(no subject)

[fangirl_says]

This is sort of mind-boggling to read. OH NOES, not a girl! They're all alien creatures to me! Even though I am one myself!

When Hannah was born, my grandmother sighed "Oh, well, it's always disappointing when it's a girl, but you love 'em anyway." I mean, I get it -- she came from a time when boys were valued more than girls. Her father longed for sons to help with the farm work, but he ended up with five daughters instead (I never met the man, as he died long before I was born, and my Grandmother assured me he was "the greatest man who ever lived," but I can't help feeling a bit of schadenfreude about his inability to make boys.)

Obviously, we weren't disappointed that Hannah was a girl (nor were we disappointed, when Collin was born 19 months later, that he was a boy.) I've never really understood having a preference for one gender. Sure, there are slightly different experiences involved in parenting each gender (parents of girls don't need to consider whether or not to have circumcision done, for example), but people, they aren't different species.

That sort of attitude makes me think of the writing on Supernatural, where little girls are almost always creepy, scary creatures that bewilder our heroes. Boys, on the other hand, are generally seen in a completely different manner.



And then there's the (mostly female) fandom's reaction to female characters. Misha Collins has said he gets that a large part of the reason his character has been so well-received has been that he is male. We know that his female counterpart, Anna, has been far less well-liked among fans (though I personally think a lot of that reaction was due to the facepalm-worthy "Dude, Where's My Grace" storyline Anna was introduced with.)

And how do y'all think fans would've reacted if the newly-discovered Winchester brother had instead been a sister? Part of me thinks that since fans' reactions to young Mary were positive, a Winchester sister might have been welcomed.

Part of me is fairly glad we didn't have to find out after all, because I tend to think fans' reactions might have been more like my grandmother's reaction was.

And I still miss Ellen. :(

Comments

[kashmir1.livejournal.com]

And I still miss Ellen

Me too. :(

[just-ruth.livejournal.com]

Me three.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Yaknow, between shit like that and then shit like this, it's rare for a day to go by without me thinking, at least a little, that the Great Flood was a better idea than the Ark was.

[philomel.livejournal.com]

I miss Ellen fiercely. If only we got at least a mention of her--in the actual storyline, not some cute AU insert.

We know that his female counterpart, Anna, has been far less well-liked among fans (though I personally think a lot of that reaction was due to the facepalm-worthy "Dude, Where's My Grace" storyline Anna was introduced with.)

Agreed. I'm not sure how other fans reacted, but I found Anna much improved in "On The Head Of A Pin," as her story (or her involvement in the story) felt much more substantial (even if her timing with saving Castiel was rather deus ex machina-y).

[esorlehcar.livejournal.com]

I miss Ellen and Jo. And Bela, for that matter. And I'm really sorry that TPTB have decided (and not wrongly) that recurring female characters are a losing proposition for this show.

[delle.livejournal.com]

Even before I had sons, I worried about having a daughter. I could handle boys, with their cut-and-dried needs, but girls were so much more complicated. Girls have elaborate hairstyling requirements. They whine and mope, manipulate and triangulate. How was I going to deal with that?

Jesus God. Does she generalize much? My darling daughter, the light of my eyes, the love of my life... danced ballet, wore tutus, is majoring in Bioengineering and hates pink. Girls are no more complicated, no more manipulative, that boys. Sometimes even less so - I put more stock in birth order than gender for difficulty of child.

[piccalo.livejournal.com]

i have three boys, and while i really would love to have a girl (am constantly naming her in my head) it does make me nervous a bit because i am so used to having boys. then again, my kids are so spread apart in ages, that everytime i have a baby i'm worried i'll forget what to do...BUT! i adapt, as i'm sure i would if i had a girl.

[mercyisme.livejournal.com]

(parents of girls don't need to consider whether or not to have circumcision done, for example)

Um, parents of boys don't really have to consider that either. I guess it's an American thing - and I still don't get why. I even remember reading that at some point / in some states doctors didn't even need the parents' permission to circumcise their sons.

PS: I couldn't read the article - just a few sentences pissed me off enough.

[aeb.livejournal.com]

{pause}

Dad claims that before I was born, He just wanted a healthy baby. Either gender was great by him. {Smile}

Mom wanted a healthy baby, too. However, she did have a slight preference for a girl. Why? Because the baby clothes were cuter. {GRIN}

They both got their wishes. I'm female, and as a baby, I was healthy except for the occasional migraine. My health difficulties developed later - mostly while I was in college. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

[lila-blue-b.livejournal.com]

Personally, I would not have had a problem with a Winchester sister. The Winchester brother was more of a threat, I thought, but then that didn't really pan out because they killed him off before he was even really there in the story at all. I think the concept added depth to John's character that wasn't there before in canon.

If Castiel was a female angel, there would be some kind of a romance between her and Dean. I just know that they'd go there... It's like susannaheanes' dh says: Anna is the Show!Beard to stand in as a "socially acceptable" (for the CW) proxy for Castiel, so that between Cas and Anna, they balance the Sam/Ruby thing... or I guess to provide some "literary symmetry" to borrow a phrase from the Prophet Chuck. That said, Anna's introduction was still bizarre and flawed to me, but I think they might do interesting things with her character in the future.

Ruby I have mixed feelings about, but overall, I'd say I like her more than I don't. And I miss Ellen too. And Jo. I always liked Jo.

[zillah975]

Oh my god. That woman's poor daughter. Gah.

[z0mbiem0m.livejournal.com]

Oh, for fuckssake. Take precious human life for granted and then whine about semantics, much? If one day one of her boys decides to defect to the other side, there's not going to be a damn thing she can do about that either. Well, except whine in a weblog. X-D

I dunno. I figure your child is your child, no matter who the hell your DNA combined to produce. I was glad to have one of each so that I could experience both worlds, but I have to say that the differences between personalities are much more defined than the stereotypical gender differences.