I've seen this touched on in other people's rants here, but so far it's
been fandom specific. I'd thought that this was a problem that only
cropped up in my fandoms (Hercules, Xena, and Buffy), but now I see
that the plague has spread throughout all fandom, apparently. From
anime to Lord of the Rings, right through Harry Potter and comic book
fandom.
I'm a slasher. I like reading about the guys boinking the guys.
Actually, let me rephrase that. I
love
reading about it; I even write about it. I really enjoy stories wherein
my favorite pairing overcomes obstacles in order to be together;
conflict makes a good story. Usually. But can someone tell me at what
point
women became an obstacle?
I can't go a single day
anymore without opening my inbox and finding a story where one of the
main plot points consists of the female character(s) doing her
damnedest to break up the guys. And usually it's a female character
from the show(s), one I'm very familiar with and who would
never
act in the manner in which the author has written her. Suddenly good,
strong female characters I know and love, are turned into scheming,
manipulative, cold-hearted bitches who go out of their way to hurt the
guys and make sure they never find love with another man. WTF? These
days it seems like there can't be a female character in most stories
without her being transformed into the Wicked Witch of the West ("I'll
get you, my pretty, and your little boyfriend too!"), simply because
she's, well, female.
What goes through these authors' minds? What on Earth would
ever
have given them the idea that female = evil? I can't read a
Spike/Xander fic (Buffy fandom) without Buffy and Willow being
uber-bitchy, Xander-abusing jerks. I sure as hell can't find a
Cupid/Strife fic (Hercules fandom) without Psyche being an impossibly
evil, unloving bitch. What's going on?
If the supreme OOC-ness
of the whole thing isn't scary enough, there's the fact that most of
the authors doing this are women themselves, and not just teenagers. Do
they really hate themselves that much? My god. If they really do think
women are the root of all evil -- and that's what so many of these fics
read like -- then I can only pity them, and hope they find some serious
professional help.