AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGH!

[blamebrampton]

Two HP questions, one polite, one ranty.

To begin with the polite:
Do HP werewolves keep their clothes when they transform, as animagi do? I can't for the life of me recall and the bookshelves are all mid-shift, with PoA under a stack of YA fiction.

To move onto the ranty:
What the HELL are some writers thinking when they write sexual assault as a consequence-free piece of erotic interaction? I can't read this shit. Because I sit there wanting to slap the author.

Note that this is not the same as saying I can't read stories that contain sexual violence. I can, and have, both novels and fic, and some have been excellent. But there is a cost for sexual violence. Hell, even Margaret Mitchell has Rhett Butler consumed with guilt in Gone With the Wind after he drags Scarlett upstairs for a right good rogering while she punches him. There is always a cost.

Why do I rant thusly? Because I have been listening to Shiv and reading the odd spot of het. But, idiotically, not Shiv's own witty and urbane stories. Here's a tip, kids. Have one more Hermione being 'put in her place' with someone's penis and it's very likely you'll find me on your doorstep holding the shattered remains of your letterbox and using them to wedge the door open while I lecture you on why this is not now and never will be a valid authorial gambit.

I am trying to work out some way of addressing this with the writer that doesn't begin with: FEMINISM, it's not just a course at university! HUMAN RIGHTS, not just a T-shirt!

I'm going to stay safely here in the happy little slightly angsty but with authorial acknowledgement that there are prices to be paid gay part of fandom, thanks. Because I will probably be arrested otherwise.

ETA: I should clarify that I am not talking about BD/SM stories, which I am actually fine with. I can even kind of live with the rape fantasy stories where she wants to be dominated (while secretly whispering "It's okay to want to have sex! And it's also okay if you want to be tied up!" at the screen). I am talking about stories where characters are intentionally sexually degraded for no narrative purpose other some alleged titilation.

Comments

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

*Place is standing over the corpses of my enemies, their blood dripping from my axe in a cinematically satisfying fashion.*

*Climbs down from tower of dead to share cookie with you*

[azurelunatic]

I hope their writing will get better soon. Perhaps I should send a card?

"Unfortunately, I was unable to properly appreciate your story because I read the erotica as Hermione being 'put in her place' through rape. While it is possible for me to enjoy pieces with sexual violence, those pieces always show the cost of these actions. I feel that sexual violence should be treated with care and compassion even in fiction, rather than used as an authorial gambit."

[calanthe-fics.livejournal.com]

I suspect you will hate my dark fic.

[empress-jae.livejournal.com]

*retrieves bloody axe from your hands to clean and sharpen for tomorrow*

*bites cookie in half*

i think some authors just feel that having hermione "put in her place" with an assault of a sexual nature just seems to come as a natural reort for a dramatic element in their fic. since hermione IS so practical and would never get herself caught in such a situation. plus most people just want her to stfu. i know i do sometimes in a lot of fic that i read. it's not right, and when i think on it, it's really insulting, but at the same time, it just appears to be the natural direction to go in "what to do with her". ginny too.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Ooh, you're cool headed as well as clever! very nice!

[shoeboxer4life.livejournal.com]

You are clear--I totally agree. You're problem isn't with what happened in the fic, but with the lack of depth in the writing, the lack of consequences, as you originally wrote. Basically, I don't care if an author has a rape without consequences fantasy; it is bad writing (and insulting as a human rights issue) not to do research about power play in bed and do it justice. Ah well. Not everyonbe can be Cal.

[grey-hunter.livejournal.com]

Do HP werewolves keep their clothes when they transform

Ahaha! I think JKR omitted to describe whether or not they lose their clothes - which should point you to the right direction. The books, I think, say that werewolves are like real wolves (according to the lexicon: A werewolf can be distinguished from a true wolf physically by several small distinguishing characteristics, including the pupils of the eyes, snout shape, and tufted tail.), not anthropomorphic like in the movie, and have mostly the mind of an animal, so I doubt that clothes would stay on them for long even if the transformation didn't rip them apart. Fanfic also seems to follow this - I've never read one in which a werewolf would have transformed like an Animagus. (yes, yes, I know it is a bad idea to take fanfic as basis for anything; they also think Draco is a potions genius. *cough*) And it wouldn't make sense with "Muggle" logic, since it is a disease/curse in his blood, not Transfiguration (except if it is on a cellular level). Btw, try asking canon_evidence. (I've asked them a question about werewolves once, but it didn't involve clothing.)

Ugh I knew there was a reason I don't read het. But you have to admit that Snape does "put Hermione in her place" pretty frequently in the books without any consequence for him. And that's not even just bad writing just JKR's choice of characterisation, and I actually like her for that. OTOH, Snape's or Hermione's privates never figured into that.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I suspect that your dark fic will be filled with sexual violence having consequences and its perpetrators having motivations other than ma ho be uppity, need some slappin'.

It's not the violence I hate, it's the way it's handled.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Ah well. Not everyonbe can be Cal.

