Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
I agree when it comes to things like fashion advertising, where all the women models are like walking skeletons, but I think it's a bit of a stretch to assert that the "warrior" stereotype (both male and female) so beloved of the fantasy genre is damaging anyone. It's fantasy, for goodness sake. So what if it does represent a view of what the male or female reader fantasises about looking like - isn't that the whole point of the genre? When I was a teenager yes, I used to dream of being John Carter of Mars. Where's the harm in that? Is it really going to damage my self-esteem to look in the mirror and discover that no, I'm not John Carter, but a skinny kid?
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It's not about your self-esteem. It's about cultural expectations.
The cultural expectation that women will always be 'womanly', attractive and happy to be a sexual object is very real, and very damaging.
The cultural expectation that men will always be 'manly', aggressive and not very interested in education is very real, and very damaging.
When your boss expects you to always be made up and be happy when he hits on you, when your coworkers pigeonhole you into administrative tasks and shut you out of interesting assignments, when you can't get people to listen to you, that is all very real and very damaging.
It's great that this hasn't impacted you heavily. We want that privilege for everyone. And sometimes that means uncomfortable conversations where we talk about how different people have different experiences and some habits invoke bad experiences for some people.