So, in no particular order, the reason I class SGA as male is because both the show and large swaths of fandom are about the male characters - Mostly Sheppard and McKay. And (this is a big and) the show itself is very male-oriented -- aliens, guns, the military, action. I should caveat this by saying I'm not counting myself as being priced out of the show by dint of my being a chick - I like action and guns and the military, but I still consider these to be more male-oriented of my interests.
More on this area - in my readings and in my interests, I do cast the male/female markers about without putting any positive/negative weight on them. It might be my French language background, but to me, things can be masculine (le soleil) or feminine (la chat) as a matter of nomenclature. True, a lot of these things are historical and culturally weighted (military is for men, as one gross example) but it's more of a mental shortcut for me.
Same thing with NCIS. A male cast and male relationships, about cops and crime.
Now that I give this more thought, I think I tend to case action-oriented shows as more male (crime shows, sci fi show) and relationship shows as more female. Buffy is actiony, but with such a high female cast it's more female in my mind.
The femmeslash thing... I dunno. I think I saw it somewhere that one of the reasons straight female authors can write male slash because it's really about where their interests lie (men having sex) whereas femmeslash isn't in their areas of interest so it's less interesting. The flip of why men like lesbian porn but not gay porn.
As for the women characters I write - they tend to have a lot of unexpressed backstory I want to explore (Ziva in Agent Afloat Atlantis), or have growth potential I want to exploit (Rory in Physics of the Spin). All the characters I write are strong, or at least they are when I write them. I cannot abide uninteresting people (in fics, shows or life). If a character is written drably but played well, I do focus on them (like Elizabeth in SGA -- she wasn't really all that exciting in the first season, but I could watch Torri watch paint dry) to a certain extent.
One reason I pick strong characters is because I write crossovers -- I don't have the time or the energy to make them better people on screen. I need them up and running when the buzzer sounds.
I will provide interesting characters with backstory if I find them interesting, and that is usually because there's a spark of something there (hidden backstory) or the actress makes the character interesting (Jenny on NCIS for example... not really the most sympathetic character... well, ever, but I really liked how Lauren Holly played her and the power struggle with Gibbs onscreen)
and OMG I can go on. Have I cleared things up or am I making things incoherent?
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-08-27 10:53 pm (UTC)So, in no particular order, the reason I class SGA as male is because both the show and large swaths of fandom are about the male characters - Mostly Sheppard and McKay. And (this is a big and) the show itself is very male-oriented -- aliens, guns, the military, action. I should caveat this by saying I'm not counting myself as being priced out of the show by dint of my being a chick - I like action and guns and the military, but I still consider these to be more male-oriented of my interests.
More on this area - in my readings and in my interests, I do cast the male/female markers about without putting any positive/negative weight on them. It might be my French language background, but to me, things can be masculine (le soleil) or feminine (la chat) as a matter of nomenclature. True, a lot of these things are historical and culturally weighted (military is for men, as one gross example) but it's more of a mental shortcut for me.
Same thing with NCIS. A male cast and male relationships, about cops and crime.
Now that I give this more thought, I think I tend to case action-oriented shows as more male (crime shows, sci fi show) and relationship shows as more female. Buffy is actiony, but with such a high female cast it's more female in my mind.
The femmeslash thing... I dunno. I think I saw it somewhere that one of the reasons straight female authors can write male slash because it's really about where their interests lie (men having sex) whereas femmeslash isn't in their areas of interest so it's less interesting. The flip of why men like lesbian porn but not gay porn.
As for the women characters I write - they tend to have a lot of unexpressed backstory I want to explore (Ziva in Agent Afloat Atlantis), or have growth potential I want to exploit (Rory in Physics of the Spin). All the characters I write are strong, or at least they are when I write them. I cannot abide uninteresting people (in fics, shows or life). If a character is written drably but played well, I do focus on them (like Elizabeth in SGA -- she wasn't really all that exciting in the first season, but I could watch Torri watch paint dry) to a certain extent.
One reason I pick strong characters is because I write crossovers -- I don't have the time or the energy to make them better people on screen. I need them up and running when the buzzer sounds.
I will provide interesting characters with backstory if I find them interesting, and that is usually because there's a spark of something there (hidden backstory) or the actress makes the character interesting (Jenny on NCIS for example... not really the most sympathetic character... well, ever, but I really liked how Lauren Holly played her and the power struggle with Gibbs onscreen)
and OMG I can go on. Have I cleared things up or am I making things incoherent?