Misuse of words, or Did she really out him?

[karmyn75.livejournal.com]

As we all know, LKH has a strange way with words and misusing them in amusing ways. There's the infamous lose/loose, the new air/err, and my new favorite, the overuse and abuse of 'homophobe'.
I'm the first to admit I have no sort of gaydar at all. I mean, even after I saw a photo of a friend in a newspaper story about the university glbt club I still wasn't sure he was gay. Now he's in the middle of a sex change.
Anyway, it seems to me that LKH is misusing the word homophobe. When Richard is uncomfortable at seeing JC naked, Anita says he's homophobic. Maybe he just doesn't like seeing other men naked all the time. Nothing homophobic about that. The use of the word homophobe heavily implies that JC is totally and completely gay. Of course the readers know he and the other men are, but LKH has been denying this all along. Now she outs him.

Comments

[windiain.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly. You can see why people drew the line at that point. XD

The whole thing can boggle me, too. There's a whole thing about 3rd gender/non-gendered pronouns, too. Zie and Zir is quite popular in the trans world. It's okay if people can stick to it, but can get really confusing for people who have no clue about it. Not so bad when the person is laid back like me and doesn't mind outsiders using gendered pronouns, but gets really annoying when people get screechy about how they must use Zie and Zir and society must conform to their non-gendered way of life.

[witchwillow.livejournal.com]

I like noses. Noses are cool, man!

[windiain.livejournal.com]

Yes, agreed - given the internet is text-based, it's better to be thorough explaining. Just because I interpreted it one way doesn't mean others will. And hey, you bringing it up has opened some interesting discussion (which has been not at all flamey and offensive, which impresses me), and revealed that there are several trans fans in the comm. Which is pretty cool. :D Does your SO like LKH? Or is he saner than we are and know to avoid LKH's stuff like the plague? ;)

[windiain.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I'm sympathetic to the cause, but realistically it's not going to happen. Society would have to re-educate itself, and I'm just not sure that's possible at the moment, if at all. Hell, a lot of people haven't even heard of transsexualism, let alone third genders. We're talking about a society that thinks men in drag is shocking, much less men who want a sex change. Not to mention the fact that there are people out there who can't even spell gendered pronouns properly. Throw in a third set, their brains would break.

Sometimes I think it would be better to be an amoeba.

I like the idea of being a ball of electricity or something. I could still surf the net then. :D

[witchwillow.livejournal.com]

Hey, just because he likes to wear strippy pieces of leather, and has long hair, and occasionally eyes other guys dangly bits and often times seems to want to pick Anita up and throw her out of the room, when he's her, him and JC....

Oh wait. Never mind.

Although...dude! In the comics, given how alike JC and Anita are, do you think Richard's subconscious attraction to JC will be more obvious????

[windiain.livejournal.com]

Ohgod - LKH had to approve the character designs, too. Do you think she's aware of just how narcissistic it makes Anita (and herself, for that matter) look that JC is practically her clone?! :D

If Richard starts obviously ogling JC in the comics, I'll buy them just for that. :D

[witchwillow.livejournal.com]

If there's a scene of JC with his body fronting Anita's but his face looking over her shoulder or off to the side towards Richard and saying 'Ma petite!' - I'd buy that one issue!

And perhaps frame it!

[windiain.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of envious at their ability to apply makeup so well - I was hopeless at it as a teenager, and I was presenting as female back then. O_o

[windiain.livejournal.com]

For that matter, I'd be uncomfortable in ANY sexual situation, and in the company of people I didn't know being naked (I hate group changing rooms). If someone called me homophobic for that, they'd get a swift whacking with a cluebat. Clearly to people who know me, the issue is my own, with my own body, and nothing to do with homophobia. So how in the hell does anyone know what Richard's reasons to be uncomfortable have to do with homophobia?

