All right, before we dive in here: I’m not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. Don’t take it that way. Don’t take anything I say here as gospel, because law is one of those things that thrives on “gray area” and interpretation. (I mean, why do you think lawyers can argue totally different things?) What’s this? A banhammer? (Sora Shimazaki/Pexels.com) That said, I’ve worked in rights...
Yes, Fanfic Is Real Writing
Every once in a while someone comes along and decides to shit all over fanfiction. Usually, fanfic gets knocked as being poor quality writing, somehow of little to no literary value. It’s incredibly interesting to me, as someone who cut her teeth on fanfic, who did a degree in English lit and read lots and lots of litfic and “the canon,” and as someone who writes romance novels now. There are a...
How Romantic Love Becomes a Tool of Patriarchy
Recently, a friend was ranting to me about a favorite TV show. They were upset with the direction the writers went with a couple of the characters. A female character had to choose between leaving her family, friends, and career so she could move across country with the man she loved. As it turned out, one of the male leads at her work—her partner—finally confessed to her about his romantic...
Redefining the Feminine
Who is a woman and who isn't? The current definition is a bit of a problem, considering it actually serves patriarchal and capitalistic ends.
On the Performance of Queerness
Which characters are queer? What does it take for us to accept them as true representation? What counts as "queer enough"? Whenever we ask these questions, we're debating how queerness should be performed.