起因:Simon Furman在自己的網站上發表了一番長篇大論,反駁另一名作家Mairghread Scott指出他的女TF設定(IDW Arcee)充滿了性別歧視的思想。該篇文章充滿了Simon Furman不知道是毫無自覺還是拒絕承認的沙文主義思想以及鬼打牆般的邏輯,字字透露出他認為自己寫的東西是聖旨,他是TF界的大神,絲毫聽不進他人建設性批評的心態。更別提他還像個幼稚的小鬼般批評對方"不夠專業,不夠格評論他的作品"(M. Scott 是名女作家,她寫過一些TFP的腳本和TFP相關漫畫,如果這不叫專業我還不知道甚麼叫專業。這令人無法不懷疑Furman特別在文章的一開頭指稱她"不夠格"的真正理由是出於"一個女人怎麼夠格評論男人的東西"的心態)。
想當然爾他的發文在湯博上掀起了另一潘軒然大波(Furman的沙文主義思想從以前開始就惡名昭彰)。底下是我在噗浪上的討論,所以比較零碎,但還是希望即使是不懂IDW歷史或是TF的人也能看出我點出的問題所在,在這篇之後則是我在湯博上針對Furman發文的批評,順便貼在這裡做備份之用:
Furman一直堅持說"我已經把TF都寫說是無性別了,所以我的RC=女性體=被實驗弄出來的不正常存在=瘋女人設定一點都不是性別歧視"。
他一直強調"TF是無性別的" 而完全理解不到自己的問題所在:重點不是TF本身是啥性別,而是他把"女性"設定成一個"非正常"的狀況。
而且在RC聚光燈裡Furman自己寫了TF是用"he"來自稱,這就代表即使Furman表面上說了TF是無性別,但他實際上還是認為/設定TF的"預設性別"是"男性"<--看出問題所在了嗎?
如果他今天只是說: 喔,TF用he這個代詞只是語言上的方便罷了(他大可在行動系列時讓Ratchet之類的TF跟三個人類主角說),然後再介紹RC,這樣就不用將她的"性別"放在一個很奇怪的定位。
或是說他當初讓J先生或RC提到"其實也有"男性"TF的實驗品",情況也會好一點。因為你是有認真在設定"TF是無性別"這個情況。
但他當初讓RC用的台詞是 "We use HE among ourselves and didn't think much about it" 非常明顯的就是把TF設定成"男性" --就算他們不是生物學上的雄姓,但他們還是自定位為"(人類的)男性"。
認真說來,TF可以設定成一個很好的社會性別認同教材。如果當初說TF只是隨自己高興選稱謂的話,這其實會是個很大的進步。但Furman的那個寫法真的問題很大...雖然他本人和大多數的男性都看不出來有什麼問題,而且重點完全錯誤。
錯的不是TF的性別為何,而是不應該將兩性中的其中一個性別拿出來貼上"不正常"的標籤。
說到底,如果Furman當初也搞出一個"男"TF就沒事了。所以我之前才在湯上發了個"讓Impactor成為
"男"TF"的玩笑post... 他根本就超符合刻板印象裡的大男人好嗎XDDDDDDDD
Furman設定的另一個大問題是他將"she"這個代詞和"不正常"畫上了等號,而且和J先生綁再一起。這樣以後的作家根本就不能在不涉及他的設定的情況下介紹其他的女TF...現在真的就是等看看其他人要怎麼修這一點了。
(以下是我在湯上的文章,分別針對Furman發文中的性別偏見做出反駁。前有>>符號者為Furman的原文引用:)
想當然爾他的發文在湯博上掀起了另一潘軒然大波(Furman的沙文主義思想從以前開始就惡名昭彰)。底下是我在噗浪上的討論,所以比較零碎,但還是希望即使是不懂IDW歷史或是TF的人也能看出我點出的問題所在,在這篇之後則是我在湯博上針對Furman發文的批評,順便貼在這裡做備份之用:
Furman一直堅持說"我已經把TF都寫說是無性別了,所以我的RC=女性體=被實驗弄出來的不正常存在=瘋女人設定一點都不是性別歧視"。
他一直強調"TF是無性別的" 而完全理解不到自己的問題所在:重點不是TF本身是啥性別,而是他把"女性"設定成一個"非正常"的狀況。
而且在RC聚光燈裡Furman自己寫了TF是用"he"來自稱,這就代表即使Furman表面上說了TF是無性別,但他實際上還是認為/設定TF的"預設性別"是"男性"<--看出問題所在了嗎?
