this? oh, this would be a rant.
Sep. 19th, 2007 04:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
twisted_miracleThis is definitely a rant. It is most certainly cranky, but not directed at anyone in particular. Feel free to take it personally only to the extent that it might give you a little something to think about. Please do not take it personally to the point that it offends you or hurts your feelings.
< grumpy >
Mpreg. This rant isn't really about mpreg at all, but that's where we are going to start. I love that someone came up with the idea of magical male pregnancies, because they make a marvelous plot device. Sometimes I write mpreg, sometimes I ignore the concept of offspring completely, and once I actually had Draco make fun of Harry for thinking it was a possibility.
My novel Appearances absolutely required the possibility of mpreg, because the novel started with Lucius making overtures toward Harry for his son. Lucius wouldn't have thought of Harry as a long term way to "fix" the Malfoy name and reputation if Harry couldn't make children with Draco that were genetically from both of them.
But in other stories, such as Have I Kept You Waiting Long? I chose not to allow for the possibility of mpreg, because I wanted Harry and Draco to have to overcome homophobia to be together. (And I do believe that here in the Muggle world some homophobia and heterosexism does arise from the way humans traditionally get pregnant.)
So to me mpreg is a building block of the fic world, to add or remove as it suits my purposes. Of course, that’s not really the issue at all.
The issue behind this rant is that more than once now I have seen comments from someone who feels that anyone with a functional womb in their body must, by definition, now be female. That if I have Harry get Draco pregnant that I have turned Draco into a woman. And that pisses me right the hell off.
Sometimes it truly astonishes me that fandom, a place populated almost exclusively by women with some gay men thrown in, a place so modern as to take place pretty much exclusively on the internet, can be so old-fashioned, conservative and small-minded.
Womanhood does not equal womb. Or motherhood, for that matter. So it really pisses me off when someone tells me that I’ve turned Draco into a woman by getting him pregnant with Harry’s baby. A woman who has had a hysterectomy is still a woman. A woman whose breasts have been removed is still a woman. A girl to whom the universe gave a cock at birth (sometimes the universe has the worst freaking sense of humour) but has known always that she's a girl/woman is still a woman. A woman who can't seem to get pregnant is still a woman. A woman who does not want to get pregnant is still a woman. A woman who births her babies via medical and/or surgical intervention is still a woman. A woman who wants to have sex with other women is still a woman.
And a man, even if I give him a womb, is not a woman.
Physiology does not determine behavior, desire, or the entire inner self.
Biology does not equal destiny.
Question gender.
So there.
< / grumpy >
< grumpy >
Mpreg. This rant isn't really about mpreg at all, but that's where we are going to start. I love that someone came up with the idea of magical male pregnancies, because they make a marvelous plot device. Sometimes I write mpreg, sometimes I ignore the concept of offspring completely, and once I actually had Draco make fun of Harry for thinking it was a possibility.
My novel Appearances absolutely required the possibility of mpreg, because the novel started with Lucius making overtures toward Harry for his son. Lucius wouldn't have thought of Harry as a long term way to "fix" the Malfoy name and reputation if Harry couldn't make children with Draco that were genetically from both of them.
But in other stories, such as Have I Kept You Waiting Long? I chose not to allow for the possibility of mpreg, because I wanted Harry and Draco to have to overcome homophobia to be together. (And I do believe that here in the Muggle world some homophobia and heterosexism does arise from the way humans traditionally get pregnant.)
So to me mpreg is a building block of the fic world, to add or remove as it suits my purposes. Of course, that’s not really the issue at all.
The issue behind this rant is that more than once now I have seen comments from someone who feels that anyone with a functional womb in their body must, by definition, now be female. That if I have Harry get Draco pregnant that I have turned Draco into a woman. And that pisses me right the hell off.
Sometimes it truly astonishes me that fandom, a place populated almost exclusively by women with some gay men thrown in, a place so modern as to take place pretty much exclusively on the internet, can be so old-fashioned, conservative and small-minded.
Womanhood does not equal womb. Or motherhood, for that matter. So it really pisses me off when someone tells me that I’ve turned Draco into a woman by getting him pregnant with Harry’s baby. A woman who has had a hysterectomy is still a woman. A woman whose breasts have been removed is still a woman. A girl to whom the universe gave a cock at birth (sometimes the universe has the worst freaking sense of humour) but has known always that she's a girl/woman is still a woman. A woman who can't seem to get pregnant is still a woman. A woman who does not want to get pregnant is still a woman. A woman who births her babies via medical and/or surgical intervention is still a woman. A woman who wants to have sex with other women is still a woman.
And a man, even if I give him a womb, is not a woman.
Physiology does not determine behavior, desire, or the entire inner self.
Biology does not equal destiny.
Question gender.
So there.
< / grumpy >
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no subject
Date: 2007-09-19 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 01:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-19 10:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 12:41 am (UTC)you can probably blame my ex-lover, the post-op transsexual. (at least in part.) but i suspect it really started during my off-the-deep-end liberal arts college experience a few years before i even met him.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-19 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 01:43 am (UTC);)
no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 12:20 am (UTC)*agrees with you*
Second of all.
*runs to read Appearances AGAIN*
no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 01:48 am (UTC)second of all: gets out of your way!
no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 12:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 01:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 05:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 02:08 pm (UTC)you know, it's lovely to have everyone agree with me, but after some of the reviews i've gotten, i actually thought this rant might be a little more controversial...
no subject
Date: 2007-09-22 03:19 pm (UTC)Distressingly, even though negative and angry opinions are in the minority, they stand out in our memories so much more and they overshadow all the good ones. Don't let the stupid people get you down!
no subject
Date: 2007-09-25 03:11 am (UTC)I'm a bit behind on my flist. :P
I just have to say, this rant rocks my socks. I have recently become very tired of being told it's "sad" that I don't want to have kids. My uterus and vagina do not define me or my femininity.
You know, that paragraph would be great on a t-shirt...
no subject
Date: 2007-09-25 03:29 am (UTC)Person X: so do people assume you're not a woman/feminine because you don't want kids?
Me: I've had people ask me if I'm gay because of it
Person X: oh... i see, really?
Me: yep
Me: plus, there was that guy who couldn't date me because I wasn't a virgin, it made me feel like my "worth" was equal to my vagina
no subject
Date: 2007-09-25 03:52 am (UTC)that's just so weird.
and really, is anyone over the age of fifteen a virgin anymore? (is far too jaded)
was HE a virgin?
no subject
Date: 2007-09-25 03:48 am (UTC)i am proud to have rocked your socks.
and don't let those fuckers get you down. i have three kids, and let me tell you, no one (and i do mean that) who does not really, deeply, sincerely want to raise children, should. this is not like... writing a book, or getting a PhD. having a child isn't a cool thing you do once and then you are done except for the bragging rights. it's a never-ending commitment to another human being over whom you would have essentially total and complete influence. it is not "sad" that you don't want to have children. it's self-awareness. argh. like i'm telling you something you don't already know.
yeah. ranting again, i guess. sorry. :)