Vidding as My Own Flavor of Feminism
Jun. 29th, 2012 01:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kiki_miserychicFor me, writing meta for vidding is a daunting task because I fear sounding unintelligent and childish. Generally I enjoy sounding childish, but if I have set out to sound smart about vidding it defeats my purpose. Therefore, I use the thesaurus tool and hit up spell check LIKE A BOSS.
The only essays I write are for my college classes, which consist of early childhood education theorists and methods. I'm not an academic by any means of the word. Generally, I'm not good with words, hence vidding. When I have something to say, I usually produce a vid instead of saying something. This is not a professional essay or a work of literature. Most of the thoughts are my own, but nearly all my thoughts have been synthesized from somewhere else. This is my disclaimer of trying to not come off as a stuck up vidding expert snob.
For background, I randomly came to writing this little nugget of an essay because I wanted to create vids for the upcoming![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
halfamoon (Half a Moon is a fourteen day challenge celebrating female characters in fandom, which will run from February 1 through Valentine's Day. Fanfiction, vids, recs, art, picspam, icons, meta, fanmixes, and outside links to content fitting the theme of this community are all welcome--the only rule is that the primary focus must be on a female character or characters.)
I organized possible vid ideas, which are my main fannish product. I looked at my list of 14 female-centric vids and started seeing stark likenesses and divergences within the characters and their relationships. My sleep deprived brain kept sparking and running through thoughts. I began thinking about the factors that come together that make me fall in love with a character. After days of thought, I had not created an algorithm for the various aspects that I am drawn to in my fictional characters. I had, instead, ventured into why so many of them could be described as "strong female characters" and what that terms really means.
I actually dislike rigid definitions that exclude the beauty and fullness of the human language. I would rather collect words and meanings and uses than chop things off with a few simple lines that dictate what a word or phrase means. I was again drawn away from my original thought into pondering the question, "what is a strong female character?" It seems like such an simple and straightforward question that presents itself as uncomplicated when it is anything but. I wanted to examine my own personal thoughts and feelings on that oversimplified question.
In approximately half of all my favorite "strong female characters" there's one trait that is emphasized in the source. Sometimes it is assertiveness, bravery, viciousness, lithe appearance, self-sufficiency, strength, hard-edged, decisive, muscularity, protectiveness, athletic ability, mentally strategic, or a vast array of other facets that make me fiercely adore a female character. Most of those same traits can be found in a typical strong male character. In contradiction, I enjoy movies and television featuring characters that display Neuroticism, which is generally portrayed as a female trait, but that's a radically different piece of meta from what I am trying to write.
My brain zigzags all the time, so I thought it appropriate to note that I find myself drawn to a male character that happens to be played by an actress. I tend to vid sources that I find to be visually interesting and arresting, which a lot of time means that I vid violent action sequences with kicking and punching. A majority of kicking and punching is done by female action heroines, which is one reason why I lean toward vidding those usually one or two dimensional characters.
I sometimes get the impression that all valued and upstanding female characters have to be positive. Female characters that are integral to and interact directly with the plot are not in abundance. With that there comes the perception of an added layer that makes all female characters representative of every female in the world. There are intense expectations placed on female characters because there so few that are deemed as important. A lot of female viewers insist that character has to be outstanding and upstanding at all times because that female character is representing them. When female characters are shown to be flawed, they instantly become unlikeable and not worthy of love because they are the projection of all women. They are seen as the mother, sister, daughter, lover, teacher and they have the responsibility to be perfect in every way because they are what the world will view as every woman.
Male characters can be flawed to the point of seemingly no return, but they are described as "human." These male characters are seen as tragic, broken, and in need of being fixed. Don Draper, Logan Echolls, Sylar, Tony Soprano, Spike, and Bruce Wayne come to mind immediately. There is a long and deep pool of these characters to draw from. I would argue that these characters are the hamster wheels that power many fandoms. Anger is seen as desirable and attractive in male characters and it is categorized as passion. In female characters, anger is seen as something else entirely. Anger is a barricade between a female character and the average viewer because if all female characters are every female in the world, it means that all females are angry.
I have circled and skipped around until I have arrived at the idea that I do not vid "strong female characters," but interesting characters who are female... Even that thought is not completely accurate because I do not understand the concept of what makes female characters female and male characters male, but that is another piece of meta. Basically I should try vidding female characters that do more than beat people up and make things explode while being pretty.
The only essays I write are for my college classes, which consist of early childhood education theorists and methods. I'm not an academic by any means of the word. Generally, I'm not good with words, hence vidding. When I have something to say, I usually produce a vid instead of saying something. This is not a professional essay or a work of literature. Most of the thoughts are my own, but nearly all my thoughts have been synthesized from somewhere else. This is my disclaimer of trying to not come off as a stuck up vidding expert snob.
