I saw the comments other people have been making recently, and I almost went and ranted similarly in my own lj. I still might. I hate the attitude that the only characters who can be secretly gay are those that are pretty, exotic looking and rich. You're right about there being no real canon support for homosexuality, but even if one is looking for subtext, Ron sets off my gaydar more than any other character. When I say this, fandom people usually react with extreme surprise, but it's the truth. Why? Because Ron is one of the angriest and most unnecessarily frustrated characters. In my real life experience, people often release the pressures of being closeted not through angst and declarations of eternal love, but through anger and irritating behavior.
I find the general fandom attitude to be both homophobic and classist. Homophobic because it claims that real gay men are the same as figures from the fantasy lives of straight women (yes, other people do write 'slash', but it is still largely written by women and I hope none of the queer ones are this confused). No, Ron isn't real, but by assuming an orientation for a character who is not fleshed out enough to have a sex drive and by stating that one can tell, categorically, that he is straight, he occupies a similar position to that of a real person.
The attitude is classist because it assumes that homosexuality is a vice of the rich, a stereotype with a long and illustrious history to be sure, but still a stereotype.
Normally, I don't get upset by the divergences between women's fantasy lives and real male homosexual practice. After all, there is no reason that they should coincide. However, when people try to reconcile the two, I take exception to the fantasy having precedence over the reality. Sure, black hair and white blond are more symbolic and ethereal than anything and carrots, but I don't want to see that applied to people's conception of genuine sexual orientation.
In addition, I find the implication that I am insane for wanting to slash a character like Ron most distasteful. H/D exists only in the minds of those who write/read/ship it and that is perfectly fine, but it is equally valid for me to construct a different subtext from the canon.
Thank you so, so much!
Date: 2003-01-25 09:16 pm (UTC)I find the general fandom attitude to be both homophobic and classist. Homophobic because it claims that real gay men are the same as figures from the fantasy lives of straight women (yes, other people do write 'slash', but it is still largely written by women and I hope none of the queer ones are this confused). No, Ron isn't real, but by assuming an orientation for a character who is not fleshed out enough to have a sex drive and by stating that one can tell, categorically, that he is straight, he occupies a similar position to that of a real person.
The attitude is classist because it assumes that homosexuality is a vice of the rich, a stereotype with a long and illustrious history to be sure, but still a stereotype.
Normally, I don't get upset by the divergences between women's fantasy lives and real male homosexual practice. After all, there is no reason that they should coincide. However, when people try to reconcile the two, I take exception to the fantasy having precedence over the reality. Sure, black hair and white blond are more symbolic and ethereal than anything and carrots, but I don't want to see that applied to people's conception of genuine sexual orientation.
In addition, I find the implication that I am insane for wanting to slash a character like Ron most distasteful. H/D exists only in the minds of those who write/read/ship it and that is perfectly fine, but it is equally valid for me to construct a different subtext from the canon.