Girl Revan Is Not Pleased

So my brother has a shop on CafePress. I was toying with the idea of making one, because I am the kind of person who likes funny slogans. One morning I kind of went crazy, and came up with a bunch of stuff that may or may not be funny to anyone who isn't me or my brother. (We spent a whole day on the phone making Space Quest shirts.) The only problem with the free shop is that you can only have one of each product (ie: one white t-shirt, one bumper sticker). This sucks if you have more than one design. Because I tend to get carried away, I shortly had more designs than I knew what to do with. So instead of paying the $$ and getting a premium store, I just made a billion little mini stores.

I was really just trying to make T-shirts that I wanted, so I could buy them for myself. But! Some random people have bought my stuff! The most popular thing thus far seems to be my Girl Revan shirts. In the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the character you play can be male or female, light side or dark side. But then the LucasFolk had to go and ruin the fun by declaring "Canon Revan" to be a light side male. This decision has always annoyed me. So I made Girl Revan Is Not Pleased, and Girl Revan says, what is this canon you speak of? I really, really want to buy one (both!) for myself, but there's this whole zero dollars thing. Someday soon.

Once I made the base design, I kind of went out of control. I was really on a roll there. I also have Girl Revan Hearts Flyboys. And I have several more on my hard drive, including Girl Revan Finds Your Lack of Faith Disturbing and Does Girl Revan Have to Slap a Sith?, but I drew the line at uploading them onto CafePress. I wouldn't want to glut the Girl Revan shirt market (me! and apparently like four other people!) with too many products at once, ya know.

I Respond to the Haters

Well, not really, because there aren't a lot of haters in this discussion, just a couple of people who are offended by the thought that they might be (however unconsciously) perpetuating gender stereotypes. I have made posts further down in the threads, which people might have missed, in clarification of the views expressed in my original post. A roundup here:

Re: me being a fangirl whining about how people don't like my favorite character,

I'll admit that Brienne is not the most charismatic character. I totally respect people's rights not to like her. But it is just frustrating that on the whole, when you look at which characters seem to draw the most vitriolic responses from the fan community, those characters are female. Dany, Catelyn, and Sansa also get their fair share of the hate. (And for that matter, Cersei, who gets the most hate, with perhaps the greatest reason, but also with the most pathos… if she'd been born a man, what a different situation her life would be.) What is up, for instance, with people who can't seem to get their heads around Danaerys simply being queen of Westeros, without having to "share" with Jon (the most popular theory) or Tyrion or another male character? Now, I'm not necessarily saying she'll be queen in Westeros, as I think the situation is more complicated than that, and GRRM is not as black and white as that, and Dany's own motives for going there are questionable and it's clear she hasn't put a lot of thought into them. It's just an example.

I believe GRRM has a good variety of interesting female characters, yet they seem to polarize the fan community the most. Why can't we read more into this? What's wrong with having a discussion about how maybe– just maybe– it's because it's not customary for female characters in fantasy to play so many different roles? Look at The Wheel of Time, where the female characters are largely the same personality with different names and hair. The women in ASOIAF are differentiable, and for whatever reason that polarizes people in a way that just does not seem to happen to the same level with the male characters.

Your comments about Brienne? I could definitely have a conversation about them, because they have to do with the text. And you have a good argument. What I resist is the idea that, in order to talk about the character in many threads, you usually have to sift through umpteen snarky comments about how she's big and ugly. I think there is something about her ugliness combined with her heroism (or would-be heroism, whichever you prefer) that makes many readers distinctly uncomfortable.

I'm much more interested in that than in "fangirling" her.