For background, I randomly came to writing this little nugget of an essay because I wanted to create vids for the upcoming
halfamoon (Half a Moon is a fourteen day challenge celebrating female characters in fandom, which will run from February 1 through Valentine's Day. Fanfiction, vids, recs, art, picspam, icons, meta, fanmixes, and outside links to content fitting the theme of this community are all welcome--the only rule is that the primary focus must be on a female character or characters.)I organized possible vid ideas, which are my main fannish product. I looked at my list of 14 female-centric vids and started seeing stark likenesses and divergences within the characters and their relationships. My sleep deprived brain kept sparking and running through thoughts. I began thinking about the factors that come together that make me fall in love with a character. After days of thought, I had not created an algorithm for the various aspects that I am drawn to in my fictional characters. I had, instead, ventured into why so many of them could be described as "strong female characters" and what that terms really means.
I actually dislike rigid definitions that exclude the beauty and fullness of the human language. I would rather collect words and meanings and uses than chop things off with a few simple lines that dictate what a word or phrase means. I was again drawn away from my original thought into pondering the question, "what is a strong female character?" It seems like such an simple and straightforward question that presents itself as uncomplicated when it is anything but. I wanted to examine my own personal thoughts and feelings on that oversimplified question.
In approximately half of all my favorite "strong female characters" there's one trait that is emphasized in the source. Sometimes it is assertiveness, bravery, viciousness, lithe appearance, self-sufficiency, strength, hard-edged, decisive, muscularity, protectiveness, athletic ability, mentally strategic, or a vast array of other facets that make me fiercely adore a female character. Most of those same traits can be found in a typical strong male character. In contradiction, I enjoy movies and television featuring characters that display Neuroticism, which is generally portrayed as a female trait, but that's a radically different piece of meta from what I am trying to write.
My brain zigzags all the time, so I thought it appropriate to note that I find myself drawn to a male character that happens to be played by an actress. I tend to vid sources that I find to be visually interesting and arresting, which a lot of time means that I vid violent action sequences with kicking and punching. A majority of kicking and punching is done by female action heroines, which is one reason why I lean toward vidding those usually one or two dimensional characters.
I sometimes get the impression that all valued and upstanding female characters have to be positive. Female characters that are integral to and interact directly with the plot are not in abundance. With that there comes the perception of an added layer that makes all female characters representative of every female in the world. There are intense expectations placed on female characters because there so few that are deemed as important. A lot of female viewers insist that character has to be outstanding and upstanding at all times because that female character is representing them. When female characters are shown to be flawed, they instantly become unlikeable and not worthy of love because they are the projection of all women. They are seen as the mother, sister, daughter, lover, teacher and they have the responsibility to be perfect in every way because they are what the world will view as every woman.
Male characters can be flawed to the point of seemingly no return, but they are described as "human." These male characters are seen as tragic, broken, and in need of being fixed. Don Draper, Logan Echolls, Sylar, Tony Soprano, Spike, and Bruce Wayne come to mind immediately. There is a long and deep pool of these characters to draw from. I would argue that these characters are the hamster wheels that power many fandoms. Anger is seen as desirable and attractive in male characters and it is categorized as passion. In female characters, anger is seen as something else entirely. Anger is a barricade between a female character and the average viewer because if all female characters are every female in the world, it means that all females are angry.
I have circled and skipped around until I have arrived at the idea that I do not vid "strong female characters," but interesting characters who are female... Even that thought is not completely accurate because I do not understand the concept of what makes female characters female and male characters male, but that is another piece of meta. Basically I should try vidding female characters that do more than beat people up and make things explode while being pretty.
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no subject
Date: 2012-06-29 06:30 pm (UTC)I've seen your vids and I feel like you do vid strong female characters. There's no doubt about that in my mind. But I personally feel that there's a vast array of quantifiers that determine what makes a female character strong, or okay, a person strong. And I also think that characters (when they're given an ounce of thought) are in turns, strong and a whole host of other things (crazy, mean, vulnerable, pessimistic, smart, easy going, determined, clueless, scared, happy, caring, brave, selfless, selfish, proud, humble, powerful, joyous, idealistic, etc.)
I would love to see you vid female characters that do things other than beat people up and make things explode while being pretty. But really, what's not to like about that in the first place?
no subject
Date: 2012-06-29 08:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-29 10:59 pm (UTC)You say many thought-provoking and true things here. I am interested in particular in the kicking and punching. It's not just that the sources fans tend to like involve a lot of violence, it's that vidding -- even more than the sources it's made of, I would argue -- is a medium wherein emotional power is most efficiently delivered through movement. Movement can be a caress, or jumping rope, or jumping for joy (and thank god for those vids). But mostly, in our shows, we have kicking and punching. I am a pacifist, but even I am happy to vid some good kicking and punching, even as I shrink from glamorizing violence.
