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Apr. 30th, 2009 12:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fangirl_saysThis 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. :(
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. :(
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Date: 2009-04-30 05:59 pm (UTC)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.