In defense of Ashe.

flowersforone:

One thing from the FFXII fandom, I hope never comes back is Ashe hate. 

Ashe is a pure anti-hero, she’s not motivated because it’s the right thing. Her motivations at the beginning of the game are pretty selfish. Her anger,  a unwavering hunger for revenge, and her desire to reclaim what is hers are what initially drives her. She’s also cold, aloof, and a bit broody. Which is something that is rarely seen in the media, because you know, women are never motivated by anger or revenge. If she were a man, she would have a buttload of fangirls who would romanticize and excuse her behavior. But because she’s an angry woman specifically princess/queen, who doesn’t fit into the traditional narrative she’s automatically “a bitch.” 

It feels like men, especially attractive ones, can get away with almost anything in fandom. Noctis shares some of Ashe’s traits, but he’s a “pure cinnamon roll” while Ashe is a bitch. If Noctis were a woman I’m quite sure he would be significantly less popular. Male characters can do anything and they are adored, a woman sticks her toe out of the box or in some cases just exists, and everyone hates her.

This sort of attitude is what I loathe about fandom, I’ve been in fandom for ~13 years now and I keep seeing the attitude pop up everywhere. And it’s always women doing this to characters that are women. As women society teaches us to hate ourselves and that other women are competition. It also teaches us accept or overlook imperfections in men, while raising women to a higher standard. This form of internalized misogyny is so pervasive that it even permeates fandom. Internet fandom is mostly dominated by women, but at the same time it focuses on men and can be pretty misogynistic. You would think because it’s dominated by women fandom can be a place where we can escape from society’s bullshit, but it’s really just a mirror of it, I’m constantly reminded about how pervasive internalized misogyny is. IDK it just really saddens me. 

Can we stop with bashing female characters, because they simply exist or because they don’t fit perfectly into the box? Can we also stop marginalizing them, minimizing their role, or completely ignoring them, in fan fiction? I’ll stop because that is a different rant for another day.