peroxidepirate: (kel/easy way)
[personal profile] peroxidepirate
As I was reading PPF fic this morning, I realized that it seemed like there was a whole lot of guy!slash. And that's cool, because some of it's lovely, and people are really excited about it. And Pierce writes fantastic characters of both sexes, so it's nice to see a lot of the guys getting their due in fic.

But personally, I'm a crazy Pierce fangirl because of the kick-ass ladies -- who don't, typically, play the starring roles in guy!slash.

Then I wondered if maybe I was just noticing the slash so much because a lot of times, Pierce fandom doesn't have very much of it.

So I counted. I didn't re-read while doing the count; I just clicked open every story and looked at the pairing(s) listed at the top. Here's what I got:
  • M/F (including multipartner and multi-pairing fics, if there are both males and females listed in the "Pairings" slot in the header): 18
  • Male (including M/M, multipartner and multi-pairing where all listed characters are male, and male/other (elemental, object, etc): 19
  • Female (including F/F, multipartner and multi-pairing where all listed characters are female, and female/other): 5
Possibly I should have broken down the M/F category further, because a sizable number of those are multipartner fics, and I honestly can't recall how many skew which way, gender-wise. Also, I'm sure at least a few of the M/M fics still feature female characters in key roles, or tell the story from a female character's viewpoint. But still, that's kind of a surprising breakdown for Pierce fandom (at least my familiar corner of it).

Anyway:

This brings me to my main point, which is: PPF needs some more female-centric fics! Het or femslash or female/other; sweet or angsty or just crack-tastic, we need more ladies being awesome. Entries only have to be 500 words, so I figure I can kick out three or four, anyway (plus the two I've already talked about, which are almost done). But I need back-up! Who's with me?

(no subject)

Date: 2010-10-17 09:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] peroxidepirate.livejournal.com
*nods*

And like I said, I didn't break things down beyond three main categories -- I don't want to seem like I'm making judgment calls on which stories are feminist or female-positive or whatever. Obviously there's a wide range -- as there should be.

I'm going to reiterate that I do think the guy-slash is good (and, hell, I wrote some of it too). But to paraphrase something I read recently (either on or via Boosette's journal [ETA dammit why can I never remember the right way to tag an LJ username!?], I think, possibly in a long string of comments I'm too lazy to track down now), "If there isn't enough woman-centric fic, it's not because there are too many stories written about men; it's because there aren't enough stories written about women."

So I think there should be lots of stories about women (whether or not men are also major players in those stories)... especially in a fandom like this one.
Edited Date: 2010-10-17 09:51 pm (UTC)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-10-18 02:58 am (UTC)
ext_11704: (tamora pierce)
From: [identity profile] q-sama.livejournal.com
Oh, I wasn't trying to challenge anything you said, for the record. Just trying to tie it into fandom - we have such strong women that it's hard for me not to include one in my fics. :)

But it *is* something that we should work to change. I think my new goal, once I'm done working on the several fics I have in mind right now, is to concentrate on non-romantic fics about women!

(no subject)

Date: 2010-10-18 03:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] peroxidepirate.livejournal.com
:D

I just worry about coming off as opposed to the guy-centric fic, which is subtly but significantly different from my actual position.

"I think my new goal, once I'm done working on the several fics I have in mind right now, is to concentrate on non-romantic fics about women!"

&hearts Awesome!

My next writing goal, post-PPF, in NaNo. After that, it's anybody's guess. Meep.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-10-18 03:10 am (UTC)
ext_11704: (wyldon)
From: [identity profile] q-sama.livejournal.com
I'm so excited that you're doing NaNo, btw. Much nobler than my next writing goal - Wyldon Winter. :P

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