fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2841 ]

[ SECRET POST #2841 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2841 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 039 secrets from Secret Submission Post #406.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This is something that's bugging me a bit with the replies here: WHY do people seem so concerned about protecting female characters as though they have feelings? I just don't get it. I've written many a diatribe against Tony Stark for example (Wish Fulfillment ahoy!) and I've NEVER had anyone suggest that I should pick on the writers rather than the character. I've had people argue voraciously, to be sure, about WHY he's a good character. But I've never had people flat out tell me to redirect my ire or to stop with the "faux feminism" crap (which I haven't heard here, in fairness, but I've heard on forums and Tumblr and such).

I just don't understand why people seem to want me to be considerate (I guess) towards female characters. They're not real. It always seemed to me that the polite thing to do was to focus specifically on the WORK rather than the fans or the creators.

Pretty sure it's because they identify with the characters.

That said IA with you but it's understandable.

The reason people often feel, er, "protective" of female characters is because female characters often get held to a higher standard than male characters, and this is reflective of a broader societal/cultural problem that elevates "male" over "female."

While I do think it's true that many female characters are held to a higher standard, I just don't understand the redirection. If part of someone's argument is doing that then why not point that out? If a female character is criticized for breaking the rules while a male character is praised (something I've seen happen that I don't agree with) well…why not point that out? That's always been what I do: say, well, why doesn't X doing this bother you?

At the same time, though, there's cases where I do think the criticism is completely legitimate -- where it isn't a double standard. In one of my fandoms, for example, character X is male and the main character -- he's also established as a rule breaker and frequently doesn't listen. Character Y is female and is primarily a love interest. There's a scene of her behaving unprofessionally that I criticize her for. And people will tell me it's a double standard that I ignore character X's behavior. But I don't see WHY. Character X is ESTABLISHED as a rule-breaker. It's a character trait and he gets CHEWED OUT for it. While Character Y is portrayed as a consummate professional and is BACKED by her boss even though what she does (discussing her relationship on the job) is really, really unprofessional given the situation they're in. In character X's case it makes sense. In character Y's case it doesn't, she isn't reprimanded, and it's just another scene of her discussing her romantic relationship.

Look again. Plenty of people ARE pointing out the double standards.

because this is fandom, not english class

I think it's because female characters are more often the target of hate than male characters, in general, so some people want to get away from that "culture" of negativity that surrounds female characters. Sometimes it's because female characters are held to a standard that is too high. Then other times, I'd say it's because people either don't want to be "that fan" who "hates all female characters," so they're defensive of them instead. Sometimes people are defensive of female characters in general because they believe that writers will only start writing quality characters when they perceive that female characters in general are received positively.

Yeah, what the above posters say: female characters get far more shit than male ones, so many people are more protective of them.

My personal anecdote: I don't care much for Tauriel in "The Hobbit". I think she's unnecessary, especially given her role as love interest for Kili/Legolas.

HOWEVER I also recognise that the writers/director/actress took a pretty big risk in inserting an OC into an adaptation, and I agree with their claims that it's unfair for young girls to watch a 2+ hour movie and not have a female character involved in the proceedings.

So I don't feel any particular need or desire to write a large meta about why Tauriel doesn't work for me. Because a) she's probably getting enough shit elsewhere, and b) I recognise that she's important to a lot of other people, and c) hopefully she'll led to other female characters in other franchises who DON'T exist as love interests.

Possibly because in some genres and types of media there's a group that complains at length about having any female characters at all.

This. Exactly. In certain genres and medias, if you are a fan of a female character, you can end up spending a lot of time on the defensive. It becomes a reactionary thing because you're so used to taking shit for being a fan. You spend so much time and energy trying to explain to people (who usually don't want to hear it anyway because "ew girls!") why that character is there and why they're important to you and to the story (see Black Widow in Avengers) that when someone comes down on them, it's the go-to response.

Also there's a very good chance that whatever arguments you're using against these characters have been thrown around by people with far more vitriol and hatred toward women in general than (I hope) you're expressing and that can lump you with that group right off the bat.

While there are some characters that I can feel irritated with/think are annoying, I rarely have feelings that I would qualify as "hate" towards characters because they're fictionals and I don't see the point in "bashing" them.
So my annoyance, when meeting badly written characters/tropes I don't like, is directed towards the writers.
And I don't see that as focusing on something else than the work since it's their job.

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[ SECRET POST #2841 ]

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