And re: me 'bashing' that particular forum,

And, to everyone more generally, my Brienne post was planned to be the first in a series. Because, as I mentioned above, I don't think it's just Brienne. I think it's Catelyn, Sansa, Dany, etc. Oh, I'm not done! There's a trend of female characters being either put on a pedestal or demonized. I think this is a larger issue in society in general than a few idiots at one board, and I think it's indicative of gender stereotypes that are deeply ingrained in us. Woman characters across many different types of media are typically responded to by being placed on a romantic pedestal or seen as evil. In hindsight, I think this article might have been poorly written, because I've really brought up two issues at once. People are focusing on the part about the forum, which I think is somewhat distracting from the other point I made about Brienne. Admittedly, this is my fault for putting the two issues into one post. When I wrote it, I wasn't sure how much intro the topic of Brienne needed.

When I talk about gender stereotypes being deeply ingrained, I'm going to give a personal example. When my posts come under scrutiny, there is a part of me that squirms uncomfortably and wants to placate people. Why is that? I certainly stand by my opinion. I believe it's because as women we're raised with more of an emphasis on pleasing people, on compromise, on being communicators and peacemakers. We're trained that we're supposed to interact more passively with the world around us. Why is it that, even though I think I'm right, a small part of me feels badly about being offended by stuff I saw in a forum? Like, "Oh, sorry guys, I'm going to shuffle off now, it must be my fault that I'm offended, never mind…"

I am a feminist, with majors in Philosophy and English and a minor in Gender Studies. And I'm putting out there that I fight against feeling this way even though I realize I, as a woman, am conditioned by society to feel this way. If I struggle against feeling like the mean girl who ruined people's fun, imagine all the women who aren't aware of what's going on and how it feels to them. "Oh, I guess every other woman ignores rape jokes by idiot 13-year-olds because it comes with liking fantasy novels. There must be something wrong with me because I'm offended. It's my fault for reading 'boy' books."

OK, so some of us might not want heavier forum moderation. But me? I don't want any woman reader to feel the way I just described. As I said, larger issues at play here than one forum.

By the way, my favorite character in ASOIAF is in fact Jaime Lannister. Should I put that in bold? People seem to keep assuming something I never actually said. Brienne's probably in the top 5, but still.

We Be A Little Bit Linked Over Here Today...

My THL post from a couple weeks ago about the Brienne haters was My Elves Are Different-ized. This comes from being linked over at Patrick's Fantasy Hotlist... I'm pleased to see this hasn't kicked off a bunch of flaming. Though I honestly don't think he gets a lot of rampant fanboy-types over at his blog, which is nice. [Edited to add: It appears I spoke too soon. If Blogger had an eye-roll smiley, you can feel free to picture it here.] Seriously, I hope people realize my intention was not to dis everyone who hangs out on that particular board, but rather to use it as an example of a bias against female characters that I wanted to talk about more.

I'm not sure I want to put my thoughts about forum moderation/free speech into words right now. It's something that's evolving for me. I do know that it is very easy for people to say "ignore the idiots." But sometimes it's like... imagine if you were being battered by little bits of paper that someone was throwing at you. They don't actually hurt, and they are certainly ignorable, but you can't help thinking that if you went and sat over there, you wouldn't have to deal with it at all. Because the guy next to you never gets bits of paper tossed at him. And that's not really fair, is it?

Anyway. It's sort of a crappy metaphor.

Hello, SF/F Blogosphere!

Bet you thought it was going to be more radical feminist rhetoric over here and less... cats. :-P

X-People

Me: Like, for example, why is it X-Men? [Sweetie being currently in the middle of reading an X-Men comic in bed.] Not that I know a lot about X-Men, apart from having watched the cartoon when I was a kid, and the first movie. But there are definitely female characters. There's the one with the black and white hair-- Storm.
Sweetie: The creator is actually surprisingly feminist. I mean, there are strong female characters, but--
Me: So why didn't they make it X-People?
Sweetie: Well, if they made it X-People now, it might not be recognizable as part of the X-Men franchise. So I can see how they would say that, from a marketing standpoint.
Me: Or because male is always the default choice in our culture.
Sweetie: I never thought of that.
Me: It's always fun to do the switch test, to see if there's a bad gender stereotype you wouldn't have thought of. You said there were four male X-Men and one woman.
Sweetie: Yes.
Me: Could you see them being called X-Women, and the group being four women and one man?
Sweetie: Not really.
Me: Exactly. And you are an enlightened, educated man. Imagine how many other people have never thought of that before.

