fuck that noise

[heathershaped]

So many of you will have read about this handy flowchart, courtesy of Overthinkingit.com, all about female characters and how to avoid turning them into stereotypes. SPOILER ALERT, basically every female character ever is a stereotype, there's only one way to be a strong female character, and if a woman embodies a single trope, she is doomed to be completely worthless and not worth anyone's time, no matter the context, no matter who she is, no matter what she's done. No matter how few of these narratives are geared towards them to begin with; no matter how much THAT is the actual problem here.

Also there are real women on this flowchart too, along with the fictional ones! Being reduced, to tropes. REAL WOMEN. And... this is supposed to be good! This is supposed to be confronting misogyny so that it can be avoided in the future. Because the best way to combat sexism and the oft two-dimensional portrayals of women in fiction (AND IN ...REAL LIFE APPARENTLY???!!) is to make a big-ass chart about how all these bitches ain't shit.

Every time I look at the flowchart I get so angry! So many characters reduced to bare-bones tropes and deemed worthless! Ellen Ripley, Nyota Uhura, Faye Valentine, I could go on! The longer I stare at it, the more fail I find; it's ... it's full fractal fail! It is fail at every conceivable level of resolution! Zooming in on any single aspect of the fail reveals just as much fail as the entity of the whole fail!

And I just hate it SO. MUCH, it, it -- flames. Flames. Flames? FLAMES. ON THE SIDE OF MY FACE.

Heaving breaths, etc.

So I really just wanted to compile a linkspam of things I have seen or read on my f-list, on tumblr, and otherwise that help me to deal with my sudden-onset anger management issues upon looking at that flowchart. Because people have been very eloquent and wonderful, and most importantly coherent, about this in a way I am not managing to be, on account of the flames.

WITHOUT FURTHER ADIEU:

+ Dear Yoko Ono: you shouldn't even be here by bossymarmalade. (Warning: reading this post may induce an urge to send the OP flowers.)
+ rawles and mekosuchinae laying the smackdown over on Tumblr
+ more pwnage by mekosuchinae
+ How can we write when our tropes are burning? by tielan
+ Feminism, and how I thought we'd been over this already by havocthecat (full of more links of awesome!)
+ FEMALE GIF PARTY at irony_rocks' journal - go leave some gifspam! I've been right-click-saving like a mofo.
+ How to be a nuanced male character by dagas_isa

And, now seems to be a good time to pimp the Bechdel Test comment ficathon!

Whew. I feel better already.

's all I got for now! I have some thoughts on Glee, The Good Wife, and Sons of Anarchy, but those are for another post, I think.

Comments

[such_heights]

Thanks for the links! I feel much better also.

[heathershaped]

I love a good smackdown. :D

[glass_icarus]

OMG, H, THIS THING. EVERY TIME I THINK I HAVE RANTED MYSELF OUT, AND- NO. JUST, SO MUCH NO. >:|

... right, off to ogle that ficathon again. That's sure to put me in a better mood.

[heathershaped]

I've known about it for like three days now, and I still quiver with rage whenever I think about. RAAAAAR.