如果他今天只是說: 喔,TF用he這個代詞只是語言上的方便罷了(他大可在行動系列時讓Ratchet之類的TF跟三個人類主角說),然後再介紹RC,這樣就不用將她的"性別"放在一個很奇怪的定位。
或是說他當初讓J先生或RC提到"其實也有"男性"TF的實驗品",情況也會好一點。因為你是有認真在設定"TF是無性別"這個情況。
但他當初讓RC用的台詞是 "We use HE among ourselves and didn't think much about it" 非常明顯的就是把TF設定成"男性" --就算他們不是生物學上的雄姓,但他們還是自定位為"(人類的)男性"。
認真說來,TF可以設定成一個很好的社會性別認同教材。如果當初說TF只是隨自己高興選稱謂的話,這其實會是個很大的進步。但Furman的那個寫法真的問題很大...雖然他本人和大多數的男性都看不出來有什麼問題,而且重點完全錯誤。
錯的不是TF的性別為何,而是不應該將兩性中的其中一個性別拿出來貼上"不正常"的標籤。
說到底,如果Furman當初也搞出一個"男"TF就沒事了。所以我之前才在湯上發了個"讓Impactor成為
"男"TF"的玩笑post... 他根本就超符合刻板印象裡的大男人好嗎XDDDDDDDD
Furman設定的另一個大問題是他將"she"這個代詞和"不正常"畫上了等號,而且和J先生綁再一起。這樣以後的作家根本就不能在不涉及他的設定的情況下介紹其他的女TF...現在真的就是等看看其他人要怎麼修這一點了。
(以下是我在湯上的文章,分別針對Furman發文中的性別偏見做出反駁。前有>>符號者為Furman的原文引用:)
»Essentially, Mairghread Scott (whose work I’m only passingly familiar with, so I cannot and anyway would not comment on how qualified she is to sit in judgement of mine)
Wow, so a person has to pass his “test” to be able to make comment?
Because Mairghread Scott is a fake TF fangirl, a woman is not “qualified” enough to make comment on this male dominated franchise, that’s why. (Just joking, but this accusation of her not qualified enough sounds really familiar. Furman really doesn’t have to specifically say that. It is a stupid thing to say, not to mention that it ensures my suspicion of him being unconscious about his, how should I put it? unintentionally misogyny issues.)
»I have no desire to see male TFs either just to be quite clear.
Imagine what will happen if Furman introduced a crazy “male” TF with all the “men issues”?
If he, as a man, doesn’t want to see a “male” TF introduced under his own setting and feel uncomfortable about the idea, then why does he think we female readers want to see a “female” TF introduced in the same situation?
»There might be ones that look male, female, like a wolf or whatever but that doesn’t mean they have to actually be those things. Were this any other continuity (Prime, Animated, etc) I don’t think either of us would care that much because there’s a certain amount of representation their already.
I wonder why didn’t he write it like this in the beginning?
»But Windblade feels cobbled together by committee and pasted into a continuity where it doesn’t fit.
This is because the way Furman wrote the IDW “female” TF setting made it impossible for the later writers to introduce them without touching the “female TFs=Jhiaxus’s experiments” issue. Even if a writer introduce a “female” TF that is totally “normal” in every way, she will still be labeled as an abnormality because Furman outright wrote so.
This is part of the reason I am weary toward Windblade in addition to the design (the “white people’s japanese fetish” design makes her even more difficult to write). I would hate it if she have to fall into Furman’s setting.
»I fail to see how female readers have been in any way distanced by the brand because of genderless robots.
The man really doesn’t know how to do introspection, does he?
The problem lies not on the genderless part, but Furman specifically wrote “female” TF as abnormality. It would be easier if he even only just mentioned that there were also failed “male” TF experiments, but no, the man said “I have no desire to see male TFs either just to be quite clear.”
»To view the characters as LITERALLY one gender or another and take that one thing to emphasise when they are robotic, millennia old, transforming, energon consuming non biological life forms is to needlessly pick one aspect of HUMAN existence and try and apply it over any other.
Said the man who wrote Arcee as LITERALLY PHYSICALLY FEMALE.
OH PRIMUS I CAN’T DEAL WITH THIS ANYMORE.
»Arcee was unique and faced a unique problem which doesn’t directly correlate to either a typical human female problem or even a transgender or cisgender or any other situation that a human being may experience. But we can draw a fuzzy line to a wealth of human experience, or we can label it offensive and sexist and miss the point entirely.
Furman labeled Arcee as female, and her acquired gender is what drives her actions and makes her different from everyone else, so don’t tell me that her gender is a non-issue.
If Arcee was forced to be a “male” in the Spotlight, and “he” cannot control “his” violent, animal-like instinct and inner turmoil because of this acquired gender that messed up “his” CPU, it would still be blatant sexist (you know, those “men are all violent savages/rapists who can’t control their animal instinct” bullshit).
How about we make a crazy “male” character? Let me present you Spotlight: Impactor (sorry, mate, I do love you).
Impactor is super violent and a fucking nut job because Jhiaxus did some bad experiment on him and made him a “male”. He killed a fuck ton of people because he wanted to revenge and didn’t care who’s on his way. He was put into G-9 by Magnus after a huge rampage. But the Wreckers needed him to get into G-9 after Overlord occupied it. No one is happy about it.