When Fanboys Attack: ASOIAF Version

I posted on Hathor Legacy today about the rampant Brienne hatred among George R.R. Martin's fans.

There is a disconnect between the way male characters described by Martin as ugly (and there are lots) are regarded by fans, and how Brienne is regarded. To illustrate how ridiculous the bias is, consider the example of the POV character Tyrion.

Tyrion is a vastly popular character. He is also a dwarf, with a giant mass of scar tissue where his nose used to be. In a recent book, he was placed in an arranged marriage to a 13-year-old girl who wouldn't consummate the marriage because she was terrified of how ugly he was. I have actually seen many posters say, "OMG I hate Sansa! What a ___. How could she do that to Tyrion he's all kinds of awesome, I hope she gets raped by a ____." And then they'll be like, "I think Martin should hook Tyrion up with (insert beautiful female character) or (insert beautiful female character)." Yet if someone mentions Brienne hooking up with someone, anyone, there's an outcry of fan eeeeew that derails entire threads.

Yeah. Because every beautiful woman wants to have sex with a noseless dwarf just because it's your favorite character. But an unattractive woman doesn't deserve love.

The rest is here.

WWC

I obviously haven't been out enough lately, so this is bothering me afresh, but I have to ask what is up with men who think that just because a woman is there, she is somehow asking to be hit on? Similar to the way DWB (Driving While Black) gives the police probable cause to pull you over, apparently WWC (Working While Cute) gives men license to hit on you.

So I'm working the door last night, and this guy who'd been sitting in the bar comes up to me. "You're new, aren't you? I'm ____."

I shook hands. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sarah."

"Yeah," he says, "only I really came over here because my friend wants to meet you."

Lord. If there is one pickup I hate, it is "the friend." It's pretty much the lamest thing ever. What it shows me is that your friend is a spineless fool who sends others to do his dirty work for him. Luckily some people came in the door just then, and I was able to beg off saying hi to the lame friend. But later they flagged me down as I was walking past the bar, and it became unavoidable. I chatted for a few minutes, because, well, I have a lot of friends who are guys, and I am not above meeting people and engaging in chat. The length of this conversation was no more than two minutes. Then "the friend" asks if he can give me his number. I politely explained that I had a boyfriend and was therefore taken, and therefore would not be calling him.

They exchanged looks. "Really! Because that wasn't the vibe we got!"

"What do you mean?"

"You gave off a single vibe."

Like, when? As I was standing in the door politely smiling and saying hello to people? As I was running around frantically bussing tables? As I was doing my job and completely ignoring you? How is that a "vibe"?

Yes, ladies, it's true. You should not be surprised and mildly annoyed by people hitting on you at work. Because you asked for it. By just being there. I really can't think of any way I would have been giving off a "vibe" other than the fact that I was tall, skinny, cute, and wearing a nice outfit and makeup. I suspect if I was less attractive, I wouldn't have given off a "single vibe." I suppose if I wore a sack to work and my eyes and hair looked as if I'd just rolled out of bed, then I would not be giving off a "single vibe." But I am not about to do that.

I don't know, it just seemed like such a sense of entitlement. Because I could not possibly be there for another purpose than picking up men. Give me a break.

(I didn't get hit on once when I wore the androgynous penguin suit. But I wouldn't go back to it if you paid me. I didn't realize how much I'd missed my real clothes!)

Girls With Swords

I posted today on The Privilege of the Sword at The Hathor Legacy Book Blog. It was probably in my Top 3 books for last year, if not #1. (What were my Top 10 books of last year? That would be a great post...)

