#i digressed a LOT on this one sorry fhsjfhsjfh

[erros429]

unpopular opinion about your post regarding the idea of "good" representation of female characters (specifically the tags):

its not fandom misogyny that powers the impossible standards, its puritanical values rebranded as progressive values

unless the representation is pristine and pure and devoid of sin, its bad.

its not traditional patriarchal structures that care whether the representation is good or bad -- they dont care, because to them women in media are nothing more than sexy lampposts, and anything that deviates from that isn't worth considering-- its the progressive communities that push for ever better representation, ever purer, ever more sanitized, and ever further from who we really are as people

because the best representation, whether its for female characters, or queer characters, or any marginalized group, is when we are treated no different than anyone else

i agree with a lot of what you’re saying! but i think that push for “better” representation is still rooted in misogyny because that desire comes from wanting to prove ourselves against this system when we only end up falling into it as a result.

i think a good real life example of what i’m trying to say here is that “girl’s girl” trend vs the “pick-me girl” trend. we are so busy attacking women for being pick-mes that we get distracted from the actual system that made those women feel like they need to kiss-up to men just to have value. instead of shaming and belittling women for falling victim to this system, we should be working to dismantle it.

i totally understand what you’re saying with the fact that the overly-progressive folks are the ones that push for this impossible standard of representation, but i still think it is overall rooted in misogyny.

i disagree with your last point though. i don’t think the best (or rather, most realistic) representation is when we are treated the same as anyone else because in real life, we aren’t. the cultures behind marginalized groups are all vastly different from each other and the ways that systems of oppression work within those cultures are different.

conversations on representation are tricky because intersectionality exists. a black man is going to have a different experience with society than a white woman. but even more so than that, a black woman will have an even more different experience with society than a black man or a white woman. and i think talking about your experience with your own identity, and how that contrasts with other identities is important.