So many thoughtful topics raised in this. Where to start?
The wooblification of Loki (and other villains. I'm looking at you, Draco Malfoy) I think stems from a) the fact that the actor is hot and b) the fact that people have trouble liking problematic things and thus try to make them unproblematic. If Loki is a tragic victim instead of an ass who made poor life choices which hurt lots and lots of people, then it's okay to over look his crimes and let him hang out with the good guys.
The erasure of women in slash fic has bothered me for a long time. In part, because it cuts women out of the narrative, but also in part because it basically claims that in order for men to have healthy relationships with each other there need to be no women at all and then they need to have sex. Er...what? On the same note, I'm also bothered by all those stories in the MCU where Bruce (or Steve) is suddenly Tony's best and only friend and Rhodey just sort of disappears. I don't know if its a conscious erasure of a major PoC character or what, but it troubles me as much as people deciding Pepper needs to go so Tony can have sex with Steve of all people.
In the comments you talked about the discourse around penetrative sex and how it's framed in both language and fanfic. I think fandom's collective obsession with ending every single slash fic with sex as a shorthand for a healthy relationship stems from the same place in our society which spawned the word 'friendzone.' It's not a real relationship until the sex comes out, because non-sexual relationships are viewed as less meaningful and important.
no subject
The wooblification of Loki (and other villains. I'm looking at you, Draco Malfoy) I think stems from a) the fact that the actor is hot and b) the fact that people have trouble liking problematic things and thus try to make them unproblematic. If Loki is a tragic victim instead of an ass who made poor life choices which hurt lots and lots of people, then it's okay to over look his crimes and let him hang out with the good guys.
The erasure of women in slash fic has bothered me for a long time. In part, because it cuts women out of the narrative, but also in part because it basically claims that in order for men to have healthy relationships with each other there need to be no women at all and then they need to have sex. Er...what? On the same note, I'm also bothered by all those stories in the MCU where Bruce (or Steve) is suddenly Tony's best and only friend and Rhodey just sort of disappears. I don't know if its a conscious erasure of a major PoC character or what, but it troubles me as much as people deciding Pepper needs to go so Tony can have sex with Steve of all people.
In the comments you talked about the discourse around penetrative sex and how it's framed in both language and fanfic. I think fandom's collective obsession with ending every single slash fic with sex as a shorthand for a healthy relationship stems from the same place in our society which spawned the word 'friendzone.' It's not a real relationship until the sex comes out, because non-sexual relationships are viewed as less meaningful and important.