Ellen Kushner's The Privilege of the Sword is unique for its explorations of gender and sexuality in a fantasy setting. Its nominations (Nebula Award nominee, Locus Award Finalist, Tiptree Honor Book) certainly go a long way to recommend it. If you're not into fantasy, this book might still be a good read. It's definitely a genre-crosser, set in a pseudo-historical fantasy setting where there is no magic at all. It's part Jane Austen comedy of manners and part swashbuckler. It's very smart, and the prose is lovely. And it's got one of the best female protagonists to grace the pages of a fantasy novel this decade.

Read more here...

New Gig At The Hathor Legacy

Just FYI, for anyone who's interested, I am proud to announce that I'm going to be blogging on The Hathor Legacy's new book blog. I've been a fan of the site for several months now. They are a site dedicated to critical analysis of female characters in TV and film. Recently they branched out and added two additional blogs, one on books and one on feminist issues in general.

If you want to know which posts are mine, my nickname there is Duru Antilles, and I have the blue twi'lek icon. I posted this weekend on Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness series.

I Hate You, Rock of New Orleans

OK, I'm back again. This is my day off, and I'm working on a short story on the computer anyway, so it is apparently also a blogging day. I have to rant about 104.1 The Rock of New Orleans. I have had it with this station's persistent sexism. It drives me up a friggin' wall. Mike claims he listens to the station all the time and doesn't hear anything misogynistic. I'm like, you must have a higher tolerance level than me, or just be oblivious because you aren't female. Because just now in the car I CLEARLY HEARD them play the tagline, "The Rock of New Orleans: good music, hot chicks." And you cannot tell me that is appropriate to use as a tagline for your radio station. You cannot. There's another slogan that says something about "T&A," which I've also heard. And really, a visit to their website is all you need to confirm everything I'm saying. It's like the thought that they might have female listeners never occurred to them, or it did, and they just decided to ignore us.

I think I'm going to write them a nasty letter. They'd probably just roll their eyes and say, "Go listen to the Diva." Because that is the kind of guy (clearly it is a guy) I imagine runs the station. But I don't want to listen to Diva 92.3, because I don't like the music. I don't like pop, I like 90's rock. Both my exes listened to The Diva, the "girly" station, and I don't remember either of them having to deal with offensive content. I don't understand why there's a need to "gender" a radio station at all. Hello, it's radio. Shouldn't it be about the music? Exactly how are "hot chicks" relevant to the radio format? YOU CAN'T SEE PEOPLE OVER THE RADIO. And shouldn't there, you know, not be porn on a professional business website?

Why don't you boycott them, you ask? Why don't you not listen to the station if it makes you foam at the mouth?

I think this is what pisses me off the most. Because 104.1 and Bayou 95.7 are the only two stations I like. I love the music 104.1 plays. It puts me in a really uncomfortable position. I've sort of made this compromise with myself where, when a song stops and the talking starts, I immediately switch stations to keep myself from getting all worked up. But I'm still offended and I don't like it.

P.S. I also hate the two entitled Uptown mommy-types who double-parked their two unnecessarily giant Lexus SUVs next to me in the parking lot at Roly Poly so I could barely get out of my spot. First of all, why don't you just kill some baby seals while you're at it? Second, here's a thought: if you were both going to Roly Poly, each with ONE small child, why didn't you just ride together? Because I'm perfectly sure four people can fit in one of those monster vehicles, and then the rest of us wouldn't have to seethe because you've blocked off most of a tiny parking lot. And I thought going out of the house would be good for my mood. Heh! :-P

Feminism, Star Wars, and Writing

There's a very interesting Livejournal community dedicated to feminist discussion of SF/F. It spurred me into an examination of my own novel, which I'm going to run with.

