In which I rant profusely

I'm sorry, dear readers, but I have to post this here. I have to. Warning: what follows is extremely long and contains terrible language, anger... and... oh, I can't even explain it. Go ahead if you want...

(crossposted from my personal blog)

my fangirl brethren, if you don't want to start your new day seething at the mouth, then don't read this article. it's clearly written by someone who has no idea what they are talking about, and seems determined to provoke uncontrollable rage in fans everywhere.

(it's an article about fan fiction from a radical feminist blog community, fyi.)

it got my hackles up right at the very beginning, because radical feminist always engage my innate desire to kill stupid people. because everyone knows the best way to undo problems of sexism in society is to just hate men. i mean, that's not sexist at all, am i right?

*sighs*

god save us all. i've barely even started to read it, and i'm already deeply, deeply enraged. hold on, i'll continue trudging through this mofo...

here's some gold from this monstrosity:

"in fact fan culture is highly conservative, and bolsters and propagates male supremacist ideas".

i don't even need to say anything about this sentence. i refuse to acknowledge such stupidity.

"Fanfiction is a conservative and worshipful genre of writing..."

i love when people write about things they have never read. yeah. does this writer even know what "conservative" means? fanfiction is liberal and free-wheeling to the extreme, if it's anything. i don't know many conservatives who enjoy them some quality BDSM stories (at least, not publicly *wink*). because queer characters, mpregs, AUs, crack!fics, and the like are utterly NOT CONSERVATIVE in any way, shape, or form.

and i'm only up to the 3 para... prepare for more ranting and frothing to come... *goes back to reading*

"Fanfic writers pride themselves on their respect for and fidelity to their original source material, and in their writing they rarely, if ever, do anything that questions or contradicts the ideologies underwriting the original texts. As, in most cases, these original texts are steeped in patriarchal ideologies, this means that fanfiction, likewise, is strongly patriarchal and almost always woman-hating, despite the fact that women are now the main authors of fanfiction."

i think i'm still in the introduction, too. wow. if fanfic writers were steeped in patriarchal ideologies, then slash wouldn't exist. if fanfic writers don't question or contradict the original texts, then slash wouldn't exist. because i'm quite sure the creators of supernatural didn't intend for us to write filthy, dirty mansex about the two BROTHERS in that show. nor did they intend vidders to make works like "women's work" or "origin stories", which carefully and thoughtfully pick apart the source material and expose the deficiencies in characterizations and the exploitations of characters of colour and women. do some fucking research, asshat.

i can understand where she's coming from with her argument on how, in a patriarchal and male-dominated society, that men would only view friendships with other men as valuable. this is actually an interesting idea that i never considered, but this person refuses to acknowledge homophobia on the part of heterosexual men in any form, apparently. she's making it sound like all straight men do is have homosocial friendships together and then head out for some women-bashing or rape parties. i'm beginning to wonder if she lives on the moon, or some other strange planet where this is the case...

"To say they are drawing out a ‘gay subtext,’ and to attempt to attach revolutionary potential to this act is highly inaccurate, since homosocialism is one of the foundation stones of male supremacy, and fanfic authors who endorse and strengthen the homosocial relationships of male fictional characters by portraying them as homosexual are committing an act in support of patriarchy, not against it."

i can almost see the logic in this argument, almost. but again, i think that fear of appearing homosexual is an extremely important factor in machismo and most men (in this person's warped and twisted version of earth) will go out of their way to avoid appearing as such by "proving" their masculinity. slash writers remove this entire argument (except in issue fics, of course) and posit a more idealized and libertarian version of earth in which homophobia doesn't exist. which is what i had thought most feminists were aiming for - equality and acceptance. apparently, not so much.

*deep breath* back to reading. (you're getting a blow-by-blow of my reactions to this article, btw.)

