Up Front by Emma Hart

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Up Front: First, Come to Your Conclusion

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  • Andre Alessi, in reply to Lucy Stewart,

    To clarify, are we talking *actual* paedophilia, or US-style anyone-under-eighteen-constitutes-child-porn “paedophilia”? Because that word gets thrown around a lot more than it needs to be.

    Age, as it applies to comic book characters is obviously pretty fluid, but a character like Damian Wayne is generally portrayed as a child of about ten, even in fan art. Tim Drake is generally portrayed about 17, but again I’ve seen younger and older versions.

    Without wanting to defend some of the creepier aspects of that kind of fan art, I feel like I need to make the point that as a rule of thumb it’s a lot less focused on infanitilisation than, say, hentai. The characters being portrayed aren’t used because they’re children, but because they’re recognisable characters. The artwork itself doesn’t overemphasize the youth of the participants in the same way that tentacle-demons-having-their-way-with-Japanese-schoolgirls does. The age of the characters is almost incidental for this kind of thing.

    I feel really unqualified to comment on this topic, by the way, this is just what I’ve picked up from my completely superficial interactions with the comics fan fic/fan art communities. Feel free to assume that my comments are wrong/stupid/etc

    ETA - Reading my earlier comment upthread, it might sound like I'm tarring all fanfic communities with the same brush. That's not my intention at all, I guess this is just another one of those moments where my attempts to understand something from the outside have turned into sweeping statements. With a bit of time, I could probably come up with a more nuanced comment, but basically I think that the few examples of this that I've seen have convinced me there's probably a lot to talk about.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I am surprised by the involvement (or rather predominance?) of straight cis women who enjoy writing about/drawing nominally heterosexual fictional cis male characters having sexual relationships with each other.

    Well, in the context of yaoi manga you’ve got to be highly sensitive to the social and cultural contexts Japanese women (and female manga creators is what’s still an enormously sexist industry) exist in. It’s way too easy to bring a thick wad of privilege bingo cards to the table – and all too often, frankly creepy levels of man-tronage where Japanese women get scolded about not expressing themselves as Euro cis-males (both gay and straight) think they should.

    Personally, it gives me a headache rather than a hard-on but unpacking your privilege is like that.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • 3410,

    cis?

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Emma Hart, in reply to 3410,

    Cis - born with your physical (external) and mental (internal) genders matching, as opposed to trans*.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report

  • Megan Wegan, in reply to 3410,

    cis

    "individuals who have a match between the gender they were assigned at birth, their bodies, and their personal identity". As opposed to "trans".

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report

  • Megan Wegan,

    Hah. Snap.

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report

  • Andre Alessi, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    It’s way too easy to bring a thick wad of privilege bingo cards to the table – and all too often, frankly creepy levels of man-tronage where women get scolded about not expressing themselves as white cis-males (both gay and straight) think they should.

    Absolutely. This is one of those topics where I acknowledge that I'm the outsider here, and that it's really inappropriate for me to be making judgements about what other people should and do enjoy. It would have been nice if Mr (?) Ogas had thought the same-although we'd be poorer one of Emma's threads if he had, so maybe things worked out for the best.

    I do think it's a really interesting (though possibly futile) intellectual exercise to try and understand the whys and wherefores of kinks in general, which might sometimes come across as patronising, so if anyone has been offended by my comments (I realise we obviously have a fair few lurkers here on PAS) I can only apologise for that. Ultimately I'm motivated by curiosity, not judgement.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report

  • Lucy Stewart, in reply to Andre Alessi,

    Age, as it applies to comic book characters is obviously pretty fluid, but a character like Damian Wayne is generally portrayed as a child of about ten, even in fan art. Tim Drake is generally portrayed about 17, but again I’ve seen younger and older versions.

