(no subject)

[camwyn]

I have said in the past that I'm not very good at being a girl. I mean, I don't like or much adhere to social conventions regarding traditionally Western feminine behavior, likes, hobbies, social expectations, etc. Sure, I knit and I cook, and I take a measure of pride and joy in things like 'ooh, nice tiebacks for my curtains, which incidentally I am also pleased with!' or 'Eee! This is exactly the bathroom rug I've been looking for!', but overall? I more often tend towards preferences for gender-neutral or masculine things. I'm not saying I identify as neuter, male, or anything- I identify as female. I'm biologically female. The only times I really dislike being a woman involve menstruation, as far as I can remember. It's more a social/behavioral thing than anything.

I mention this because I had it confirmed and confirmed hard the other day, when I realized that, despite having read all of the archives of Girls with Slingshots and rather liked it, I just... wasn't particularly interested in it- and that I really liked Least I Could Do despite the main character's predilections and behaviors being the kind of thing that would probably cause me to set him on fire in RL.

Some days I am so very much not the target audience. For anything.

Comments

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

You're not alone, and I think there are plenty of others out there like us. Like my Aunt S., who has only ever worn a dress to church on Sundays and for weddings and funerals in the past 30 years. She makes an awesome cake, too. And gardens like a fiend, and has a nice collection of power tools.

[camwyn]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the last skirt I wore in the past five years was to a friend's wedding. I honestly can't remember putting one on before that, except maybe for one of my grandmothers' funerals, and that was years ago.

[aduial-peredhel.livejournal.com]

I sew. I draw. I used to write. I like homemade things. I like skirts but often forget that I have them. Yeah, I feel you.

We should start a group.

And someone take my uterus. Please. I have no need for it. Ever.

[lienne.livejournal.com]

...now I'm reading Girls with Slingshots. From the beginning.

[vivien]

There's plenty of room out there for allllll kinds of women who like all kinds of things while still being as womanly as they want to be. We're damn lucky we can make these choices, so I say rock on with what you like (the Least I Could Do was rather funny, I thought)!

I am also consistently awed by knitting skill, since girly-girl though I may be, I can't do shit with knitting needles. And, uh, I barely have curtains, much less tie backs. So. :-P

[cameoflage.livejournal.com]

My girly traits can be summed up thusly: I use fancy lip balm (not gloss exactly, but not plain old chapstick either), am a big Sims fan, like to color-coordinate things, and enjoy making aesthetically pleasing characters (outfits included). Although the latter two are artist things as much as they're girly things, really, and I will insist until the day I die that I like TS2 because it's an excellent storytelling tool with a flexible character creator rather than because you get to take care of little virtual people. That, and my activity of choice when I decide I have to get out of the house is 'wander around the mall'. (Alone.) Also I wear skirts as formal-type-clothing (I have no pants that aren't made of denim) or, on very rare occasion, just because I feel like it.

However, in pretty much all other respects, I act like either a guy or a genderless alien. In particular, I enjoy FPSes, like listening to metal (although I'm a musical omnivore, and my actual, and have no problem with manual labor.

I like Girls With Slingshots, though. Possibly because I'm there for the slice-of-life part rather than the female perspective. And everything I hear about Least I Could Do -- haven't actually read it, but I'm pretty intuitive about this kind of thing -- confirms my impression that the main guy is a Marty Stu who would annoy me immensely.

I basically identify female out of convenience, since I don't identify male either and have no particular problem with being in a female body except that boobs are inconvenient and menstruation sucks. All in all, I'd rather be the genderless alien. :P

[cameoflage.livejournal.com]

Proofreading fail. I was going to say that my actual favourite genre was... the 80s, basically.

[camwyn]

And everything I hear about Least I Could Do -- haven't actually read it, but I'm pretty intuitive about this kind of thing -- confirms my impression that the main guy is a Marty Stu who would annoy me immensely.

Yeah, he is. he really is. Which is why I'm surprised I liked it; if a character like that cropped up in fanfic I'd use a printout of the fanfic to help me clean up what happens when Tiki gets diggy in his litterbox. I don't know.

[cameoflage.livejournal.com]

Strange indeed!

[vadrice.livejournal.com]

target audiences are for sales teams, not for artists. you are an enthusiastic audience. you have strong well articulated responses. you are a GOLDMINE.