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out_thereAnd it's a long weekend coming up! (And the boss is out of the office, so time for long, rambley LJ update. *g*)
I'm kinda tired. Got seven hours sleep, but woke up from strange dreams. It's all![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thete1's fault.
See, she mentioned that someone had requested a Joyce/Faith fic, and that just hit my "ew" button in a big way. I rationalised my reaction but I've been thinking about it.
(In fact, I dreamed that Te was writing it, as I was talking to her on the phone. I do remember there was some very funny dialogue. And the thing that seemed strangest when I woke up was that I *can't* be online and on the phone to someone at the same time, and the overseas call cost would have killed me.)
Anyway, I've realised I'm somewhat protective of the mother figures in shows. I don't want to see them slashed. I don't want to see them sleeping with people their kids' age. I don't want them hurt by outsiders. I love reading fics where they're motherly, or falling in love, but I don't want them hurt.
I'm trying to think of fandom examples. I'd use Sorkin, except for the fact that there is no main mother role. Isaac, Jed and Leo are all surrogate fathers for the family group, but the rest of the staff fit into the child roles. CJ and Dana may be responsible, mature and strong women, but they are both defined as single, as the older sister role, not the mother. You could possibly argue for Abbey Bartlet as the maternal role, except for the fact that she isn't actually shown as maternal most of the time. The emphasis for her character is as a wife and a professional. We don't get a lot of scenes of her influencing her children, playing a protective and guiding role, as we do for Jed.
Smallville works. Martha is certainly the mother role model. She is Clark's mother, but at times, she also acts as a surrogate mother-figure for Lex, Chloe and Lana (not to mention Ryan). Yet again, I don't want to see Martha slashed. And Martha/Lex, although it may be well-written, gives me the heebie-jeebies. However, I'm a total sucker for Martha/Jonathan.
Buffy is another fandom with a strong mother role and was also the fandom that brought this thought up. I don't want to see Joyce slashed, I don't want to see her paired with the Scoobies.
I don't think it's a lack of wanting to see the maternal role in a sexual light. I know these are flesh-and-blood women, sexual creatures. I just...
It's odd, because I don't have the same compulsions when it comes to their male counterparts. Giles, Jed, Leo? I have ahppily read explicit slash fanfiction about all three (although Giles is a favourite). I've read Jonathan/Lionel fic. For some reason, I don't have the same protectiveness of the father role. It's not just a case of willing to have them slashed, it's also a case of letting them be hurt. Angsty fics that put these guys in pain? I can read it and enjoy it. Angsty fics that hurt the moms? Upset me.
It's just a bit odd, that's all. You think you're basically... well, not too sexist when it comes to the two genders, and then you find out that really, you are. There are these deep-down biases that are constantly at work. Then again, I read far more slash than femslash, and I've only ever written one femslash drabble (which was pre-slash more than anything else anyway), so I probably shouldn't be so surprised that my attitudes to men and women are different.
I'm kinda tired. Got seven hours sleep, but woke up from strange dreams. It's all
thete1's fault.See, she mentioned that someone had requested a Joyce/Faith fic, and that just hit my "ew" button in a big way. I rationalised my reaction but I've been thinking about it.
(In fact, I dreamed that Te was writing it, as I was talking to her on the phone. I do remember there was some very funny dialogue. And the thing that seemed strangest when I woke up was that I *can't* be online and on the phone to someone at the same time, and the overseas call cost would have killed me.)
Anyway, I've realised I'm somewhat protective of the mother figures in shows. I don't want to see them slashed. I don't want to see them sleeping with people their kids' age. I don't want them hurt by outsiders. I love reading fics where they're motherly, or falling in love, but I don't want them hurt.
I'm trying to think of fandom examples. I'd use Sorkin, except for the fact that there is no main mother role. Isaac, Jed and Leo are all surrogate fathers for the family group, but the rest of the staff fit into the child roles. CJ and Dana may be responsible, mature and strong women, but they are both defined as single, as the older sister role, not the mother. You could possibly argue for Abbey Bartlet as the maternal role, except for the fact that she isn't actually shown as maternal most of the time. The emphasis for her character is as a wife and a professional. We don't get a lot of scenes of her influencing her children, playing a protective and guiding role, as we do for Jed.
Smallville works. Martha is certainly the mother role model. She is Clark's mother, but at times, she also acts as a surrogate mother-figure for Lex, Chloe and Lana (not to mention Ryan). Yet again, I don't want to see Martha slashed. And Martha/Lex, although it may be well-written, gives me the heebie-jeebies. However, I'm a total sucker for Martha/Jonathan.
Buffy is another fandom with a strong mother role and was also the fandom that brought this thought up. I don't want to see Joyce slashed, I don't want to see her paired with the Scoobies.
I don't think it's a lack of wanting to see the maternal role in a sexual light. I know these are flesh-and-blood women, sexual creatures. I just...
It's odd, because I don't have the same compulsions when it comes to their male counterparts. Giles, Jed, Leo? I have ahppily read explicit slash fanfiction about all three (although Giles is a favourite). I've read Jonathan/Lionel fic. For some reason, I don't have the same protectiveness of the father role. It's not just a case of willing to have them slashed, it's also a case of letting them be hurt. Angsty fics that put these guys in pain? I can read it and enjoy it. Angsty fics that hurt the moms? Upset me.
It's just a bit odd, that's all. You think you're basically... well, not too sexist when it comes to the two genders, and then you find out that really, you are. There are these deep-down biases that are constantly at work. Then again, I read far more slash than femslash, and I've only ever written one femslash drabble (which was pre-slash more than anything else anyway), so I probably shouldn't be so surprised that my attitudes to men and women are different.
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Date: 2004-01-24 12:50 pm (UTC)My flist felt bereft without you when you were on holiday!
I can understand why you'd find Martha/Lana distasteful. In fact I surprised myself a little by finding it appealing. I don't know if I'll ever get around to writing it, but I'm keeping it in the back of my head in case I get a bunny to jump start it.