In which Zin is seriously pissed off.
Jan. 12th, 2009 05:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zinnithThe fandom police strikes again and a talented writer has felt it necessary to friendslock her journal to protect herself from mean and hurtful comments. And all this because she wrote a story that certain people found offensive. This pisses me off in more ways than I can count.
Newsflash for you, fandom: There is only one person responsible for your feelings and that is YOU. If you find a story offensive, it has nothing to do with the writer. That interpretation is in YOUR head. (That is, unless the story is deliberately written to be offensive, which was not the case in this particular wank.)
As writers, we can't let our readers dictate what we write. We can't constantly stop to consider if someone might find the story we are writing offensive, because then nothing would be written. I'm sure someone out there finds penis gourds offensive, so Koteka would never exist. Hell, a lot of people find slash offensive so I'd have to delete pretty much everything fandom related I've ever written to protect the slash haters' precious little feelings.
I have said this before about the show, and now I say it again but this time about fandom. It's not your right to decide what a writer should or should not write! If you don't like a story - well, that's what the back button is for! And if you really really feel that you need to inform the author of your disapproval, you can do it in a nice way with constructive criticism. You do not start big flame-fest and bring all your friends to the party. You do not throw around words like 'misogynist' and 'woman-hater'. That is offensive. It's probably something of the worst you can accuse a fellow sister of being.
So once again, in capslock this time just to make myself extra clear:
1. A WRITER CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WAY HER READERS INTERPRET HER STORIES.
2. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT - DON'T READ IT. LEARN HOW TO USE THE BACK BUTTON.
3. MOST WRITERS WELCOME CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. IF YOU WANT TO INFLUENCE SOMEONE'S WRITING, THAT IS THE WAY TO GO.
So, this rant will probably label me as anti-feminist who supports killing off female characters. To that, I can only say that I'm as much feminist as you. The difference between us is that I know how to use my common sense when reading. Lastly, I don't support killing Jennifer Keller - but I do support any writer's right to do so if they should feel like it.
There, now I'm all finished.
Newsflash for you, fandom: There is only one person responsible for your feelings and that is YOU. If you find a story offensive, it has nothing to do with the writer. That interpretation is in YOUR head. (That is, unless the story is deliberately written to be offensive, which was not the case in this particular wank.)
As writers, we can't let our readers dictate what we write. We can't constantly stop to consider if someone might find the story we are writing offensive, because then nothing would be written. I'm sure someone out there finds penis gourds offensive, so Koteka would never exist. Hell, a lot of people find slash offensive so I'd have to delete pretty much everything fandom related I've ever written to protect the slash haters' precious little feelings.
I have said this before about the show, and now I say it again but this time about fandom. It's not your right to decide what a writer should or should not write! If you don't like a story - well, that's what the back button is for! And if you really really feel that you need to inform the author of your disapproval, you can do it in a nice way with constructive criticism. You do not start big flame-fest and bring all your friends to the party. You do not throw around words like 'misogynist' and 'woman-hater'. That is offensive. It's probably something of the worst you can accuse a fellow sister of being.
So once again, in capslock this time just to make myself extra clear:
1. A WRITER CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WAY HER READERS INTERPRET HER STORIES.
2. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT - DON'T READ IT. LEARN HOW TO USE THE BACK BUTTON.
3. MOST WRITERS WELCOME CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. IF YOU WANT TO INFLUENCE SOMEONE'S WRITING, THAT IS THE WAY TO GO.
So, this rant will probably label me as anti-feminist who supports killing off female characters. To that, I can only say that I'm as much feminist as you. The difference between us is that I know how to use my common sense when reading. Lastly, I don't support killing Jennifer Keller - but I do support any writer's right to do so if they should feel like it.
There, now I'm all finished.
