So I've been doing all this thinking about crossing boundaries, particularly gender boundaries, and how the act of crossing itself is what seems to be the most important part. There's a dynamic to it, a truth that only becomes evident through movement from one side to the other. I wanted to graph it out but I have no patience for tracking down my seldom used graphics program and remembering how to use it. I've been getting all analogue lately anyway, writing longhand and all, so I drew it out on a pad of paper. (Sorry for the poor quality of the images. I don't have a lot of time so I used the camera on my laptop.)
1 up/1 down is my shorthand for male/female, entitled/unentitled, etc. The two halves of every dichotomous power structure.
The arrow on the right would be the direction in which the kick-ass heroine crosses gender boundaries.
The arrow on the left is the direction in which the male characters I write in m/m cross gender boundaries.
In this direction, female identity is invested with 1 up entitlement and prowess.
In this direction, male identity is divested of entitlement:
And this is where it gets complicated:
Men are disempowered by being given the traditional roles and values of women. Because male entitlement is so indelible, however, it remains even after the male characters are cast as romance heroines, thus giving me the 1 up experience within a framework that makes it accessible or, maybe even more accurately, palatable to me.
Yes, I can taste it.
Neat idea, Victoria.
Posted by: Jessica Freely | June 17, 2009 at 09:21 AM
INteresting. Maybe you could do a cool graphic of this.
Posted by: Victoria Janssen | June 17, 2009 at 09:11 AM