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I'm about to say some things that might piss some people off, but..what the hell. What are you gonna do, give me cancer? And I'm irritated. I should've known better, but for the first time in a long time I felt up to following some meta discussions, and oh boy what a doozy the latest one is. I'm not going to touch a lot of the larger discussion, in part because of what is bugging the fuck out of me in the way the conversation is structured. The way, actually, a whole lot of meta discussions about 'fandom' are structured.
And that is, as though fanfic is the ultimate and most valid form of fannish expression and community, like it exists in some bubble, or perhaps more accurately on a throne ruling all else. Like, if it didn't happen in fic then it doesn't count. Fuck that noise. Really? Please explain to me exactly how squee, meta, icons, fanart, fanvids, and the billion other ways in which fans interact with the text are some how invalidated by one activity that is part of a larger whole? What was that about not listening to or valuing women's voices, again? I am tired of seeing discussions of 'fandom' equated with 'fanfic' which is then completely removed from it's context.
Yes, I am going to be raise eyebrows at someone who never engages female characters in any form and/or talks about them in problematic ways. And fandom, all fandom, slash, het, and gen has issues, oh god does it ever have issues, with not treating our fictional women fairly. But no, sorry, fic is not the ultimate and only yardstick that can or should be used. Nor is it a trump card to be pulled, like obviously it's just a lie or somehow lesser if the ways in which you engage female characters isn't in fic.
Newsflash, many fans engage in multiple forms of interaction with the text and with each other. Many do not write fic. Others, shocker, don't even read it. And those who do write fic are not limited to expressing everything they want in that one form. And yes, squeeing about how female character X RAWKS, does fucking count along with all of the other things we, as fans, do. Context, larger, we're in it.
So can we please, pretty please with sugar on top, stop acting like fic is the most important, end all, be all, make or break aspect of fandom and being fannish? 'Cause that'd be awesome.
And that is, as though fanfic is the ultimate and most valid form of fannish expression and community, like it exists in some bubble, or perhaps more accurately on a throne ruling all else. Like, if it didn't happen in fic then it doesn't count. Fuck that noise. Really? Please explain to me exactly how squee, meta, icons, fanart, fanvids, and the billion other ways in which fans interact with the text are some how invalidated by one activity that is part of a larger whole? What was that about not listening to or valuing women's voices, again? I am tired of seeing discussions of 'fandom' equated with 'fanfic' which is then completely removed from it's context.
Yes, I am going to be raise eyebrows at someone who never engages female characters in any form and/or talks about them in problematic ways. And fandom, all fandom, slash, het, and gen has issues, oh god does it ever have issues, with not treating our fictional women fairly. But no, sorry, fic is not the ultimate and only yardstick that can or should be used. Nor is it a trump card to be pulled, like obviously it's just a lie or somehow lesser if the ways in which you engage female characters isn't in fic.
Newsflash, many fans engage in multiple forms of interaction with the text and with each other. Many do not write fic. Others, shocker, don't even read it. And those who do write fic are not limited to expressing everything they want in that one form. And yes, squeeing about how female character X RAWKS, does fucking count along with all of the other things we, as fans, do. Context, larger, we're in it.
So can we please, pretty please with sugar on top, stop acting like fic is the most important, end all, be all, make or break aspect of fandom and being fannish? 'Cause that'd be awesome.