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I'm not sure if this quite constitutes a "rant" or not...
It's just something that's been vaguely bothering me in perusing episode reactions over the last few weeks -- well, all right, over the last few years to be honest, but it's been more noticeable lately for some reason. It has to do with objections to the way men are characterized on SGA.
Basically, it appears that at least some of the fandom object to the guys of SGA being depicted as, well, guys: divvying up alien princesses, competing to impress a girl and the like.
I hate to tell you folks, but this not only reads as perfectly normal guy behavior to me, but it is just the very tip of the iceberg -- if anything, SGA is sanitizing for television like whoa. I've had plenty of opportunity in my life to observe men of all ages in their natural habitat, i.e. sans women (or at least women they felt like censoring themselves around), and, yes, I can pretty much assure you that most of your boyfriends, husbands, brothers, and male friends really do get together amongst themselves and rate women based on breast size, compete over who has the biggest/best/most guns/cars/other male status symbols, show off in stupid ways to attract the attention of the nearest female thing, make goddawful sexist jokes, and so forth.
And, no, it's not just blue-collar guys that do this -- geeks are just as bad, if not worse. Just more erudite about it. *g*
I'm not sure if the basic objection is the belief that men don't really do this, or if fandom is well aware that men do it and the characters are probably doing it off-camera but we just don't want to see them do it. And I'll fully admit that there's a definite gender imbalance in the way that sort of thing is depicted -- i.e. most women are just as crude amongst themselves and objectify men just as badly (*cough*FANDOM*cough*), but it's not something you typically see on a show like SGA. (This was one of the reasons I liked Trio so much; we finally got to see the women doing a little of that!) But I guess I run into the Wall of Bafflement when I start seeing the implication that the writers of SGA are doing something wrong for depicting their male characters acting like just about every man I've ever known. Maybe I'd be able to see the point more easily if the boys of SGA mistreated women, or had trouble taking orders from women, but they don't; John, for example, seems to have a perfectly easygoing friendship with Teyla, and no trouble at all accepting Elizabeth or Sam as his boss. (Well, no more trouble than he does with any authority figure.) The one real exception I can think of is Rodney's dismissive attitude towards Sam, but it's not specifically her -- he's just the same way with Zelenka or any other scientist around him, regardless of gender.
I guess I'm also hugely biased because I actually like SGA as, basically, the Red Green Show in space. That's a big part of its appeal for me -- I crack up watching grown men behaving like the little boys that I am absolutely positive my husband and all my male relatives would turn into if you gave them a spaceship and a big box of alien robot parts. I can certainly recognize that this might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I don't want my guys sanitized and watered down, and I get a little knee-jerky defensive of them, especially since they don't seem to have any behavioral problems other than acting like overgrown adolescents as soon as the womens' backs are turned, which is exactly what most of the guys I've known do, too.
(Though I could totally go for more of the girls being girls, as well as the guys being guys.)
Basically, it appears that at least some of the fandom object to the guys of SGA being depicted as, well, guys: divvying up alien princesses, competing to impress a girl and the like.
I hate to tell you folks, but this not only reads as perfectly normal guy behavior to me, but it is just the very tip of the iceberg -- if anything, SGA is sanitizing for television like whoa. I've had plenty of opportunity in my life to observe men of all ages in their natural habitat, i.e. sans women (or at least women they felt like censoring themselves around), and, yes, I can pretty much assure you that most of your boyfriends, husbands, brothers, and male friends really do get together amongst themselves and rate women based on breast size, compete over who has the biggest/best/most guns/cars/other male status symbols, show off in stupid ways to attract the attention of the nearest female thing, make goddawful sexist jokes, and so forth.
