Discussion prompt

[amaresu]

Provided by el_staplador

Class differences in femslash. Some of my favourite rarefandom pairings, particularly in Shakespeare and opera, feature a lady and her maid. Or think about Gwen/Morgana in Merlin, or Jenny/Madame Vastra in Doctor Who. What are others' experiences with writing or reading class inequalities?




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Comments

[amaresu]

I like power-dynamic stories of a lot of different kinds, and serious treatments can be fantastic, but sometimes the angsty, sexy mileage you get out of the inequality is part of the fun.

It can be. I really can be fun. I find though that I need to have the author acknowledge that things like Lady/Maid can be problematic on numerous levels in order to enjoy it. If that makes sense? It's when there's no realization that one person has a lot of power over the other in a number of very basic things that I find things weird and not fun.

[erinptah]

Yeah, it's definitely awkward when the author doesn't realize there might be a problem here. A fantasy/fetish scenario (unless it's really badly written) is still a treatment of the issues. It's like the difference between "mmm, that's some good non-con" and "what do you mean this isn't a sweet romantic love story?"

On a completely different note, thinking about Jenny/Vastra (the only lady/maid pairing I've read recently), most of the fic I've seen hasn't gone either way. Vastra doesn't seem tuned in with that part of human dynamics, while Jenny knows her skills are irreplaceable and her value far in excess of her paycheck. So they're written as plausible power equals for in-character reasons.