AO3 does not live in “the cloud” because that is other people’s computers, and other people’s computers are vulnerable to censorship.
AO3 is on its own computers. It does still have to be housed somewhere, and I suppose a determined enough hater could try to find that place and go after it, but it’s a lot harder than sending spurious complaints to Amazon or whomever going “BadWrong things are hosted on your cloud service!”
Owning the servers is a core tenet of OTW/AO3.
Warming up a new database server….
When people involved with AO3 talk about “the cost of servers” they don’t mean “the cost to pay Amazon for space on their servers.” They mean, like, the cost to physically own them, and eventually replace them with new ones. And the operating costs to run them.
AO3 is not “in the cloud.” AO3 is stored on physical machines that the OTW owns.
While this is not a solution that can work for everyone who wants to deal with controversial content, it is why AO3ple sneer at alt-righters who complain about getting thrown off hosting platforms.
yeah I’m a nonpracticing woman. I was raised female but I don’t really believe anymore yknow?
I’m culturally female. I don’t really believe in one true gender, but I do participate in some of the rituals I was raised in, when I feel like it. And I enjoy participating in the traditions of other genders too sometimes.
I’m only female on Christmas and Easter, for my parents.
I’m not really into the whole female dogma, but the aesthetic went off, ya know?
why does this feel so true?
This is funny, but I read the first line like “nonpracticing doctor”. You went to school to become a woman, but you didn’t bother to get your woman license so now you just use your woman knowledge to write particularly detailed murder mysteries.
Since BL and fujoshi discourse is the hot topic du jour, let’s talk a bit about gay stereotypes in Japanese manga and anime.
I’m seeing a worrying number of people not only saying that all BL and fujoshi promote homophobic stereotypes, but that BL is the primary or sole instigator of homophobia in Japanese society (excuse me, I choked on drink there).
For those who don’t know, Boy’s Love (BL) is a niche category of shoujo/josei manga that focuses on M/M relationships (commonly known in the west as “yaoi”, though that is a misnomer). It’s still frowned upon, both for being gay content and for being mainly romance aimed at women. The word “fujoshi” — used today to mean “female fan of BL” — even has seriously misogynistic origins.
So far, BL is published on specific magazines, and most anime adaptations are OVAs that aren’t aired on TV. Although it has a significant following, it’s definitely not popular enough to change the opinions on gay men of the entire anime fanbase, much less of Japanese society as a whole.
Homophobia in Japan has a long history, but one of the most impactful chapters was the Meiji Restoration (1867-68), when Japan’s isolationist foreign policy was abolished and rapid westernization began. Negative Christian views on homosexuality disseminated throughout the country and public opinion of practices such as nanshoku/wakashudou declined until they were practically criminalized and banned.
For reference, both BL and yuri had their origins more than a century later,
in the 1970’s-80’s.
I find that a lot of criticism of stereotyping in BL is, unsurprising, very US-centric. The thin, androgynous, pretty and emotionally sensitive characters of BL may coincidentally fit western gay stereotypes, but this type of character just represents an East Asian beauty standard for men. Guys who fit these bishounen and ikemen types are considered desirable by Japanese women and are generally assumed to be straight.
A handful of pretty boys from Touken Ranbu.
In the US, your idea of a stereotypical gay dude may be a metrosexual twink with a lisp and a limp wrist, but different countries have different stereotypes. In Japan, the appearance of イカホモ/イカニモ (“ikahomo” or “ikanimo”, a stereotypical gay man) is a heavy-set masculine guy with short haircut, strong face, and facial hair.
Sort of like the guys you see in geikomi, right?
Pin-ups by Jiraiya, long-time artist for G-men magazine.
But we’re talking about entertainment media, more specifically about animanga. We’ll get there soon.
