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] mabonwitch.livejournal.com 2008-08-08 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Noncon in stories comes in so many different flavors, *sigh*...and my reaction varies depending on mood and pairing. I mean there's "Vernon rapes Harry and Harry has unrealistically uncomplicated and healing sex with Snape shortly thereafter". And then there's "We don't like each other, but we must have sex to save the world!", and the fairly rare "I was raped and now have serious, long-lasting consequences", not to mention consensual fantasies. And dub con, which in my mind is basically what in the real world would still be considered rape, but from our secret reader's viewpoint, we know the victim wants it, really....

And then it's even harder to remember, sometimes, that fanfic is not, in fact, real- that is, the story isn't about Hermione's fantasy, though better writing might make us think so, but rather about the writer's fantasy. And as far as I'm concerned, it's legit to fantasize about whatever makes you hot.