"slash fanfiction is a conservative genre written by women who conform to patriarchal ways of thinking, and which is characterized by lesbophobia, homophobia, woman-hatred and severe phallocentricity, both in terms of its erotic content and intellectual ideas."

utterly, utterly wrong. clearly, this person has never heard of femmeslash, which is enjoyed by many slash readers/writers (myself included). and how is slash homophobic? anyone? this just makes the author seem like an idiot, imho. women-hatred? okay, sure female characters are usually inserted as a "threat" to the pairing in question, but slash in no way could be characterized as "women-hating" - i like to think about the lack of women in terms of removing the entire issue of gender relations and sexism straightaway, as a method for writers to create a place that's devoid of these issues (most of the time) and move straight into fantasy, play, and female pleasures. also, i don't know of any gay porn that's not phallocentric. this is again just retarded - stories about male-male sexual relations would be really fucked up if they suddenly started talking about vaginas, don't you think???

here's a long one filled with idiocy:
"Sex is generally portrayed pornographically, with an emphasis on penetration, force and pain, and the overwhelming/uncontrollable need the masculine character has for the feminine character, and the feminine character’s need to be needed by the masculine character in order to have a legitimate identity. Descriptions of sex tend to focus only on the physical side of the encounter, using an excess of violent imagery, and with characters often reduced to a collection of sexualized body parts devoid of emotions or humanity. Furthermore, the same-sex male relationships portrayed in most slash stories have a use-by date: sooner or later most of the characters ‘turn’ heterosexual and get married, it apparently being beyond the ability of most slash writers to imagine anyone actually choosing a non-heterosexual identity permanently. It is evidence of in-built lesbophobia and homophobia, since this use-by date mentality means that same sex relationships in slash are generally portrayed as being illegitimate, transient, unstable, and not able to last. Only heterosexual relationships are capable of doing that, apparently. (As evidenced in the real world by 50% divorce statistics)."

wrong, wrong, wrong. unlike most male-directed pornography, slash is much more focused on the sensual/erotic side of sex. all the theorists who write about slash take pains to point out that it has much more in common with romance novels than pornography because there is more focus on romantic issues, confessions of love, non-sexual intimacy, etc. etc. (see Bury 2005, Jenkins 1992, and a thousand others i can't remember right now). yes, there are some violent fics, but all BDSM fanfic i have ever read pertains to consenting adults. and again, the focus on emotional connection and intimacy remains. (the exception i can think of it yami or x/99, but these focus on the trauma and damage done by rape and usually lead the characters toward a properly loving and fulfilling relationship to move forward.)

also, i can't think of a single slash fic that ends with the slash pairing ending and one or both of the characters getting married in a hetero relationship. seriously, not one. this statement of the author's is just patently false. if anything, the stories usually posit long-term & seriously homosexual partnerships between the characters.

"Women’s sexual desires are never mentioned, and presumably do not exist. No hint of lesbianism is ever permitted."

wrong again. (apparently, i'm on a crusade to systematically debunk this entire article.) women's sexual desires are never mentioned because the entirety of slash fic is a tribute to women's sexual desires. AHHHH SO ANGRY. again, what do straight women find attractive sexually? male bodies. (duh.) what does slash do? depict in loving and eloquent detail the male body, from a women's perspective. focus on eyes, facial features, hair, but also on hips, backs, shoulders, etc. why? because chicks think they are hot. i certainly do. *urge to kill rising* and i already mentioned femmeslash, which apparently doesn't exist for this author.

and apparently, joss whedon is one of those authors "whose primary goal is to bolster patriarchy and male supremacy in all its ugly forms".

