% mercenary way, which is by showing deep, complex, meaningful and nuanced relationships between TWO WHITE DUDES without ever having to commit to actually writing homosexual characters.
That's what all those buddy cop shows and bromance movies are all about.
And the result of this, the part that really HITS ME WHERE I LIVE, is that "embracing slash" MEANS THROWING THE FUCKING FEMALE CHARACTERS THAT I LOVE UNDER THE BUS.
Do you know what it looks like when a show feeds the slashers? It looks like fucking Supernatural, where every goddamn awesome good/neutral/evil lady winds up dead.
The reason that there is not a gay Avenger is because MARVEL STUDIOS DIDN'T HAVE THE BALLS TO WRITE ANY OF THE AVENGERS AS GAY.
DO YOU KNOW WHY THERE ISN'T A BLACK WIDOW MOVIE ALREADY IN PRE-PRODUCTION? BECAUSE HOLLYWOOD DOESN'T THINK A WOMAN CAN HEADLINE A MOVIE.
And none of that is fucking okay.
The mainstream media is throwing scraps of representation at the audience and some people are pretending that it's enough. It's fucking not, and honestly, to me personally, it feels like a slap in the face.
Stop pretending to be inclusive of homosexuality and fucking be inclusive of homosexuality.
Realize that audiences can handle and fucking love movies with female/poc/homosexual (or all of the above) leads and film them.
and then I read this article, Why Embracing Slash Is Good For Everybody.
Let me bottom line it.
SUBTEXT IS NOT FUCKING REPRESENTATION.
ABC is not going to write Swan Queen (or ANY homosexual romance in their show about true love and blood family) because they are not going to risk offending viewers.
RDJ's Sherlock Holmes was never going to make out with John Watson because the studio isn't going to risk offending viewers.
Trust me, studios are already "embracing slash" in their 100% mercenary way, which is by showing deep, complex, meaningful and nuanced relationships between TWO WHITE DUDES without ever having to commit to actually writing homosexual characters.
That's what all those buddy cop shows and bromance movies are all about.
And the result of this, the part that really HITS ME WHERE I LIVE, is that "embracing slash" MEANS THROWING THE FUCKING FEMALE CHARACTERS THAT I LOVE UNDER THE BUS.
Do you know what it looks like when a show feeds the slashers? It looks like fucking Supernatural, where every goddamn awesome good/neutral/evil lady winds up dead.
The reason that there is not a gay Avenger is because MARVEL STUDIOS DIDN'T HAVE THE BALLS TO WRITE ANY OF THE AVENGERS AS GAY.
DO YOU KNOW WHY THERE ISN'T A BLACK WIDOW MOVIE ALREADY IN PRE-PRODUCTION? BECAUSE HOLLYWOOD DOESN'T THINK A WOMAN CAN HEADLINE A MOVIE.
And none of that is fucking okay.
The mainstream media is throwing scraps of representation at the audience and some people are pretending that it's enough. It's fucking not, and honestly, to me personally, it feels like a slap in the face.
Stop pretending to be inclusive of homosexuality and fucking be inclusive of homosexuality.
Realize that audiences can handle and fucking love movies with female/poc/homosexual (or all of the above) leads and film them.
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Junot Diaz continues to speaking fucking truth about men writing women*.
(BTW, this totally applies to white writers writing characters of color as well.)
(BTW, this totally applies to white writers writing characters of color as well.)
In a hugely rare occurrence, I have finished all aired episodes of Green Lantern (except the one that will be airing in an hour, not that I will be watching it, because I will be AT WORK) in thirty-six hours and now I have some slightly more coherent thoughts than my last post on this subject.
( "What is 'cheese,' exactly?" "It is curdled lactil milk from a female bovine species on earth." "........From now on, how about you eat that in a closet or something?" )
These ladies are my fucking heroes. They make me want to be born in Russian in the 1920's so I could grow up and be this badass.