And, no, it's not just blue-collar guys that do this -- geeks are just as bad, if not worse. Just more erudite about it. *g*
I'm not sure if the basic objection is the belief that men don't really do this, or if fandom is well aware that men do it and the characters are probably doing it off-camera but we just don't want to see them do it. And I'll fully admit that there's a definite gender imbalance in the way that sort of thing is depicted -- i.e. most women are just as crude amongst themselves and objectify men just as badly (*cough*FANDOM*cough*), but it's not something you typically see on a show like SGA. (This was one of the reasons I liked Trio so much; we finally got to see the women doing a little of that!) But I guess I run into the Wall of Bafflement when I start seeing the implication that the writers of SGA are doing something wrong for depicting their male characters acting like just about every man I've ever known. Maybe I'd be able to see the point more easily if the boys of SGA mistreated women, or had trouble taking orders from women, but they don't; John, for example, seems to have a perfectly easygoing friendship with Teyla, and no trouble at all accepting Elizabeth or Sam as his boss. (Well, no more trouble than he does with any authority figure.) The one real exception I can think of is Rodney's dismissive attitude towards Sam, but it's not specifically her -- he's just the same way with Zelenka or any other scientist around him, regardless of gender.
I guess I'm also hugely biased because I actually like SGA as, basically, the Red Green Show in space. That's a big part of its appeal for me -- I crack up watching grown men behaving like the little boys that I am absolutely positive my husband and all my male relatives would turn into if you gave them a spaceship and a big box of alien robot parts. I can certainly recognize that this might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I don't want my guys sanitized and watered down, and I get a little knee-jerky defensive of them, especially since they don't seem to have any behavioral problems other than acting like overgrown adolescents as soon as the womens' backs are turned, which is exactly what most of the guys I've known do, too.
(Though I could totally go for more of the girls being girls, as well as the guys being guys.)
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I certainly don't believe that we have to all hold hands and sing kumbayah and like a character just because she's a woman (in fact, I feel pretty strongly that this *isn't* true -- there shouldn't be an extra penalty for disliking a female character just because she's female). There are some female characters that I don't really like (e.g. I never liked Elizabeth all that much -- though, in that case, I've warmed up to her a great deal now that she's gone, and I miss her) and I hate the thought of fandom standing over my shoulder, accusing me of sexism for having my own character likes and dislikes. That doesn't seem like a positive outcome to me, and this is one reason why I'm trying not to change people's minds about Keller -- I wouldn't want that kind of pressure on me. But the character hate is just so ... prevalent, which seems utterly bizarre to me considering what an innocuous character she is. And it's closely paralleling what happened with Katie Brown, where, again, a character was rampantly hated by fandom for (as far as I could tell) no particular reason other than being involved with Rodney.
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(You're not going to alienate me, obviously, as long as I don't alienate you with my semi-unreasonable biases? *hugs*)
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In light of this comment, I wonder if this isn't one of those situations where we notice the other side more than our own! I mean, to me it seems like the Keller hate is everywhere, but maybe that's just because it conflicts with my reading of the show. Whereas you're noticing the squee for the same reason. In reality, there's probably a lot of both out there. I got a fair number of comments on my Keller/Rodney story -- more than I was expecting, though not as much as I usually get on my gen stuff. And
I just hope the whole fandom can get through these last ten or so episodes without hating each other. *g* For what it's worth, given how shippy their big "shippy" episode (Tracker) turned out to be -- which is to say, not very at all -- I honestly don't expect that we'll get much more shippiness during the rest of the season. Of course, I can't say for sure, not having read any spoilers (DON'T TELL ME) but I'm reasonably confident that we'll end the season in much the same place that we started off. At least ... I hope we do, though I'm really in a headspace right now where I'll be able to happily roll with almost any ending that they give us.
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I think you're totally right about this. And I think, too, that you've probably got more reason to feel under pressure - it seems to me there are overall more anti-Keller/McKeller than pro- fans out there. It's just the ones I like best are on your side! XP And your position is the better one to have - it's the position the TPTB are writing for, obviously, and it makes for a more enjoyable watching experience. Truly, honestly, I'd switch sides if I could, emotionally. ^^;
I got a fair number of comments on my Keller/Rodney story -- more than I was expecting, though not as much as I usually get on my gen stuff.
I haven't been getting as many comments to my stories, either (gen or slash); maybe I'm just not writing the right stuff, but it seems the fandom's in a bit of a dip?
I'm reasonably confident that we'll end the season in much the same place that we started off.
That's what I want, more than anything, and that we might not get it worries me a lot...I don't have spoilers, just fears. (Stupid Mallozzi and his stupid season of romance! XPPP)