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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:
==============
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*