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The essay making the rounds today...
...is on fandom and male privilege (via ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bastmoon). The thesis is basically that if a community or event or what-have-you does not explicitly cater to male privilege, then many guys (luckily, there's a lot who don't see it this way) perceive it to be actively excluding them, even when the intention to do so was not there.
Those of us who've studied a bit in feminist theory are not exactly surprised by this revelation; it happens everywhere. :D
And since I think half of you have joined me since I last told this story, let me repost what I put in a comment on the essay:
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A year and a half ago, I was in the artists' alley at an anime convention, with my prints spread out on the table. Approximately one-third of them had women in them, the rest are of men in various poses, none over a PG rating (the occasional bare torso; that sort of thing). A fanboy walks by, surveys my wares, and says "Oh you're one of those people." Note that none of the pictures of men had more than one character in them - nothing even hinting at yaoi. This picture of a shirtless Sanzo was about as salacious as it got. However, it seems that if I draw a man as a sexual object, even if there are no other men in the picture, I'm a yaoi fangirl.
He asked me why I drew guys, and I told him the real, true answer - that in class all day I draw women because it's easier to get female models than male ones, and so when I draw stuff for fun, I draw men - and then proceeded to rip into me about how I should draw more chicks and that I was losing tons of money by not drawing chicks.
Except that I was the only person in that corner of the artists' alley to turn a profit that con. The other two next to me, selling pictures of anime chicks - one for $2 each! I was selling at $6 each! - lost money, making less than $50 each the whole con, while I made enough to cover table fees and food for four days (four-day con) and take home a decent profit besides. What makes him think that I don't know my market? Generally speaking, fanboys don't buy art. Fangirls buy art.
As some sort of vague test, I set to work and drew a picture of one of the girls from Full Metal Panic, and made it as fanservicey as possible - arched back, buttons threatening to pop off from the strain of her breasts, panty shot, the works. For three days it didn't sell, and finally the last day it sold. To a girl. Who dragged her mother over to pay for it. Not sure what-all that proves, but it seems to prove something-or-other.
*uses boy-boy snogging icon, though, just 'cause*
bastmoon). The thesis is basically that if a community or event or what-have-you does not explicitly cater to male privilege, then many guys (luckily, there's a lot who don't see it this way) perceive it to be actively excluding them, even when the intention to do so was not there.Those of us who've studied a bit in feminist theory are not exactly surprised by this revelation; it happens everywhere. :D
And since I think half of you have joined me since I last told this story, let me repost what I put in a comment on the essay:
==============
A year and a half ago, I was in the artists' alley at an anime convention, with my prints spread out on the table. Approximately one-third of them had women in them, the rest are of men in various poses, none over a PG rating (the occasional bare torso; that sort of thing). A fanboy walks by, surveys my wares, and says "Oh you're one of those people." Note that none of the pictures of men had more than one character in them - nothing even hinting at yaoi. This picture of a shirtless Sanzo was about as salacious as it got. However, it seems that if I draw a man as a sexual object, even if there are no other men in the picture, I'm a yaoi fangirl.
He asked me why I drew guys, and I told him the real, true answer - that in class all day I draw women because it's easier to get female models than male ones, and so when I draw stuff for fun, I draw men - and then proceeded to rip into me about how I should draw more chicks and that I was losing tons of money by not drawing chicks.
Except that I was the only person in that corner of the artists' alley to turn a profit that con. The other two next to me, selling pictures of anime chicks - one for $2 each! I was selling at $6 each! - lost money, making less than $50 each the whole con, while I made enough to cover table fees and food for four days (four-day con) and take home a decent profit besides. What makes him think that I don't know my market? Generally speaking, fanboys don't buy art. Fangirls buy art.
As some sort of vague test, I set to work and drew a picture of one of the girls from Full Metal Panic, and made it as fanservicey as possible - arched back, buttons threatening to pop off from the strain of her breasts, panty shot, the works. For three days it didn't sell, and finally the last day it sold. To a girl. Who dragged her mother over to pay for it. Not sure what-all that proves, but it seems to prove something-or-other.