WHAAAATT????? the man who brought us one of the most complex, well-drawn, and kick-ass women on television? the idol for teenage girls everywhere as an emblem of girl power? (that would be buffy, of course.) and also his characters on his other works continue to be some of the greatest female characters on television - because everyone knows that zoe, inara, and kaylee on firefly are examples of male supremacy in television, right? FUCKING GOD! i mean, whedon's mother was a noted feminist who passed on all her ideals to her son, and he's won AWARDS from "equality now" for his feminist work--- see this video for his speech at the acceptance.

as for the psychology of slash, the author writes:
"There are thousands of women, all over the world, who, thanks to our wonderful friend male supremacy, cannot relate to themselves as women. They can only relate to men, because only men are considered to be fully human. So they fall in love with the heroes of film and literature, and the ‘geniuses’ who create these texts, and they fool themselves into believing that these men speak universal truths, that they are speaking to everybody and about everybody, women included, when of course they are not, they are only speaking to men in the language of male supremacy that is death and poison to women."

what about the massive communities of slashers? huge global networks that exist online with a primarily female membership, who regularly support, assist, and care for each other through the internet? see also: my previous comments about women's desire for male bodies. it would seem a bit more strange indeed if hetero women all over the world were spending their time writing about lesbian sexuality, don't you think? of course straight women will desire males! i think this author is undermining women's pleasure and desire altogether, denigrating who they choose to find pleasurable and enjoyable. wait a minute - aren't radical feminists supposed to support women's rights to choose their own sexuality? all the women i know would certainly not be pleased if they were told that what they find sexually pleasing is "no good". and in no way are slashers and fanficcers "duped" by the media - most fanfic and vids purposefully and thoughtfully critique and analyze the media for their white heteronormative narratives. (yeah, social theory background!)

"Slash comes about because women under patriarchy cannot recognise their own sexual desires..."

my god, i'm repeating myself now. see the above rant. i can't handle how retarded this is.

"Despite writing about gay men, and sometimes claiming to be ‘for gay rights’ (whatever that means), most women involved in slash communities would choke in horror if they were ever to be mistaken for, or tainted as, lesbian.....but they are not in the least turned on by the idea of two women together....Yet what do we have with slash fanfiction? Hundreds and hundreds of heterosexual women writing erotic stories for each other in order to turn one another on…is it just me, or is that starting to sound a bit lesbian?" [ellipsis added]

wrong wrong wrong WRONG WRONG WRONG again. the slash community contains many lesbians, bisexuals, and other queer identifications. in fact, usually more than the general society (my friend david's masters' thesis on yaoi fangirls demonstrates this statistically). slashers are the most accepting group of people i know on the internet - i can't think of any slashers who would be afraid to be mistakenly identified as lesbian, can you? and where is her evidence of this? i troll LJ every day for several hours as i research vidding communities, and i have not seen a single suggestion or hint at what she is talking about here. also, entire communities of het women writing stories to turn each other on? isn't that what romance fiction writers do? and no one ever accuses them of being lesbians, do they? oh yeah, and again ignoring the audience for femmeslash and the fact that many slashers like both. seriously.

"... I think its [slash's] very appeal to different women across these divides is further evidence of its ultimately conservative nature."

this doesn't even make sense. just people lots of people watch american idol doesn't mean that they are all conservative, does it? what about heroes? or lost? just because something is popular doesn't mean it's conservative. again, this author has no evidence. why don't we turn to look at those scholars who have actually survey slash communities? let's see.... Bury (2005) notes the higher presence of queer self-identification in the Due South slash community, as does Jenkins in his essay in "Theorizing Fandom" (I think 1992). as does david in his master's thesis. and as did i in my fieldwork in the yaoi fandom. people in all of this research also self-identified as feminist, as believers in gender equality, and as liberal. i don't know a single conservative slasher (although they certainly exist, i don't know if any personally). this author LIES and MAKES FACTS UP.


the comments in for this essay also cause me to froth at the mouth in anger. I CANNOT STAND feminists who basically say, "as women, you can make whatever choices you want to, as long as we think they are appropriately feminist. also, we get to decide what constitutes 'appropriately feminist'. also, we suck."


wow, what a way to end my day at the office...... i feel like punching someone in the face now. someone save me from this stupidity.

