I try to browse the scifi/fantasy sites when I get a chance. I don't always stay. With some exceptions, white hyper-masculinity is the norm in much of the mainstream speculative fiction net world. Big turn-off (although, at times, it can work; a lá Lord of the Rings).
I was still surprised when this popped up in my blog reader:
::cringes immediately and backs away from the computer::“Give me a girl,” the king said to me the night he caught me, the wizard-woman of the wood, by trickery and might.
I said no, I mustn’t.
{{trigger warning}}} but if you want, read the rest here. And full disclosure that I'm not a survivor, but I was still triggered, if that is the right word, in the vicarious trauma sense.
I mean...
...whoa.
Scifi/fantasy/horror already suffers from heavy doses of homophobia, racism, sexism and has Eurocentric colonizing tendencies.
We're adding rape fantasies to the mix now too?
I managed to read (very lightly) the rest of the story. It didn't get much better. And although the ending was supposed to be redemptive....
I'm not impressed.
There wasn't anything empowering in it for me.
But I'm me. And you are you.
Read it (heed the trigger warning) and let Waiting 2 Speak know what you think.
3 comments:
That was weird...but yet not surprising.
Obviously there are individuals who carry out the act of rape for the pleasure associated with the power, but one step beneath that are individuals who are turned on by over-powering someone during role playing (thinking S&M) or even choosing to pursue individuals who are vulnerable to them (thinking prof/student or boss/employee). It seems almost likely that ppl would express these desires in writing, which may seem to be the most harmless medium in their minds.
It was a bit creepy for me...all out rape def. crosses a line from dominant/submissive to pain/humiliation/fear...but still not surprising.
"Now"? Unfortunately, rape is very common in the genre, and usually misused. I don't think it was misused in this particular case, but rape as plot device has been around fantasy for quite some time.
@ThummyB. This makes me sad in my heart.
@Tempest. Thanks for stopping by. This makes me even sadder. I guess I've stayed on the woman-centered side of things. Or the prude side, lol.
I shouldn't be surprised either; if these kinds of fantasies/violence are just a part of our society, it makes sense.
But is it more prevalent in fantasy and/or is there something special about the fantasy genre that attracts these kinds of fantasies?
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