Hello, I just came over from the link on daily_snitch, and wanted to put my two cents in on the topic of feminizing characters in slash. (I can't really remember where this came up in the responses, so i'm just starting a new thread)
I think the "slashy" feeling might come from the fact that male characters are thrown into a female archetype without that switch having greater meaning in the story. Or, to put it another way; the male character is filling what would be considered the woman's role, but there is no further reason for that in the story. The reader comes with a set of expectations from all the literature that they've read through their life, and the expectations about the slashed character are broken... instead of acting like the man in a relationship, he becomes the 'woman'... either because he is objectified or courted, or fills a literary role traditionally given to women.
However, the (negative) feeling that the story is "slashy" comes, I think, from the fact that the switch is not the main focus of the story -- The author is taking a bold step in violating the expectations of the reader, but then continuing on as if it were natural, instead of creating a subtext story... letting the role violation follow it's own story arc in the background.
Well, I know this all sounds pretty pretentious, but I'm an English major, and am currently writing a paper for my "Masculinity in Film Noir" class, so I don't think I can really explain more simply... *ponders*
Thank you for bringing up this discussion, though. I think it's very thought provoking.
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Date: 2004-11-16 10:32 pm (UTC)I think the "slashy" feeling might come from the fact that male characters are thrown into a female archetype without that switch having greater meaning in the story. Or, to put it another way; the male character is filling what would be considered the woman's role, but there is no further reason for that in the story. The reader comes with a set of expectations from all the literature that they've read through their life, and the expectations about the slashed character are broken... instead of acting like the man in a relationship, he becomes the 'woman'... either because he is objectified or courted, or fills a literary role traditionally given to women.
However, the (negative) feeling that the story is "slashy" comes, I think, from the fact that the switch is not the main focus of the story -- The author is taking a bold step in violating the expectations of the reader, but then continuing on as if it were natural, instead of creating a subtext story... letting the role violation follow it's own story arc in the background.
Well, I know this all sounds pretty pretentious, but I'm an English major, and am currently writing a paper for my "Masculinity in Film Noir" class, so I don't think I can really explain more simply... *ponders*
Thank you for bringing up this discussion, though. I think it's very thought provoking.