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wrangletangle
(This month, I'm contributing to #femslash february by highlighting female character-centric and femslash-centric tags at AO3.)
Has anyone else noticed that there's a fannish meme been going around for a while now to have grown men derogatorily refer to their own or other men's behavior as being "like a teenage girl"? When did this become a Thing? And why?
I've met so many teenaged young women, and they're all very different people, most of them quite awesome. To me, "like a teenage girl" means "like a student taking 5 languages", "like an gymnast who practices 6 hours a day", "like a philanthropist who organized her whole grade into making Valentines cards for the kids at the local Children's Hospital", "like the stage manager for her school's musical", "like a camp counselor who teaches kids how to swim", "like a folk dancer who writes dances for her group", or "like a programmer who's designing her own video game".
Every time I read "like a teenage girl" said by a character with a sneer in their voice, all it does is make me not like that character anymore. Is that the intent? Then it's working.
So, hey! Here are some tags on AO3 where I've found positive, complex portrayals of teenage women:
* Himemiya Anthy/Tenjou Utena
* Kate Bishop
* Simoun
* Avatar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: Legend of Korra
* Young Wizards
* Sophie Hatter
* Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
(Freeform non-canonical of the day: tag search for "Teen* Girl*" [warning: not actually uplifting])
I'm sure there are lots of positive tags I've missed. Got any suggestions?
Has anyone else noticed that there's a fannish meme been going around for a while now to have grown men derogatorily refer to their own or other men's behavior as being "like a teenage girl"? When did this become a Thing? And why?
I've met so many teenaged young women, and they're all very different people, most of them quite awesome. To me, "like a teenage girl" means "like a student taking 5 languages", "like an gymnast who practices 6 hours a day", "like a philanthropist who organized her whole grade into making Valentines cards for the kids at the local Children's Hospital", "like the stage manager for her school's musical", "like a camp counselor who teaches kids how to swim", "like a folk dancer who writes dances for her group", or "like a programmer who's designing her own video game".
Every time I read "like a teenage girl" said by a character with a sneer in their voice, all it does is make me not like that character anymore. Is that the intent? Then it's working.
So, hey! Here are some tags on AO3 where I've found positive, complex portrayals of teenage women:
* Himemiya Anthy/Tenjou Utena
* Kate Bishop
* Simoun
* Avatar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: Legend of Korra
* Young Wizards
* Sophie Hatter
* Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
(Freeform non-canonical of the day: tag search for "Teen* Girl*" [warning: not actually uplifting])
I'm sure there are lots of positive tags I've missed. Got any suggestions?
no subject
Date: 2013-02-16 09:08 am (UTC)Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg, Faith Lehane - and Dawn Summers in particular, as she's the youngest.
Doctor Who - Ace McShane (depending - she's 16/17 in the series; by the time of many of the later spin-offs she's in her twenties), Zoe Heriot, Susan Foreman, Nyssa, Vicki and Dodo Chaplet
Rani Chandra and Maria Jackson from Sarah Jane Adventures
Tiddler from Press Gang - and indeed, Lynda Day herself (who would certainly sort out anyone dismissing her as a teenage girl very thoroughly...)
no subject
Date: 2013-02-20 07:33 am (UTC)I'm not that into the books or movies, but even I know you don't want to mess with Hermione, Ginny, or Luna!
Gilmore Girls
Rory Gilmore, Lane Kim, Paris Geller
The Craft
Sarah Bailey, Nancy Downs, Bonnie
btw,
I've been thinking about what you said about not including "Steel Magnolias" on one your posts, because there isn't any fic. I think you should include it (& similar works) for just that reason. Perhaps your readers will come across characters they aren't familiar with and be inspired to write fic for them.