Couldn't they try? For the children?

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It just makes me bang my head against my bloody axe (on the blunt side). I can even understand the urge to get rid of the girls in slash fic, and I can *even* live with the faithless whiny harridans who seem to turn up frequently, usually on their way to an affair, though I prefer discarded women to be having sex with Luna or the first witch in space.

But in het fic, where the whole point is that there is a girl having sex, why then punish the girl for having sex? GAH! ARGH AND GAH SOME MORE!!

I am going to grow up to be Germaine Greer, aren't I? We have the same birthday, and neatly reversed immigration histories.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That is very helpful!

And you make a fantastic point; why would Snape bother to resort to sexual violence?

I think I need to bleach my brain.

[inamac.livejournal.com]

You know, having just written an essay on HP werewolves you'd think I'd know the answer, but it hadn't occurred to me to check. It also doesn't appear to have occurred to Rowling - she's very cagey about the three transformations at the beginning of Ch 20 of PoA. Remus and Sirius just get covered in fur - no mention of clothes. The only hint is "Harry saw [Pettigrew's] bald tail whip through the manacle on Ron's outstretched arm."

Take your choice...

As for 'healing/titillating rape fic - you would think that anyone with the imagination to write fanfic (or any fic) would think this stuff through. But, alas, apparently not.

I suspect there are a (miniscule number) of rape-fics which are written from experience, and possibly as a catharsis, but that's no excuse for people with no imagination jumping on the bandwaggon.

And now you've made me rant too.

Goes and re-reads Miserable Bastards.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

But those would be rape fics With Consequences. Sigh.

Thank you for the werewolf help, it's helpful! And yes, Miserable Bastards is tea and cake in fic form.

[violetage.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, Rape Fics, as they are called are extremely popular with some women (and I suppose some men too). They don't have any relationship to real reality because the fantasy from which they spring doesn't have any relationship with reality.

You are abolutely right that they are annoying (and one of the reasons I stay away from Het, though you do see some gratuitous rape in slash too). I am not talking about the kind of story where rape is going on but does have consequences but the kind that does not.

I dislike the idea of the "proper place" part most of all. Do people secretly want to return to the days of barefoot and pregnant? Yuck.

But, I do think at least some of it springs from sexual fantasy just like the bodice rippers of the 70's and 80's did and I used to get very angry when the male character would be so mean to the female character and she'd be all "I looove you," *clings to ankle*

Ew.

I digress. But basically, what you said, though I don't think there's anything wrong with sexual fantasy, itself, per se.

[violetage.livejournal.com]

PS. I always assumed that the clothes changed with them but I don't think it was ever clearly stated one way or the other. Maybe JKR didn't want us to think about werewolves with no clothes on.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Yes, the whole where's the line question? I do GET that some reasonable people have rape fantasies, but I just don't think people have sexual degradation fantasies in which their abuser remains the hero of the piece. And if they do, can that be healthy?

We could form a club for disengaging female characters from bastards' ankles!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

SNORT! Yes, you could be right.

[calanthe-fics.livejournal.com]

:D

I know.

Forgive me for prodding your nerve.

:DDD

[empress-jae.livejournal.com]

i don't think that would be a bad idea. just avoid tasting your own mentruation. i don't care how empowering it's supposed to be...that's just gross. :)

i think in our world of fanfic, being that the majority of writers are women, some of us try too hard to downplay the silly girl ideal because at our core, we can sometimes be the silly girl. so to punish our mary sues, we abuse her. it's twisted, but for some reason, others tend to find that this makes some sort of sense.

hell...did that even make sense? it sounded insightful in my head. :D

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Well, I will wear the giant red button shirt ...

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

That kind of thinking leads straight to sparkly vampires if you're not careful!

[empress-jae.livejournal.com]

AWW CRAP. STUPID STEPHANIE MEYERS. GET OUT OF MY HEAD.

[grey-hunter.livejournal.com]

See? I don't think he even has a willy. It burned off when he fell into Fyendfire when he fought with the Marauders/Aurors, and Dumbledore restored him and called him Darth Severus. meep! No, I didn't want to suggest that Harry is his son!

[violetage.livejournal.com]

Well, I think that in a way that in fantasy there has to be no consequences in order for it to remain fantasy so perhaps in that sense, the rapist must be a hero in the fantasy (what a concept) I think this is dangerous in one sense as I believe this is where that notion of, "she was wearing a short skirt, she wanted it." comes from. Or, that the other notion that if a woman is sexually active and/or dresses in a provocative fashion then she must automatically be promiscuous or trashy or slutty possibly springs from.

For fantasy to inform real life is a very bad idea, in that way, especially when the fantasy is so dangerous. It's a bit like having a death fantasy (which some people do). If you can't separate fully fantasy from real life, well...not good :(

And yes, I would love to form such a club!

[violetage.livejournal.com]

*giggle* she obviously had issues with fans thinking about the characters naked and in compromising positions, especially with each other, considering that epilogue!