tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056856626386621924.post6289459796512796401..comments2024-03-17T08:08:37.486-07:00Comments on SciFiMagpie: That Feminist PostMichelle Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10561217699860189278noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056856626386621924.post-24866727840000682312012-08-02T05:09:01.019-07:002012-08-02T05:09:01.019-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Ian Rideouthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14763413598393896132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056856626386621924.post-88946597796960077912012-05-30T12:36:46.628-07:002012-05-30T12:36:46.628-07:00I'm going to have to agree with everything you...I'm going to have to agree with everything you just said. Especially about the moral message--if you have to have it hammered into your skull, the author hasn't done a very good job. Ayn Rand comes to mind here--I read "The Fountainhead" some time ago, and it was...a unique experience, let's call it that. Her message was so hopelessly blunt that any content in the story was rendered irrelevant. I hated reading it so much, I enjoyed it; I wish I could say the same of a lot of uberfeminist stuff. <br /><br />And I definitely agree with your suggestion on casts--the use of the Beschdel is just a handy way for people who go, "naahhhh...the world of film is mostly fine, isn't it?" to really see what's wrong. I know it changed my perspective, that's for sure. And yeah, a movie can still be good if it fails the Beschdel, but it is pretty unnerving to think about how few films pass it.Michelle Brownehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10561217699860189278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6056856626386621924.post-65152956088700754272012-05-30T00:31:22.024-07:002012-05-30T00:31:22.024-07:00I think part of the reason feminism gets bad press...I think part of the reason feminism gets bad press sometimes is because some representations of feminism get all preachy and heavy-handed with it. People tend to get annoyed when a moral message/theme in a work is made too obvious and up-front, and I'd have to count myself among them. I'm under the belief that if you're going to have a moral message, a degree of subtlety is needed. The message can still be easy to interpret and doesn't need to be anything obscure, but the work should still be able to function as a good novel or painting or whatever it is for the people who don't actually pick up on the message.<br /><br />I read this novel series by Tamora Pierce once. I liked it at first, but the feminist themes got so excessive and over-the-top that I eventually stopped reading. I was like, "Yeah, I get it. Women deserve equal rights too. Stop hammering it into my head!". Apparently she almost always makes her lead characters female to help combat the Smurfette Principle. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but I can't help but feel she's trying too hard to push her message across.<br /><br />I don't think stories featuring all-male casts (or all-female, for that matter) are a bad thing, but unless the creators are specifically trying to deal with masculine themes, they should just start adding in more female characters and treating them with the same depth and respect they do with their male characters, but otherwise not calling attention to it. That would be a better way to fight the Smurfette Principle/Beschdel Test, methinks.<br /><br />Also, that menstrual blood painting you linked to is more than a little unsettling. :PIan Rideouthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14763413598393896132noreply@blogger.com