Fanfiction vs the Heteropatriarchy ⚔️

[bhitttourrent]

The sheer number of women, who found space to examine sexuality and gender in fandom spaces. It cannot be ignored either, how the biased casting and writing of the media plays an enormous part.

[lindensalter]

Some may be shocked to here this but we do indeed live in a society

[RHCole]

Why else do you think they want to ban books? Reading and writing has always been an escape from the world we live in, as well as a way to cope with and spread ideas beyond the scope of it.
I know it's why I'm still alive 👍🏻

[jennifers]

The lean in when Jessica said “heteropatriarchy” is A plus!

[chaoticeiris]

I think it's funny that I did identify as a straight girl (middle school era) back in the day I got involved with fanfic. Over time I discovered. I'm definitely not a girl or woman and neither do I actually like men like that. Like I'm more ace than allo but women/feminine people are definitely more attractive to me than men and as a writer I tend to write characters as fairly genderless soooo lmao. I definitely used fanfic to find myself in this heteropatriarchy normative world and I think more people should talk about it.

[jamesmunro]

I especially enjoy when you start talking about gender,
sexuality, ableism, patriarchal exclusionism and all the rest! You’re stellar, thank you for sharing. I always love it.

[courtney.p.s.]

I was one of those writers, and as a woman that’s also bisexual I wrote stories that included my friends as they were, not the hyper sexual versions everyone tried to say they represented. The early 2000’s were a time to be alive.

[KenikoB]

I mean, just look at how many prominent male characters there are in a piece of media vs female characters. All else being equal you're going to end up with a lot more m/m ships than m/f and especially f/f. Add in that female characters are often not written as well as males and that male/male friendships in media are often more compelling than the chemistry between those characters' supposed love interests and the answer is obvious.

[Lmao_moood]

Honestly, fanfiction is my only source of therapy. They're the only reason I'm as emotionally aware and empathic as I am now. If it wasn't because of how many times a piece of beautifully written artwork has shook my worldview and allow me to keep an open minded mentally I genuinely don't think i would've lasted this long. People like to shit on fanfics, but they just haven't found the good ones yet 😩🙌

[railox]

“surprised you made it this far…” had me rolling

[aflsi]

I love how when jk rowling destroyed her fandom, loads of people who were attached to her world moved to the mauraders and created a space where they feel safe but also she must be seething that her characters became the very thing she hates most

[florabramwell]

As a demisexual straight woman, finding queer romance fiction was such a positive experience for me! I finally found a space where I could enjoy well developed characters and relationships, explorations of different dynamics and gender expressions, and some steamy stuff if I was in the mood 😉 I wish more people would stop accusing straight women of fetishising the queers and reflect on what its like to actually be objectified by society and have real difficulty finding examples of interesting, multidimensional women in media who aren't judged by their sex appeal.
I'm so sick of hetero romance having a female lead who is defined by her relationship to her weight, is quirky for eating carbs, who is basically forced by circumstances into relationships, and who ends up married and pregnant/with multiple kids in a monogamous relationship with a growly possessive man whos traits all scream red flag but are romanticised in novels!
Ugh....its so exhausting!!!! I can't be the only straight woman who appreciates queer spaces as a place where I can actually let my guard down and relax.
Now all we need is more aspec media and my demi soul will be very happy - try being demi in a hetero male space, its an uphill battle 😥

[arcane-drifter]

I used to be a "straight woman" who read and wrote gay fanfic, now I'm a queer transmasc who reads and writes gay fanfic so. idk what my point is exactly but yeah

[Valeria-sxuv]

I am straight woman. I like to read queer funfiction, especially danmei, because 1) I am into dudes 2) romance often is written much better than in straight pairings (without hate between partners... urgh, I remember a lot of stories where abuse was presented as love and it is just... disgusting and sad). As a straight woman I feel a bit weirder about graphic depiction of intimate sapphic relationships (I am not into girls like that, you know), so I just don't engage with content like that. I love romance between girls, though, if it is good written.

Honestly good written romance is nice regardless of gender/race/orientation of the people (or not people, lol) involved.

[victoriab]

I started getting into fanfic in my late teens, right around the time where I had finally solidly accepted that I’m ace. Which was… interesting. As an ace person, I’ve actually found fanfiction a huge source of comfort and belonging, despite and even at some times because of the blatant sexuality - and I’ve had an interesting time analysing that. I think for me, queer fanfic has given me the representation of non-heterosexual relationships and lives that I needed to feel that I could live a fulfilling life despite compulsory (hetero)sexuality. Yet, because of said compulsory (hetero)sexuality, I feel more comfortable reading fics where, if they involve explicit sex, they don’t involve the type of genitals which I have, because I can find myself uncomfortable in my own body if I feel expected to mentally take the part of a character whose body is similar to my own in a sex scene. It’s weird, but it’s my experience. I could imagine that for a straight woman with previous negative experiences with sex, or even just an unfulfilling relationship with sex, queer fanfic could provide something of an analogous experience of comfort in the possibility of something different

[moorflower]

Your vids on subjects as such are exactly why I'm here. I'm an exmormon who has found herself without knowledge of folks outside of the heteronormative. So thanks for helping to fill in the gaps and correct some of that good ol indoctrination

[PhoebeFayRuthLouise]

I absolutely love that you talk about the patriarchy and heteronormative culture, Jessica!

[maribaka]

As a ace demigirl, fanfics are a save space to explore everything for me

[genevarockeman]

I always assumed it was largely 1) using characters for whom pleasure does not seem unrealistic (so much to unpack there) and 2) a relationship between societal equals

[jennifervasquez]

Those commenters are yet another example of why i think there needs to be a bigger emphasis on social sciences in school. It is quite literally impossible to talk abt the history of ANYTHING without political context. History and political science are both social sciences, of course they impact each other, it should not be a shock to find another social science within a social science.