Don’t Like, Don’t Read
2010-06-16 10:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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hc_bingo, but it isn’t about that; my position on it is that I prefer hurt without the comfort (otherwise known as whump) for a reason. The problem isn’t really new either.
This post is about Don’t Like, Don’t Read. You’ve all heard it, I’ve already talked about it in passing and this time it looked like this:
See, there’s just this teeny tiny problem with Don’t Like, Don’t Read: most of the time, it doesn’t actually apply. Sure, if you label a fic as slash and someone gets upset over it containing slash, Don’t Like, Don’t Read is a valid argument.
Most of the time, however, people don’t disapprove of a subject on principle. For example, it’s not that I don’t actually dislike the “comfort” part of h/c on principle. In fact, if it’s done well, I really like it. One example of a hurt/comfort story that I liked was the recent Doctor Who episode Vincent and the Doctor.
But since people tend to Not Get It when others talk about ableism, I’ll stick with the slash example for now. So you labelled your story as slash and someone complains to you that the story is problematic because of its depiction of homosexuality. Maybe your characters are so heteronormative it hurts. Maybe the couple can’t have a happily ever after without biological kids. Maybe you portrayed homosexuality as deviant, unhealthy and whatnot. Are you going to tell people it’s their fault they read the story, after all you did mention that it’s slash?
See, most people think it’s awesome that you want to write about disabled characters. I think it’s awesome, even though I don’t want to read about some things because they can trigger me. For the triggery stuff, labels are awesome. You say your story contains graphic depictions of depression? I’ll stay the hell away from it, because I can’t deal with it at the moment. But “Contains: depression” doesn’t tell me anything about the portrayal of depression in your h/c fic. It could be done in a way that I like – see Vincent and the Doctor - or maybe your character is promptly healed by a healing cock within 500 words and the couple lives happily ever after without any problems.
If you put “Contains: unrealistic portrayal of depression that treats it as nothing but a way to get two characters together” as a label on your fic, it would be accurate, and I would not read it. Would I still rant about it? Hell yeah, because even when your story is appropriately labelled it’s still problematic. Don’t Like, Don’t Read doesn’t make your problems go away. In 99% of the cases, people can’t know that they don’t like your fic until after they’ve read it. It doesn't erase the problematic content of your story either.
hc_bingo, but it isn’t about that; my position on it is that I prefer hurt without the comfort (otherwise known as whump) for a reason. The problem isn’t really new either.This post is about Don’t Like, Don’t Read. You’ve all heard it, I’ve already talked about it in passing and this time it looked like this:
“You are ALWAYS free to NOT READ MY FICS. For that matter, if the subject matter bothers you then PLEASE DO NOT READ THEM. You will be happier, I will be happier, everything will be much better. Really. Just don't read them.”
See, there’s just this teeny tiny problem with Don’t Like, Don’t Read: most of the time, it doesn’t actually apply. Sure, if you label a fic as slash and someone gets upset over it containing slash, Don’t Like, Don’t Read is a valid argument.
Most of the time, however, people don’t disapprove of a subject on principle. For example, it’s not that I don’t actually dislike the “comfort” part of h/c on principle. In fact, if it’s done well, I really like it. One example of a hurt/comfort story that I liked was the recent Doctor Who episode Vincent and the Doctor.
But since people tend to Not Get It when others talk about ableism, I’ll stick with the slash example for now. So you labelled your story as slash and someone complains to you that the story is problematic because of its depiction of homosexuality. Maybe your characters are so heteronormative it hurts. Maybe the couple can’t have a happily ever after without biological kids. Maybe you portrayed homosexuality as deviant, unhealthy and whatnot. Are you going to tell people it’s their fault they read the story, after all you did mention that it’s slash?
See, most people think it’s awesome that you want to write about disabled characters. I think it’s awesome, even though I don’t want to read about some things because they can trigger me. For the triggery stuff, labels are awesome. You say your story contains graphic depictions of depression? I’ll stay the hell away from it, because I can’t deal with it at the moment. But “Contains: depression” doesn’t tell me anything about the portrayal of depression in your h/c fic. It could be done in a way that I like – see Vincent and the Doctor - or maybe your character is promptly healed by a healing cock within 500 words and the couple lives happily ever after without any problems.
If you put “Contains: unrealistic portrayal of depression that treats it as nothing but a way to get two characters together” as a label on your fic, it would be accurate, and I would not read it. Would I still rant about it? Hell yeah, because even when your story is appropriately labelled it’s still problematic. Don’t Like, Don’t Read doesn’t make your problems go away. In 99% of the cases, people can’t know that they don’t like your fic until after they’ve read it. It doesn't erase the problematic content of your story either.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-17 05:18 pm (UTC)just wanted to add my agreement to the above anon in terms of whether it is ok for authors to write stories that are as you say 'healing cock'. It is, or it should be. This could be someone's way of coping. Obviously, not everyone copes with trauma/disabilty in the same way. Why should I be told that my way of coping (by writing fics in which it IS that simple, and that easy, and the cock that magically healing) is less valid than others?
It feels like that's what you're saying here, when you say that warnings are not enough: I interpret that as I should not be writing such stories in the first place.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-25 02:09 am (UTC)Well, no, you can write whatever story you like. I have no problem with the "healing cock" trope either, but most of the time it a) isn't labelled as such and b) it is still problematic. My post was less about writing the stuff and more about how you deal with potential criticism of your story or a story trope.