"No, you don’t understand, he is a 'he'.” Rotorstorm said wearily to Verity. “All of us are genderless, we just use he in your language for convenience’s sake. But 'he',” The helicopter made a hand quote gesture to emphasize the word. “Is different. That’s why he is so fragging crazy and scary as pit!”
"Yeah, ‘he’ will literally tear your head off if you use the 'he' word in front of him, neo-cybex nor not.” Twin Twist bent down and whispered beside Verity’s ear. Topspin did the same and added into her other ear: “So don’t talk to him yet. Let Magnus deal with him first. Language barrier could be lethal, my little fella.”
This is totally not offensive and not misandry at all, don’t you think?
Wow, so a person has to pass his “test” to be able to make comment?
Because Mairghread Scott is a fake TF fangirl, a woman is not “qualified” enough to make comment on this male dominated franchise, that’s why. (Just joking, but this accusation of her not qualified enough sounds really familiar. Furman really doesn’t have to specifically say that. It is a stupid thing to say, not to mention that it ensures my suspicion of him being unconscious about his, how should I put it? unintentionally misogyny issues.)
»I have no desire to see male TFs either just to be quite clear.
Imagine what will happen if Furman introduced a crazy “male” TF with all the “men issues”?
If he, as a man, doesn’t want to see a “male” TF introduced under his own setting and feel uncomfortable about the idea, then why does he think we female readers want to see a “female” TF introduced in the same situation?
»There might be ones that look male, female, like a wolf or whatever but that doesn’t mean they have to actually be those things. Were this any other continuity (Prime, Animated, etc) I don’t think either of us would care that much because there’s a certain amount of representation their already.
I wonder why didn’t he write it like this in the beginning?
»But Windblade feels cobbled together by committee and pasted into a continuity where it doesn’t fit.
This is because the way Furman wrote the IDW “female” TF setting made it impossible for the later writers to introduce them without touching the “female TFs=Jhiaxus’s experiments” issue. Even if a writer introduce a “female” TF that is totally “normal” in every way, she will still be labeled as an abnormality because Furman outright wrote so.
This is part of the reason I am weary toward Windblade in addition to the design (the “white people’s japanese fetish” design makes her even more difficult to write). I would hate it if she have to fall into Furman’s setting.
»I fail to see how female readers have been in any way distanced by the brand because of genderless robots.
The man really doesn’t know how to do introspection, does he?
The problem lies not on the genderless part, but Furman specifically wrote “female” TF as abnormality. It would be easier if he even only just mentioned that there were also failed “male” TF experiments, but no, the man said “I have no desire to see male TFs either just to be quite clear.”
»To view the characters as LITERALLY one gender or another and take that one thing to emphasise when they are robotic, millennia old, transforming, energon consuming non biological life forms is to needlessly pick one aspect of HUMAN existence and try and apply it over any other.
Said the man who wrote Arcee as LITERALLY PHYSICALLY FEMALE.
OH PRIMUS I CAN’T DEAL WITH THIS ANYMORE.
»Arcee was unique and faced a unique problem which doesn’t directly correlate to either a typical human female problem or even a transgender or cisgender or any other situation that a human being may experience. But we can draw a fuzzy line to a wealth of human experience, or we can label it offensive and sexist and miss the point entirely.
Furman labeled Arcee as female, and her acquired gender is what drives her actions and makes her different from everyone else, so don’t tell me that her gender is a non-issue.
If Arcee was forced to be a “male” in the Spotlight, and “he” cannot control “his” violent, animal-like instinct and inner turmoil because of this acquired gender that messed up “his” CPU, it would still be blatant sexist (you know, those “men are all violent savages/rapists who can’t control their animal instinct” bullshit).
How about we make a crazy “male” character? Let me present you Spotlight: Impactor (sorry, mate, I do love you).
Impactor is super violent and a fucking nut job because Jhiaxus did some bad experiment on him and made him a “male”. He killed a fuck ton of people because he wanted to revenge and didn’t care who’s on his way. He was put into G-9 by Magnus after a huge rampage. But the Wreckers needed him to get into G-9 after Overlord occupied it. No one is happy about it.
"No, you don’t understand, he is a 'he'.” Rotorstorm said wearily to Verity. “All of us are genderless, we just use he in your language for convenience’s sake. But 'he',” The helicopter made a hand quote gesture to emphasize the word. “Is different. That’s why he is so fragging crazy and scary as pit!”
"Yeah, ‘he’ will literally tear your head off if you use the 'he' word in front of him, neo-cybex nor not.” Twin Twist bent down and whispered beside Verity’s ear. Topspin did the same and added into her other ear: “So don’t talk to him yet. Let Magnus deal with him first. Language barrier could be lethal, my little fella.”
This is totally not offensive and not misandry at all, don’t you think?