Another thought I had while reading this is that, when I first started vidding about 12 years ago, I could count on one hand the number of vids I'd seen that were about women. It was deeply surprising to me at the time, though it shouldn't have been. I made a conscious decision at that time to vid women, and vid a lot of women, just to try and even the numbers out. It was definitely a decision motivated by feminism, but also by my love for Faith, Willow, Anya, Buffy, Franny, Scully, Chiana, Aeryn, Starbuck, Sharon... There are a lot more vids about women now, and I think the overall percentage of them is larger, too. It makes me happy.
Re the "tragic" male character and feminist ideas concerning same, I have something in the hopper right now. Can't wait to get it out there. It's been burning in me for years.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-30 10:06 am (UTC)I have a list going of upcoming vids now, lol.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-30 10:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-30 10:23 am (UTC)I think on a basic level, kicking and punching is visually exciting. It's quick movement, which usually goes well with music. It's a choice to make a vid interesting as opposed to someone staring out of a window. There are certain characters and actors who can be interesting when doing nothing but thinking, like Terrance Stamp, but it's not going to hook every viewer.
I love that there's more and more vids about females. My next thinky thoughts are about vidding femslash, but they are unformed in my brain still.
It blows my mind that male characters get to be woobies and female characters get trashed for anything near the same behavior. I'm looking forward to that vid.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-30 02:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-30 06:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-02 10:57 pm (UTC)I'm sorry, you were saying? (:
Yes, you're right. Violence in general is visually exciting. But I'm curious about other kinds of action that can be deeply compelling. I just read a great book on film editing (which I SO need to post about) that talked about how momentum can be carried by small gestures as well as large ones -- among many other things.
The vid I'm making is about the woobification of men who are murderers. It's fairly specific, using just three sources to illustrate an issue that resonates through many, many fandoms. I haven't actually tackled the part about women being trashed for the same qualities. That's a different vid, though one I would very much like to see!
no subject
Date: 2012-07-07 10:24 pm (UTC)I'm trying to vid with less of a heavy hand in the editing.
That's an excellent vid idea. I have one that's actually about how female characters are praised mainly for their masculine attributes and trashed for others. It was originally far more detailed, but there's only so much I can get across in a vid. I've been working primarily on trying to get emotion right. Maybe I'll tackle it once I can do that somewhat properly.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-09 10:21 pm (UTC)I love your vid idea so much! Can't wait to see that.
I've been working primarily on trying to get emotion right. Maybe I'll tackle it once I can do that somewhat properly.
Interesting. I've always found emotion the easiest bit to get across in a vid. It's ideas that are hard for me to communicate, probably because I so often expect my vids to bear too heavy a load of conceptual thinking.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-10 11:22 pm (UTC)For me emotion is the hardest thing to vid. I don't understand most emotions in life, so it makes sense that I find it hard to vid them. I've been studying different ways to manipulate it in vids though. I agree, conceptual thinking can sometimes drown out emotion. It's a bit like holding everything at arms length to get a point across.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-10 11:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-12 02:17 am (UTC)I listen to a lot of DVD commentary tracks and gleam little nuggets of information. Directors that also edit their films have the best knowledge from what I can remember. Most of the time I dig up an article and incorporate it into a vid idea. It's fairly slow going and I don't know how well I actually accomplish my task, but it's enjoyable.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-04 11:45 pm (UTC)It's really fascinating to read your introspection about what appeals to you in female characters, especially as someone who has vidded SO MANY. I think you're interested not so much in some monolithic category of "strong female characters" but in lots of different kinds of strength. Meanwhile, there's nothing wrong with kicking ass while being pretty. :)
I sometimes get the impression that all valued and upstanding female characters have to be positive... A lot of female viewers insist that character has to be outstanding and upstanding at all times because that female character is representing them.
This has been called the "burden of representation" -- it's an issue for various under-represented groups. I am still shaking my tiny fist about an argument I got in back in the day with someone who thought Admiral Cain is a homophobic/bad lesbian portrayal because she's unsympathetic/evil. It's a kind of backhanded oppression to say that because there aren't ENOUGH "positive" images only "positive" images are ALLOWED.
no subject
Date: 2012-12-27 01:39 am (UTC)Admiral Cain is a god among men!
I feel uninformed for not knowing the term burden of representation, but it's good to know that I'm not alone in the thought. I see it in how people choose vidding subjects.