Once I met a guy at a party, and we got to talking about Star Wars. He asked me what my favorite part was. I have always had sort of a theory that you can tell a lot about someone by their favorite part in Star Wars. I said, "This might sound kind of weird, but it's when Luke is standing on Tattooine looking at the twin sunset." He said, "No way, me too!" Just that one moment. No action, no special effects. For me, that moment has always been the epitome of what science fiction/fantasy (and Star Wars) means to me: a glimpse of possibilities, the appreciation of being a small person standing on a world made of sand, the knowledge that something is out there. Anyhow, I ended up breaking up with the guy because he was, well, too much of a dreamer for me... but the scene remains.

I took some stream-of-consciousness notes on my novel this afternoon, a list of questions and missing scenes and things I need to emphasize better. I've had these characters kicking around for years. (I think I have a complete list of planets in the system on looseleaf paper dating back to when I was fourteen. This also why the character of Ari remains fourteen; even though I've grown up, I didn't want to lose that.) The crux of the matter being this: I love Star Wars. But it always bothered me that there was so much of this galaxy far, far away that Lucas left unexplored. Or rather, just ignored. Where were the people like me in Star Wars? Princess Leia was a pretty cool female character-- she was opinionated and she could shoot. But why the hell was there only one of her?

I wanted the characters in my novel to be people I would want to read about. I have four female main characters. They take turns having scenes. I figured, since I have four women, not just one, they will actually have distinct personalities, unlike most SF (how I detest the "token beautiful young genius" who appears in every ensemble cast of males to sleep with the hero). My failed rebellion against the evil government is a girls' club. I've got the behind-the-scenes computer programmer who is suddenly put in charge, the space jock who doesn't care about much of anything except getting her impounded ship back, the sophisticated bomb maker who wonders when the glamour in the whole rebellion thing disappeared, and the tagalong teenaged former waitress with paranoia and an attitude. The characters you'd expect to hook up don't.

I have a feminist vision myself. I want this to be reflected in my writing. The fact remains that I'm not writing a deep thought-provoking type of novel. I'm writing a soft sci-fi space opera adventure. I'm keeping it sort of campy; for instance, I've got a bomber who is attacked the morning after a one night stand and has to nakedly kill a bunch of assassins. I'm trying to have humor and also to have some deeper thoughts about war, people, and the vastness of space. But mostly it's a noir adventure in a corrupt city.

I just really want to accomplish what I'm trying to do. Is the simple fact that my characters are there enough, in this genre? I want to believe it is.

Tags: science fiction, fantasy, star wars, writing, feminism, dcds

Ignorance on CNN

SERIOUS FEMINIST RANT
Mike and I were watching Anderson Cooper on CNN last night, when something came on that made me flip out. A female correspondent was doing a segment on the recent deaths that may have been caused by RU-486. The headline on the screen read "ABORTION PILL DEATHS" or something like that, but the reporter said "... two recent deaths from taking the morning after pill." I immediately sat up and was like, "Hello? Which is it?"

Those are two entirely separate drugs. The morning after pill is Plan B (levonorgestrel). It is an emergency contraceptive, NOT an abortion pill and in fact will not work if you are already pregnant. The abortion pill is RU-486 (mifepristone). Since the correspondent stated the WRONG DRUG on air, the only way I knew which one they were actually talking about was seeing the close-up shot of the pill bottle which clearly read "RU-486."

This kind of carelessness has the effect of grievously misinforming the public about an important women's health issue. Conflating these two drugs is NOT OK. This is all we need, some ignorant teenager seeing CNN and thinking it is not safe to go and get emergency contraception. I have taken Plan B, and it is more like a large dose of birth control and NOT NOT NOT the abortion pill. It so safe the FDA is considering making it over-the-counter. I knew what they really meant because I am very familiar with this issue and recognized the name of the drug. Casual viewers might not. This mistake was extremely upsetting to me. It almost makes me think it's not a mistake and part of a huge conspiracy by conservative America to equate birth control with abortion... I mean, geez.

I emailed CNN to that effect today. (But didn't mention the conspiracy.)

/SERIOUS FEMINIST RANT

Tags: feminism, pro-choice, women's health, rant