I recently was reading a book written by one of our more imaginative but liberal science fiction writers. As part of worldbuilding a far future that’s not exactly like today, Said writer is scrupulous about providing all kinds of different characters from different cultures with different sexual mores in their works.
However, when I looked around to see reader reactions, I happened first to come across reactions by fans somewhat disappointed in the latest book, because most characters eventually settled down with one person, however strangely, and most of these settled-down people were interested in having kids someday. (And never mind what their home cultures and deep priorities might be.) So the readers talked solemnly about a “problematic canon” that needed to be “fixed,” as if they were reading some kind of anti-Semitic Golden Age mystery writer instead of someone far out on the cutting edge.
And this isn’t the first time I’ve run across complaints like this, about extremely liberal writers. Heck, most of the last few years of fandom online have been full of such “more liberal than thou” moments.
So basically, you can’t ever get liberal and crazy enough for some people. There’s no percentage even in trying.
What’s more, people are actually disappointed that the writer isn’t writing angsty, depressing books these days. Although it’s perfectly clear that the really angsty, depressing writing came out of an angsty, depressing period in the writer’s life. So basically they’re saying, “Oh, please have some kind of destructive setback in life, so that you will write books that are angsty enough for my tastes.”
Nothing is ever good enough. It’s amazing.
And don’t even get me started about the ones who want to read a male character as being female, when actually it’s pretty clear that a woman character in the same situation and culture would have a completely different bunch of problems to deal with. And in fact there are books about just such female characters. So what the heck kind of idiot hermeneutic of feminism are they snorting with their eyeballs? Sheesh! Reading incomprehension problems!
http://archiveofourown.org/works/455576
I like it. Although I personally would have chosen another color instead of red, maybe that was precisely the amount of defiance that was needed — art scribbles instead of blood.