blamebrampton: 15th century woodcut of a hound (Default)
blamebrampton ([personal profile] blamebrampton) wrote2008-08-08 11:14 pm

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGH!

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.

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-08-08 03:11 pm (UTC)(link)
If it was straight B/D or S/M, I wouldn't have a problem. But today's read was a vampy hermione happily involved in the sex when suddenly forced into a position of victim who was then overtly degraded with no roles being played, it was all so she'd learn.

To me, that dehumanising can never be erotic.

Power play in sex is a much more subtle and complex issue and has its costs and rewards, which writers like Cal address, and address well and intelligently.

I'm probably not explaining this very well, but I should probably edit this entry to make it a little clearer ...

[identity profile] shoeboxer4life.livejournal.com 2008-08-08 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)
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.

[identity profile] blamebrampton.livejournal.com 2008-08-08 03:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah well. Not everyonbe can be Cal.

Couldn't they try? For the children?

[identity profile] shiv5468.livejournal.com 2008-08-08 05:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Erm, but whilst I like Aresnic Jade, the one you were linked to is where Hermione has been raped by Draco and the consequences aren't really addressed.

These are the ones that I adore

http://tasteofpoison.inkubation.net/viewseries.php?seriesid=1