it's business time

well, now that i've actually pondered some of the things i'm going to actually cover for this thesis, i'm going to have to get down to business. i believe that it's important to connect with your potential research participants and subjects in more than just a superficial manner, and i've made some great friends out of my previous fieldwork endeavours. the only problem is, now i'm a) on the other side of the world, making old contacts a bit harder to reach, and b) doing the majority of my research online with people i'll never meet.

and so, i'm going to make this blog a place for us to connect, shoot the breeze, and to debate and/or make fun of my various insane ideas. i've revamped the sidebars and links sections and hope to have a new layout at some point as well, so here's to the future of this blog!

and here's hoping i make it out of this thesis (mostly) intact.

my next post will hopefully detail a few of the things i want to cover over the course of my writing. 'til then!

thesis topic FINALLY chosen

okay, so i finally had a proper meeting with two professors here at uni about my thesis topic, and it now seems that i will be (honestly and truly) writing my MA on fan music vids.

totally.

and the best part was the two profs seemed really interested/fascinated by the entire topic. i was surprised, let me tell you! there are a ton of aspects of this that could potentially be covered, and they both seemed worried that i would have too much to write about! (awesome.)

i'm super excited about this now, in case you couldn't tell.

a request - i would love to hear about your absolute fav vids (whether amv or vid proper) and why. also, what makes a good vid? what constitutes it? what components are essential for a good vid and why? any thoughts? no need to be too elaborate, but if you have time to share your thoughts, go for it. (links to vids always appreciated.)

some new vids i'm crushing on:

- Lost in an Anime Dream by Hana no JudgeHolden Productions for combining Read or Die with the Lost in Translation flick and footage from the original Madonna vid for the song, and making the city of Tokyo a character. i love how this one collapses boundaries between "real" footage and animation, between the song and the video... rockon. LINK!

- Ordained from Above, by Many Lemons Productions for making a amv about making amvs. i'm still in shock that this even exists, but i love it. it shows quite clearly the crazy dedication and mania that can go into creating a vid. LINK!

- Moons of Jupiter by Eunice (doctor who), because i was just so overjoyed to find a vid that highlighted the rather wonky happiness of who, and was not an angst-filled "ROSE/TEN 4-EVAR OTP!" type of vid. also, i love the licking / monster / running / hugging montages. love. this vid seems to me to be a ten/tardis 'ship vid. or maybe i'm drunk. one never knows. the point is, this vid captures the mad and quirky energy of who.

(also, i can't help but smiled back at scenes 1.44-1.50.) LINK!

- Rodeohead by Absolute Destiny. I've loved this guy's vidding since his early days in amvs. the song can be a little annoying, but if you can get over that then i think the vid grows on you.

- Jack, Or Adventures in Reading Against the Text, by LC, just for being so aware of what she is doing when she makes vids. (also, i like the song.)

- Vids=Joy! by CounterAgent, for having the hutzpah to make a vid about how much she loves vids, using clips from other people's vids that she loves - without actually making any cuts to them at all! craziness. it makes my heart happy. LINK!

- Filthy Mind, by SE. i love the stream-of-consciousness methodology behind this vid, crossing boundaries between shoes at will. i love love love worship the idea of sydney bristow, faith, the life on mars cops, captain jack, angel, and the lot all in the same club. brilliant. talk about collapsing boundaries between shows. LINK!

- Improper Dancing, by Mary Crawford. because it's lovely awesome fun. lovely awesome. the joy of seeing rarely-vidded older shoes, as well! and as she says in her commentary: "hiro wins at life." LINK!

- Walking, by Seah and Margie, for giving a great old mockery towards all who don't understand/know about vidding specifically, and that great series of tubes we call teh internets in general. don't worry, old peoples, it will all make sense one day. LINK!

and thus begins my proper foray into researchy-type stuff. hopefully i'll get this blog arollin' again to be used for actual communication with people in the internets.

so hello again, big world! bring it on

online ethics

see below for some various methods of collecting consent online gleaned from AoIR list:

second life - online digital notecards.

