Links and stuff

[megwrites]

1. Author Malinda Lo (Ash, Huntress) has a post on her thoughts about writing race in speculative fiction.. ETA: I should have noted when I originally posted this earlier this morning that I think the article has it's deep seated issues and is problematic. I blog it because it had been going around my f-list/twitter feed and I did want to discuss it. Which is my fail for not specifying that, because I realize how just saying "here are this person's thoughts" could be taken as me agreeing with them.

2. And author Mitali Perkins wants ot know What your process of creating characters across cultures is. Comments seem to be okay for now, but that might change.

3. Navigating The Waters of Our Biased Culture, which deals with gender bias in literature. While a lot of it seems sort of gender 101 to me, I think it's a good breakdown of why the Bechdel Test is such a useful tool, especially for those who aren't used to looking critically at such things. Though I have to say I'm not happy with the piece's conclusion that "we can never get ourselves or anything else permanently clean" when it comes to sexism in our culture. No, maybe not permanently clean - but that's not that point. The point is we may not be able to reach perfection, but we certainly NEED something better than what we have.

The thing is? I think people misunderstand sometimes what's useful about privilege lists and Bechdel type tests, because a) the Bechdel test and things like it have their limits, they only look on one axis and b) the point is that people cannot change or improve that which they're unaware of. Awareness has to go somewhere, has to cause action to be taken.

We have the Bechdel Test, I like to think, so that we not only can measure how badly something is doing, but we know how to improve it (by giving women in film not only more screen time and agency, but giving them interaction with each other). ETA 2: Fixed the spelling. Spelling is so not my strong suit.

4. This may be the cutest, best thing ever and not to mention the most wonderful vampire film I've ever seen. Seriously. This may actually be the Perfect Vampire Novel that I've been searching for. Except, yanno, it's a short animated film. Tomato, tomato.

Vampire Gastelbrau from Hannah Ayoubi on Vimeo.

Comments

[holyschist]

I also think that people tend to use the Bechdel Test...oddly. I think its point is not that no media can ever be about men (there are certainly some stories which are by their setting and context not likely to pass, and yet they're still valid stories about human experience), but that the vast majority of media is about men for no good reason, and that it would be very simple to make those stories stronger by allowing the female characters the same range as the male ones to interact with each other and live rounded lives. So setting up Classic Works of Literature that don't pass and going "What about these?" seems disingenuous to me. Seven Pillars of Wisdom is still a fascinating autobiography even though T.E. Lawrence largely avoided women (and was in a largely woman-free military context) and wasn't going to be writing about their private conversations that he wasn't present for. But its existence doesn't make the broader point of the Bechdel test invalid, either.

(And of course, in the contest of the original DTWOF strip, the character said she wasn't interested in stories with no women interacting with each other about something other than men, not that such stories are intrinsically worthless.)

[megwrites]

So setting up Classic Works of Literature that don't pass and going "What about these?" seems disingenuous to me.

*nods*. That. People seem to think that if they can find stories that don't pass the test but are good or have legitimate reasons not to pass the test that they've proven that the Bechdel Test is forever and always useless and a bad idea.


And of course, in the contest of the original DTWOF strip, the character said she wasn't interested in stories with no women interacting with each other about something other than men, not that such stories are intrinsically worthless.

This! I hate how some people have decided that this test is how feminists are measuring what's good/bad in movies/TV/lit, etc - when honestly, I use it as a way to guide myself towards material that's got better portrayals of women because, let's face it, if I want to find male-centric, male-positive stories, I'm spoiled rotten for choice. And sometimes I just need to get something different, especially when I've had too much of said stories.

[holyschist]

People seem to think that if they can find stories that don't pass the test but are good or have legitimate reasons not to pass the test that they've proven that the Bechdel Test is forever and always useless and a bad idea.

That's much better put.

if I want to find male-centric, male-positive stories, I'm spoiled rotten for choice.

This. Some of my very favorite tropes are as hard to find as hen's teeth with female characters--I need to hunt very hard and still often come up with nothing--but fairly common with male characters. And I mostly read books with female protagonists, which means I often end up reading less favorite tropes (and don't get me started on how many of those only squeak by or fail on the BT...especially in a certain genre of YA fantasy where the female protagonist is pretty much surrounded by men, sigh).

[crossedwires]

Malinda Lo's posts (yes, plural!) about race & representation make me :rage: and :sadface: a lot. And I'm not even reading the comments! IDEK. The posts all seem carefully designed not to alienate white readers/writers, so instead they'll continue to uphold privileged viewpoints and dismiss readers of colour. :/

[megwrites]

*nods*. Total agreement. I just don't even with this one. The white-as-default thing is just...very much NOT okay. I'm not sure how giving readers the go ahead to keep on assuming that people are white until proven otherwise is ever a good thing.

Especially since it, surprise surprise, has the effect of making sure that white readers never have to accidentally trip and fall over anything remotely resembling a clue and maybe confront their own point of view and the privileges they have - especially when it comes to what authors and publishers value in an audience.

Basically: what you said.

[holyschist]

The posts all seem carefully designed not to alienate white readers/writers

This!

I just...do not understand it. And I do think that her posts about queer representation in YA lit have generally been good (or at least they resonate with me), and then there's this weird...IDK...mealymouthed caution? about race & representation.