    See, that's....a little unusual, in my experience. It's not that characters who are pre-pubescent in canon aren't the subject of shippy/erotic work, it's that it's usually set when they're, you know, post-pubescent. But, hey, could be I hang out in the wrong fandoms. (For which, in this case, I am extremely not sorry.)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report

  • Andre Alessi, in reply to Lucy Stewart,

    See, that’s….a little unusual, in my experience. It’s not that characters who are pre-pubescent in canon aren’t the subject of shippy/erotic work, it’s that it’s usually set when they’re, you know, post-pubescent. But, hey, could be I hang out in the wrong fandoms. (For which, in this case, I am extremely not sorry.)

    I'd say that the stuff I've seen is probably the exception rather than the rule, thankfully. One of the quirks of engaging with fandoms primarily via Tumblr is that it all gets jumbled up in one feed, and it's easy for something to be presented out of context or misread as having a different context from what was intended. There's also a levelling aspect, where "serious" fan blogs with dozens of posts a day are brought to the same level as one semi-troll who has spent the day surfing the "erotic art" section of deviantart and decided to post something they thought was "funny".

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report

  • 3410,

    shippy?

    Is there, perhaps, a kinky glossary somewhere?

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Emma Hart, in reply to 3410,

    Shippy, from shipping. And I believe we're building that glossary right here.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report

  • Andre Alessi, in reply to 3410,

    The Wikipedia glossary article is long, but it's a good reference document.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report

  • Megan Wegan, in reply to Andre Alessi,

    Thanks to that article, I discovered this:

    Possibly the first modern RPF (predating the term by a considerable margin) was written by Charlotte Brontë and her siblings, who beginning in 1826 created a lengthy series of novels, poems and short stories based on the imagined adventures of the Duke of Wellington and his two sons, Arthur and Charles.

    Brilliant.

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report

  • Carol Stewart,

    from Tom Lehrer:
    Who needs a hobby, like tennis or philately?
    I've got a hobby: Re-reading Lady Chatterley

    Wellington • Since Jul 2008 • 830 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Megan Wegan,

    The Brontes carried the Duke of Wellington fantasy trope further, using a group of wooden soldiers they owned - Bramwell wrote "The History of The Young Men", and Anne Bronte also detailed the relationship between the Bronte siblings and their soldiers.
    A century or so later, Pauline Clarke continued that story with "The Twelve And The Genii."
    A bit off-thread, but fascinating to see stories sparking off other stories before the advent of teh webz-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Megan Wegan, in reply to Islander,

    A bit off-thread, but fascinating to see stories sparking off other stories before the advent of teh webz-

    I wonder what would have happened if the Brontes were alive now?

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Megan Wegan,

    Somewhere in the world, a tiny cloistered group of children is, even now, making up the stories and songs that will...

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to 3410,

    The thing about this thread that strikes me is the enormous gaps in my knowledge.

    Some of those gaps are disturbingly filled now.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report

  • 3410,

    Indeed, Bart.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Andre Alessi, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    Some of those gaps are disturbingly filled now.

    I have seen gaps filled in ways I never dreamed possible.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report

  • Tamara,

    Hey, did anyone notice that Ogas is already cited in a footnote to Wikipedia's Fan Fiction entry?

    New Zealand • Since Oct 2010 • 115 posts Report

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Andre Alessi,

    Some of those gaps are disturbingly filled now.

    I have seen gaps filled in ways I never dreamed possible.

    I think we may need to send Emma a therapy bill

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report

  • Emma Hart, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    I think we may need to send Emma a therapy bill

    As I've previously said, my therapist's name is Ms Tanqueray. Take it up with her.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report

  • Stephen Judd, in reply to Megan Wegan,

    I wonder what would have happened if the Brontes were alive now?

    Ah well, that'd be historical fiction. Interesting, isn't it -- isn't much historical fiction just fan fic that achieved respectability?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Stephen Judd,

    Er, I’d venture to suggest that fiction from the past & historical fiction are 2 different – let’s say, arenas? And that the weird upbringing of the Brontes plus the fact that a lot of their childhood obsessive writing didnt get out into ‘the outside world’ for quite some time, makes them a strange case?

    BUT if you mean by ‘historical fiction’ = past storytelling? Waua! We’re into a wholly different ballgame now! (No puns intended.)
    (Especially given the nature of this thread.)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

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