Gay men in Japan are stereotyped by the general population as being camp, and using feminine clothes, language and pronouns. Those who present femininely are often referred to as オネエ (“onee”) because they use オネエ言葉 (“onee kotoba”, feminine speech), and may or may not identify as male. Many entertainers who are out use onee personas on TV to, well, entertain the audience. That may be the only exposure an average Japanese person has to a real-life openly gay or trans person.
As for fiction, media creators tend to fall back on archetypes based on prejudices for minority characters, and that includes gay men. A bit like how the US has the “fairy” archetype, Japan has the “okama”.
Now, オカマ (“okama”, lit. rice pot) is not a word used in polite conversation to refer to people. It’s a homophobic and transphobic slur, directed at people who fit the onee stereotype.
If you’re not a Japanese queer man or transfem individual, you shouldn’t direct it at anyone, period. Not even yourself. Although there are some who reclaim the term, it’s still largely considered derogatory and insulting.
Japanese media has an okama character archetype, which reflects how society thinks a gay man looks and acts. You may be surprised to hear that it’s not the willowy, androgynous bishounen of shoujo manga.
Wanted to emphasize this part because it’s a long read, so I want to highlight the point because I think it opens up a more nuanced discussion about BL and fujoshi:
“Don’t fall into the trap of using a rather niche type of media as a scapegoat for a widespread and complex societal problem.
Don’t fall into the trap of viewing LGBTQ+ issues in other countries through a solely US-centric lens.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that Japanese queer people are too dumb to criticize homophobia in their own society and need foreigners (cough cough Americans) to “enlighten” them on it.“
And I did some additional fact-checking on aniparo since the source linked to another tumblr post and found this text which is free to read online as a PDF.
Basically ani-paro was used to refer to anime parodies in general, and much like how a lot of fanfiction is just smut, women started making ani-paro that was just smut.
Relevant excerpt:
During the 1980s, the popular genre of female-oriented narratives of male homosexuality
expanded when what is called the ani-paro (anime-parody) culture developed.
Certain Japanese women started recasting the male characters in popular animations,
manga, and other genres in homosexual pairings (Nishimura 2002).
The term yaoi emerged
originally as a reference to amateur ani-paro productions. One hypothesis regarding the origin
of the term yaoi is that it is an acronym of the phrase ‘yamanashi ochinashi iminashi’
(no climax, no ending, no meaning); this phrase is considered to have originally been a
cynical remark, used to criticize works in which artists dedicated themselves to depicting
pornographic sex scenes while ignoring narrative functions and structures.
Emphasizing the last part because it sounds a lot like how people stereotype fanfiction, and how in turn fandoms will apply the same stereotype to BL.
This is a SUPERB addition, I can’t thank you enough!
Dear World making progress handquilting on the Star Trek Orion Emerald chain Syndicate quilt. #quilting #handquilting #StarTrek. #orion #EmeraldChainSyndicate
The internet archive is so important it’s sooo important to archive digital data to preserve it if you can throw a couple of dollars their way to support them then please do so. Don’t let greedy people and individuals take away the internet archive!
best way I have found to comfort people who are endlessly apologetic of things outside their control (often as a result of shitty relationships) is the jokingly hyperbolic accusation of [gasp] “so you’re behind it all!”
like someone giving me directions who starts apologizing profusely when I miss a light as if it’s their fault–[gasp] “it was you who petitioned city council to build this intersection in 1893!!” because it snaps them out of it and they laugh like. oh yeah. that’s a ridiculous thing to blame someone for. I’m not that guy. you’re not that guy. it works.
Cecil. She/her. During the day I sit in libraries staring at books. During the night I write queer fanfiction with a historical slant.
Some not-so-random facts: Gay space lizards are the best lizards. Star Trek is my life. I have too many DS9 ships. Classic Who and the Eighth Doctor Adventures make me grin stupidly. Kelas Parmak is the best. I will defend historically accurate portrayals of Alan Turing to the last drop of blood. Likes and asks end up in the name of @apolesens-otheraccount, because Tumblr doesn't have a way of changing which blog is your primary one. Nothing happens over there - this is the one to follow.