VOIP - email before scheduled interview, and agreed to contents of letter verbally, which is recorded along with the interview. advises against reading consent form aloud as too time-consuming and difficult for interviewee to follow.

mail survey: cover letter and consent form sent out. if a respondent returned the questionnaire, it represented their consent to participate. also an online version where consent form popped up after respondent logged in, and must click to indicate their consent before able to answer any questions.

IM interviews: send out informed consent form with information sheet, and respondents emailed back to say they had read, understood, and agreed to participate.

Skype: emailed consent form - faxed back or scanned & emailed. read a short statement at beginning of interview instead of entire form.

tracking bbc's transmedia

the bbc, apparently, has a mandate requiring them to create extra content and behind-the-scenes items for all of their shows. in particular, see doctor who's website counting down to xmas/the next episode with an advent-ure countdown clock and new items everyday:

1. xmas wishes from tennant/minogue

2. short story - winter themed (fic??)

3. behind-the-scenes photos of new episode

4. companions quiz

5. xmas cards with photos from new ep.

6. extra track from episode "gridlock" of choir.

7. xmas posters (who related)

8. 10 second preview of new episode

9. jigsaw puzzle to review painting of titanic, if complete then get to see RTD's script extract

10. 15 desktop wallpapers with images from new episode

11. behind the scenes video of filming of dvd commentary for episode gridlock

12. game where you fly the TARDIS through time/space collecting energy while trying to get to 21st cen. Cardiff to refuel at the rift.

13. 30-sec vid of cast and crew singing "we wish you a merry xmas".

14. 1.30 full trailer for the new episode.

15. make a christmas tree ornament of one of the villians.

16. 20-sec vid of clips from new episode.

17. "dalek break-out" game.

18. additional features added to comic maker, with festive themes.

19. interviews with executive producer, producer, and creator/head writer regarding upcoming season, etc.

20. preview of upcoming new website design for episodes, with some new content.

21. yet another version of the trailer - 40s.

22. video of actors recording commentary for s3 finale.

23. podcast excerpt from commentary for xmas special by exec trio.

24. screensavers with episode pictures, etc.

25. preview of "confidential" for xmas episode.

thoughts on a thesis

ponderances stemming from a MA thesis by donald jones from georgetown
university on gender/sexuality and identity formation in second life.

- refers to lacanian theory of the self, a postmodern re-imagining of
identity as no longer unitary, but also questions if it exists at all
when it is constantly in flux.

"To Turkle, in virtual space the imago is shattered into multiple
shards, each of which reflect aspects of Self that can be explored by
the user in question for their (theoretical) betterment. To her this
validates Lacan?s thinking as ?Lacan insisted that ego is an illusion.
In this he joins psychoanalysis to the postmodern
attempt to portray the self as a realm of discourse rather than as a
real thing or a permanent structure of the mind? (Turkle 178).
Multiple online persona are simply parts of the signifying chain." p. 76

"the avatar functions as Other, the idealized Other of the mirror in
which the user derives pleasure in the looking", p. 79

the boundary between fiction/reality

...is disintegrating as we watch.

see this post on jenkins' blog under "stretching the canon versus canonical fidelity", regarding heroes and the transmedia storytelling. can now receive text messages, etc. from characters...

i should figure out how to use del.i.cious...

viral marketing masterpiece

i can't believe how complex and detailed the viral marketing campaign for the dark knight has gotten. i love it.

check out http://www.whysoserious.com/, and click on each letter for a different clue for a different american city. fans working together must find letters in each clue and assemble them to make a phrase that will somehow give them some sort of prize.

this is absolutely awesome.

nerd news coverage:

superhero hype
AICN
see also: forum

and check out the sneak pics at "Rory's Death Kiss" - a take on "rory's first kiss", or the code name they're filming dark knight under. ROCKIN'!

