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Dec. 9th, 2018 06:04 pmAlso the previous post made me think of something really interesting regarding reactions to abusive behaviour in stories and how cyclical it is.
Stage 1: possessive guys are super sexy!
Early fandom, drawing from traditional romance genre literature and mainstream gender norms, intense and possessive behaviour was just considerer typical and romantic. When some became more uncomfortable with seeing women mistreated, they turned to slash, as seeing men stalked and forcefully kissed by other men was less confronting and way better fantasy material.
Stage 2: we're too cool to fall for abuse!
Fandom turned away from really obvious abusive storylines, and proceeded to mock the people who still liked them. Case in point: Twilight. See, us fandom people were just too smart and geeky to like something as creepy and sexist as Twilight! We only liked cool things, like Harry Potter! Haha, let's all laugh at the dumb girls who got sucked into thinking Edward Cullen was actually romantic!!
Stage 3: wait, who are we blaming for abuse, again?
Over time, fandom started to realise that, actually, the girls who were taught abusive behaviour was romantic were victims and ought to be supported. Anti-Twilight statements came to be seen as misogynistic, with teenage girls and the things they liked held up as positive. The name of the game was education, and fandom in general was begrudgingly tolerant of abusive fanfic storylines as long as they were purely fantasy.
Stage 4: y'all abuse apologists are freaks!!
In recent years I've noticed a severe anti-kink swerve from parts of fandom. Girls who write about queer men are oversexualising fujoshis. People who are into BDSM are forcing sex on unwilling participants and glamorising abuse. People who write about unhealthy relationships are also glamorising abuse. Anything other than healthy, perfect relationships are problematic, because that's what all queer people Need.
...needless to say, I really wish we could go back to stage 3.
Stage 1: possessive guys are super sexy!
Early fandom, drawing from traditional romance genre literature and mainstream gender norms, intense and possessive behaviour was just considerer typical and romantic. When some became more uncomfortable with seeing women mistreated, they turned to slash, as seeing men stalked and forcefully kissed by other men was less confronting and way better fantasy material.
Stage 2: we're too cool to fall for abuse!
Fandom turned away from really obvious abusive storylines, and proceeded to mock the people who still liked them. Case in point: Twilight. See, us fandom people were just too smart and geeky to like something as creepy and sexist as Twilight! We only liked cool things, like Harry Potter! Haha, let's all laugh at the dumb girls who got sucked into thinking Edward Cullen was actually romantic!!
Stage 3: wait, who are we blaming for abuse, again?
Over time, fandom started to realise that, actually, the girls who were taught abusive behaviour was romantic were victims and ought to be supported. Anti-Twilight statements came to be seen as misogynistic, with teenage girls and the things they liked held up as positive. The name of the game was education, and fandom in general was begrudgingly tolerant of abusive fanfic storylines as long as they were purely fantasy.
Stage 4: y'all abuse apologists are freaks!!
In recent years I've noticed a severe anti-kink swerve from parts of fandom. Girls who write about queer men are oversexualising fujoshis. People who are into BDSM are forcing sex on unwilling participants and glamorising abuse. People who write about unhealthy relationships are also glamorising abuse. Anything other than healthy, perfect relationships are problematic, because that's what all queer people Need.
...needless to say, I really wish we could go back to stage 3.