*uses boy-boy snogging icon, though, just 'cause*
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sounds like you are doing a great job in manga! bravo!
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Thanks. :D
Okay, show of hands:
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...not that looking at half-nekkid pissy bishies needs any excuse. XD
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Hm. Dunno. Just thinking out loud.
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I just think it stupid to think that if guys like girl/girl, then girls wouldn't like guy/guy. In what universe does that make any sense?
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::stares::
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Hypnotic, isn't it?
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I would have had no idea had I not been consciously looking. Now that I know, I find it more than a little troubling.
OTOH, an artist friend says she once made matching paintings of a man and a woman in armor--the woman sold immediately, the man she had to give away after a couple years. So art showing women selling better was once true--but maybe things are changing?
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I'm running the art show for ConDFW in February. Not that the art show does a whole lot of business, but if I remember, I'll check the relative amount of men and women in the pics on display, and see what sells.
Mind you, artists who've been doing it for more than a year or two have a good idea of what sells for them and tailor the art they hang to fit that, so it won't be entirely accurate, but it's certainly worth looking for. (and I may find that dragons sell more than men and women combined.)
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I note, too, that while there are many more girls and women attending general SF/F cons than there used to be, the aforementioned one-and-only anime con I've been to appeared (from my middle-aged male perspective, at least) to be a veritable *ocean* of teengrrl hormones. So it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the sales patterns are different for the two fandoms.
I certainly agree that while males may LOOK at a great deal of the art, females are considerably more likely to BUY it.
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Now, I make jokes about yaoi and slash a lot, and if someone whose taste I trusted recommended a yaoi book to me, I'd read it, but I'm not obsessively haunting the bookstores waiting for Tokyopop's Blu line to debut. I don't consider myself a slasher, either.
The reason Project Blue Rose is BL* is that when
Obviously, if I objected to it, I wouldn't be doing it, but I really seek out books based on characters than on the genre - I'll read just about anything if I can fall in love with or be intrigued by the characters (this goes for books and movies as well, not just manga and anime). Same goes for fanfic - I seek it out based on the characters that appear in it, and if the writer can stay in character, I'll happily read whatever cracktastic pairing they can come up with, gender be damned.
* Boys' love, if anyone out there doesn't know that yet - 'yaoi' tends to imply graphic sex, while BL doesn't.
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Actually, I might consider myself a fan if it weren't for that damn seme/uke dichotomoy which DRIVES ME UP THE FUCKING WALL because, by God, if there's going to be power play dynamics, they're much more interesting if you've got two seme types clashing. that thought sparked by your icon XD And the gender is less important than the personalities in that case - Alucard/Integra is just as hot as L/Light. But as long as so much of yaoi consists of seme/uke type dynamics ... I won't consider myself a fan, just an occasionally appreciative reader.
I think that distictions important to me because people assume things about what yaoi fans are looking for and responding to, and that's not what I respond to. Same as with SF fandom - I usually take pains to describe myself as a lit SF fan rather than just plain old SF fan, because everyone assumes you're a Trekkie if you say you're an SF fan, and I actually rather loathe Trek, and can take or leave most media SF.
I like Project Blue Rose because I like the characters and their dynamics (even more so after I prodded
and there will be no weepy uke scenes ever!no subject
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So basically, it just goes to show that male or female, if it's good art, it will sell. And that guy just needs to pull the Yaoi paddle out of his ass.
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Also, I got the imps you sold me today! They are wonderful. I haven't decided whether or not Les Infortunes is for me, though it's a very subtle scent, but I love Strumpet to pieces and will be watching that company. So thanks!
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Glad they worked for you! I just got a sample pack of all six scents
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Heck, those of us who read the news every Christmas know that... All these crazy!Christians whining that they're being "persecuted" by store clerks who say "Happy Holidays!" instead of "Merry Christmas", or, god forbid, town squares decorated with wintery or multicultural displays instead of nativities.
*sighs*