impact of facebook

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/hightech/facebook.html

 

expansion of the cool nerd

nbc especially is pushing a number of sci-fi shows this season,
including "journeyman" about a time-traveller, "chuck" about a nerd
who has to save the world, season 2 of "heroes", and a "bionic woman"
remake. suddenly SF is all the buzz again, and shows pandering to
fannish tendencies (esp. "chuck" - living the fanboy dream). see also
explosion of "doctor who" fandom in north america - suddenly
old-school cult shows are also all the buzz.

also plethora of comic book movies in the works - and even indies! "30
days of night", "y: the last man" in pre-pro, etc.

fan vid links

http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/09/gender_and_fan_culture_round_f_2.html

directly relevant to thesis topic with book tips and links to vids.

links collection

New Media Studies

Theory.org

Blogging article

Blogging and politics

"future" documentary EPIC 2014

OnlineFandom.com

Jenkins blog - re: gendering of fandom, rising popularity, mainstream perceptions

corporate sponsors of fannish practices, fostering fan bases, under "HP And the Media Revolution"


all regarding the future of the internet, media, and communication studies

society for the promotion of japanese animation

maybe this group, the SPJA, has something to do with the sudden accessibility and acceptability of japanese pop culture products.

boy's love a positive role model?!?

fumi yoshinaga's moon and sandals has made The Young Adult Library Services Association's list of "great graphic novels for teens"!!! YALSA is a part of the American Library Association, and has published a list of recommended graphic novels for teens, and a large majority of the titles are either manga or manhwa.

see ANN's coverage here.

how did moon and sandals end up on this list? who choses? what is the selection process? and are they aware that this comic contains GAY? this i just cannot believe.

not only have comics suddenly become more respectable in the eyes of "the institution", but the uncontrollable popularity of anime/manga/manhwa as well.

i am literally in shock right now.

fandom as positive pasttime for youth

creators of philly's tandokucon cite one of the reasons for arranging the con was to prevent youth from becoming involved in violence (link here).

this is quite strange, considering that anime is usually considered excessively violent and otaku prone to both self-destruction and harming others.

there is a definite change in the wind regarding mainstream perceptions of fans.

in popular culture, "nerd" characters such as "Heroes" (Hiro), Densha Otoko, etc. may be slightly laughable and piteous, but also increasingly popular (nominated for Emmys, etc.)



Fandom is gaining mainstream cultural capital!!

move over democracy

it's time for wikicracy.

(see article on history of wikis here.

know your fanbase

nbc seems to have finally caught on to that there internet, and is actively using it to communicate and interact with the fans of its cash-cow masterpiece "heroes". the website invites fans to read supplementary comics, write their own works, and make music videos for chances to win prizes, as well as conducting a "world tour" and taking advantage of fandom's internal communication.

see the official website here.

it appears i'm not the only one who noticed

about geeks suddenly becoming not only cooler, but a quality money-maker for the mainstream.

see time's article "geek god".

dark knight's viral marketing continued

once again, and always, covered by our good friends at AICN. taking full advantage of the nerd pilgrimage to comic-con, the deliciously secretive marketing campaign continues.

the appearance of cool nerds

perhaps it is only a wishful thinking on my part, but why does it seem as though, all of a sudden, the geeks, the nerds, and even the dorks have recently managed to become an accepted and even beloved part of mainstream culture?

when did words like "con" and "cosplay" enter the everyday vocabulary? the most popular shows on television now practically require one to become a fan - following the content online, debating cast changes, buying all the associated products...

who is to blame for this transformation in the general consciousness? is it the dvds and their special features? the ability to easily watch and re-watch cult shows from decades past? hear actor's commentary?

or was it the internet, the readily available information on every minute detail of the ppre- and post-production of media, follow the blogs, interact with the creators, influence popular opinion through forum posts?

i really think we have reached a new age of media, where everything is connected, crosses over, and there are no boundaries between genres or formats any longer. some may call this postmoderism, but i hate labels like that.

as i write this, i am pondering gaiman's storytelling while watching koop's rahxephon amv euphoria.