Hola, readers! Long time no see. I'm back again with a rant that has been pooling around my brain for quite sometime and this afternoon I was moved to sit down and write about it. We might be here for awhile so grab a hot cup of tea and a seat.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong here but of all the years I've been on this website (and other fanfiction websites) a large percentage of users, wether readers are writers are female. I have encountered at least one or two males in the MJ ff community in my five years on this site and while male users are in much more abundance on wattpad, not very many seem to be writers of fanfiction. (at least not ff of the boyband, viner and popstar variety)
Chances are if you are a fanfiction writer that identifies as female, you believe that you should be socially, politically and economically (ect) equal to a male. If you do in fact believe this, you most likely identify as a feminist. If this is you then kudos to ya, let's have a toast to the girl almighty!
So this leads me to the crucial question of mine: Why is it that self- proclaimed feminist writers forget all about their feminism when they write fanfiction?
I've been asking myself this question more and more as I continue to stumble upon stories on wattpad and even some on this site. If you don't get where I'm going with this, stay tuned. I shall further elaborate.
Over the years I have noticed a distinct pattern in fanfiction particularly concerning the main girl and her relationships with other women in the story.
When it comes to lead girls they are usually perfect, squeaky clean Mary Sues, rebellious, rough around the edges bad girls or a happy medium of sassy, head strong Miss Independents. Generally in most typical fanfictions, the main girl is either on the extreme Mary Sue scale or the sassy business woman. Sassy Miss Independent seems to be a crowd favorite in the MJ community. Who wouldn't love a main girl like that?
Usually the main girl (and the author) make it clear that the main girl is a feminist. She believes she can do just as much as a man and should be treated well by them. However, the feminism only seems to singular and only exclusive to the main girl. When it comes to other females in the story, feminism is a foreign concept.
This lack of feminism is generally noticed when it pertains to Michael's ex girlfriends or flames, wife(in case of affair) or any female within a mile radius of him. For instance, if a woman who was linked to Michael in his life pops up in the story she is bound to be unfairly labeled as a slut, bitch or whore.
Often times, writers portray said woman( Brooke, Lisa, Tatiana, Diana) as rude, sneaky and selfish, giving the main girl( and the readers) the liberty to call the rival woman such nasty words. I can't count how many times I've read a story (More so on wattpad than on here) where if Brooke or Tatiana pop their pretty little heads in one scene the comments already scream: 'BITCH!', 'SLUT' or "Tatiana better stay away from Michael, she's a whore." If the girl is a Mary Sue, all of Michael's ex's are looked down upon as dirty, seductive jezabells while the MG is a pure example of what a lady should be like.
What I guess I'm trying to explain (and asks) is why do we (some self-proclaimed feminist) use fanfiction as a means to pit other women against each other? Often times, the reader is forced to chose between the main girl and her female rival, one who is unfairly and blantantly more unlikeable than the other. I'm sure you can guess who that is? Never the main girl right?
I get that love triangles are a thing in fanfiction and fiction in general. Characters have been fighting for the affection of the protagonist for centuries but when it comes to women(particularly in fanfiction) I feel like this can be done in a much more tasteful way. You( main girl included) do not have to put other women down just to feel good about yourself. And if you're doing this over a guy, you've got some major insecurities you need to straighten out.
Now this is my number one major concern when it comes to feminism being abused in fanfiction but it is not my only.
Not only do writers pit women against each other, they also break the female bonds(or fail to establish) the main girl has a the story progresses. We all know( and may have written) the main girl who has a cool girl squad that she loves hanging out with and would walk through hell with but as soon as she and Michael get together she forgets they exist. It's happened to me in real life, friends abandoning me for boys. Let me tell you, it doesn't feel good. Or even better, the main girl stops communicating with all the females in her life (mother included) because she's afraid they'll steal Michael away from her. Or even even better, the main girl fights with a friend or sister over Michael and guess who she chooses? Michael!
So much for sisters before misters!
My final point is one I've talked about before: readers and writers condoning abuse because Michael Jackson's name and face is attached. When did Michael Jackson get a free pass for beating women? I can't count how many fanfictions I've read in which the main girl in in an abusive relationship and the readers egg her on to take the beatings and stay with the guy just because he's Michael Jackson or he's so handsome and nice when he's mad. 9 times out of ten if Michael Jackson or Harry Styles or whatever other celeb you want to imagine put their hands on you in an aggressive way, you would leave their sorry asses in a heart beat or strike back. So why is it okay for them to do this in a fictional story? Why don't the rules apply then?!?!?!? Because it's not real? Well guess what ? It's still just as bad and is NOT sending the right memo. If you're going to preach that men shouldn't put their hands on women in real life, let those rules apply to fiction too,for christsakes.
I'm in no way telling you what to write but just giving you a different angle to think about things. If you want to write a story about a biggoted Mary Sue who blindly accepts physical abuse then by all means, do you. I just believe in spreading positivity in writing, as all.