*sigh* Ever read a story that's generally quite good, except for the ugly scar of slasher's-misogyny disfiguring the whole thing? And you know it's not a misinterpretation, because it's all over the rest of the writer's work?
There's just nothing you can do about it. You can't raise someone's consciousness in a single carefully-worded feedback letter. There's no way you, basically a stranger, can get someone to rethink all of the cultural beliefs about the relative lack of value of women--the way it's acceptable to shove them aside, pretending they're worthless or evil, when they get in the way of fulfilling male desires--that they have somehow completely managed to avoid any reflection on throughout their life, just through a little constructive criticism of their fanfic. Thinking yourself clear of the uglier and more destructive aspects of our society's construction of femininity is one of the major life projects, not something a fellow-fan can bring preemptorily to your attention like an awareness of the difference between "discreet" and "discrete..."
...And yet their work could be so good if it ever dawned on them that girls are people, too.
It's very frustrating, is what it is.
Posted by Sarah T. at June 5, 2003 07:08 AM | TrackBack