I flip hardest for characters who are dealing with the kind of conflicts of the abstract that are usually only given to male characters
*nods* Fandom's focus on pop culture and popular genre fiction and movies and tv shows means that we have an uphill battle from the start, doesn't it? Because the women and characters of color in these media tend to be so thinly drawn, it's a vicious cycle of the-powers-that-be creating stronger men characters with more compelling problems, and fandom seizing upon these characters and exploring their worlds and then wondering what happened to everyone else.
As I said to Kelly below, I'm not quite sure how much of the focus on men (concentrating on the gender issue, for right now) is a deep, unquenchable desire to admire men, or crush on them, or watch two hot guys together, and how much is just insecurity about writing women, with all of our own issues, and a reluctance to swim against the tide of media and fandom culture. Part of my love for Remus/Sirius is due to the sheer amount of fic available about them, and the fact that I'm fairly sure my audience will love them as much as I do. They're also more complex characters than Lily, for example, but heaven knows that fandom's had a field day with the next gen boys, who have almost no canon characterization at all, so the lack of complex canon characterization doesn't prevent our forming cultures of reading and writing around specific characters.
I guess I believe that fandom can grow and diversity, and talking about these issues can only help. M.
no subject
*nods* Fandom's focus on pop culture and popular genre fiction and movies and tv shows means that we have an uphill battle from the start, doesn't it? Because the women and characters of color in these media tend to be so thinly drawn, it's a vicious cycle of the-powers-that-be creating stronger men characters with more compelling problems, and fandom seizing upon these characters and exploring their worlds and then wondering what happened to everyone else.
As I said to Kelly below, I'm not quite sure how much of the focus on men (concentrating on the gender issue, for right now) is a deep, unquenchable desire to admire men, or crush on them, or watch two hot guys together, and how much is just insecurity about writing women, with all of our own issues, and a reluctance to swim against the tide of media and fandom culture. Part of my love for Remus/Sirius is due to the sheer amount of fic available about them, and the fact that I'm fairly sure my audience will love them as much as I do. They're also more complex characters than Lily, for example, but heaven knows that fandom's had a field day with the next gen boys, who have almost no canon characterization at all, so the lack of complex canon characterization doesn't prevent our forming cultures of reading and writing around specific characters.
I guess I believe that fandom can grow and diversity, and talking about these issues can only help. M.