Venting

[teyla]

Okay, internet. ENOUGH with the heterosexual privilege fail.

Ever since this post went up at doctorwho, it reminded me to actually pay attention to how much heterosexuality is accepted as the only valid norm in all parts of western society, and good lord. It's making me tired.

Sure, you can be gay, as long as you act according to the norm. Nobody really cares about what you do in your bedroom, but don't you dare disrupt people's views of what men should be and how they should act, of what women should be and how they should present themselves. And this isn't even limited to people with a heterosexual orientation. Enough queer people are of the opinion that hey, as long as you don't get beat up on street corners for being with a same-sex partner, it's absolutely fair that you keep your head down and adapt to the heterosexual norm. Because anything else would create conflict, and gosh, we can't have conflict.

Yes, there are mistakes being made on both sides. That's because queer people as well as straight people are people, and people make mistakes. But to reach true equality, the queer community has to become a visible part of all aspects of society, and that won't happen if the they keep to themselves and adapt to the norm in order to avoid conflict.

And sexism isn't a thing of the past, either. Look at the representation of women in Hollywood movies; there's sexism for you, no matter if this is the 21st century or not. And no, don't shrug and say, well, they're Hollywood movies. They're the side of the media that's shaping the images that our society draws its norms and standards from, which means that if you want the images to change, the media needs to change first. And it won't do that unless the minorities keep pointing out that yes, they actually would like to be represented equally and fairly.


comment on LJ

Comments

[petrichor-fizz.livejournal.com]

While I agree with a lot of what you're saying, I have major problems with that post. First of all there seems to be an assumption that having children precludes being queer, and second of all I think it ignores a lot of subtext - to give one example, between the Doctor and Van Gogh. I also think that conflating what was essentially, in the Vampires of Venice, rape and torture as a means to the propagation of a species with heterosexuality is... kind of insulting, actually.

Sorry to argue all over your rant, I know you probably just wanted to blow off steam, it's just I can't comment on the post because I'm not a member.

[choukoumei.livejournal.com]

I read that post but never really bothered commenting. But you know, it did get me thinking.

The overly white, hetero-normative, patriarchal, etc etc views in Sci fi don't really make sense. In the case of Doctor Who- sure, if we're talking earth past, have the views of the time represented, but if we are talking the future of humanity and alien societies, shouldn't other forms of thinking be present?

I know sexuality is "not the point" in DW, but certainly it's okay to have throw away characters or throw away lines that elude to the gay, the bisexual, the asexual, the transgendered and all sorts of orientations and sexualities that we may have never even heard of because it's specific to an alien species.

I think overall Hollywood thinks people are a lot more homophobic, racist and sexist then we really are. I'm not saying people aren't all those things, but I think if people in the deep south of the United States were capable of watching Will & Grace then we can sneak in a bit more diversity in our media

[daphnie_1]

I actually will say that I think it's one of Moffat's failings this season. He had a chance to continue with representing a wide spectrum of sexualities and it makes me sad - and a little angry - that he didn't do so.

ESPECIALLY since this is a BBC show. Diversity is part of the charter!

I avoided the coments in that post for the most part and will continue to do so :/ I read the post and it actually made some really interesting points - namely the difference between text and subtext. I think sometimes I get so hung up on the subtext that I forget these things aren't explicitly stated. (You make a point in one of the other comments about Doctor/Vincent. I saw it, but it wasn't TEXT).

*edited for clarification.

I also didn't notice the thing with River. Hm. I don't know what to make of that.

I've been thinking about that and your right - subtext is NOT the same as text, and it's not proper representation.

[hibernia1.livejournal.com]

But to reach true equality, the queer community has to become a visible part of all aspects of society, and that won't happen if they keep to themselves and adapt to the norm in order to avoid conflict YES YES YES THIS!

I don't understand "norms". I have this total lack of ability to understand what's deemed "acceptable" and what isn't. I just go with what I think is acceptable, and my own standards are pretty simple: do whatever you want as long as you respect other people, don't hurt other people, and can look at yourself in the mirror, and treat people the way you want them to treat you. Obviously, I'm too basic/simple for this world...

Did you know people have images in their head of how cripples should act as well? It's fascinating. It turns out, I do loads of stuff I shouldn't be doing as a cripple.

I'm not making a point at all. So sorry, T'eyla. It all comes down to me agreeing with your point of view, basically.