Bigotry is when you cling to prejudiced beliefs, despite evidence that those beliefs are wrong. Personally, I agree - Anita can display bigoted behaviour. At the beginning of the series she clung to the belief the 'monsters' were bad, despite evidence to the contrary. I liked that, because it was realistic. Now... it seems to be insidious things here and there that have the scent of homophobia and sexism, and that makes me uncomfortable. So where I started out thinking that LKH was exploring an interesting subject intelligently, I now wonder if it wasn't deliberate, and just an expression of her own hangups.

[windiain.livejournal.com]

Framing it would be going a little too far. You'd have to look at the artwork, after all. Though if you hung it behind the guest room door...

[kerame.livejournal.com]

LKH likes to slap a label onto anyone who inconveniences Anita. Richard doesn't like to share a bed with other men so he's "homophobic", Ronnie and Dolph disapprove of Anita so they need therapy.

The men also exist for the sole purpose of gratifying Anita. Micah and Nathaniel are (supposedly) straight but have three-ways all the time and because Richard won't Micah says he has "issues". She also has sex with JC and Asher at the same time without allowing them to touch each other. Can you imagine? These two characters are in love with each other, are close together in a sexual situation, but are too afraid to touch each other because of what monkey-in-the-middle might do.

Yeah. Richard's the one with "issues"

[tartful-dodger.livejournal.com]

I feel pretty ambivalent towards Narcissus. On one hand the sheer lack of research or understanding into the intersex condition is pretty headdesky, but given that's LKH all over.

On the whole I liked that a genderqueer pervert had such power (even if it was undermined later on). I like seeing predatory queers who can handle themselves, make heterosexuals squawk with fear and use it to gain respect for themselves. It's nice to see someone so effeminate be dangerous. I personally was amazed that LKH could get her blinkered mind around the concept of a strong man in a dress with a uterus. Plus he replaces Gabriel as none-submissive, none-weak masochist, which I really appreciated as a counter balance to characters like the leopards and Phillip.

Re: homophobia

[tartful-dodger.livejournal.com]

I would....though that's precisely *why* I would.

There's no such thing as bad group sex in anitaverse. Just badly *written*. :D

[sharkcowsheep.livejournal.com]

Noses are cool, for they are the source of BOOGERS! Boogers are funny.

[rinkori.livejournal.com]

I got him to read the first couple of AB books before he lost interest. He really likes Jean-Claude, but after hearing me bitch about the turns the series have taken since then, he's not interested in investing any more time in the rest! Haha.

[rinkori.livejournal.com]

There's always the singular "they," which is my default pronoun for people whose gender I don't know or who identify as genderless.

Yeah, the etiquette is a little complicated, isn't it? Haha.

Really it's not so much whether you slip up and use the wrong pronoun as whether you correct yourself afterward. My partner is much more likely to forgive a wayward "she" if it's immediately corrected than if the pronoun-slipper-upper just blithely continues on.

[slayra.livejournal.com]

"Homophobia" is often used to apply to just anyone uncomfortable with same-sex sexual tension.

Strangely enough that would make Anita Blake a homophobe. After all, she is unconfortable with the notion that Asher and Jean-Claude are "doing it" behind her back. From what I read it's not only a question of jealousy, but it gives the idea that the fact that Asher is male also plays a big part in Anita 'not liking the idea'. Of course, I always thought AB read like a homophobe. A veiled one, but one nonetheless.

As for Richard, we all know about his 'experience' with Gabriel. Since he is (for the moment) a straight character who was sort of abused in a way (at least that's what I gathered) by another man, I don't see why he shouldn't feel unconfortable in the presence of other naked men. The fact that Anita, the homophobe is classifying Richard as one, is actually hilarious.

Re: homophobia

[slayra.livejournal.com]

go richard! Individuality is the way!

[windiain.livejournal.com]

I was about to dispute that, because I have a stinking cold, and I'm leaking snot... but I have to admit looking into my tissues with childish fascination. So actually, yes, boogers are funny. :D

[windiain.livejournal.com]

I prefer 'they', to be honest. It's far less confusing, because it's already established in the english language anyway. Most people can work out what you mean, too.

And yes, the correction does at least show that the person is making an effort, which is really appreciated.

[frabjously.livejournal.com]

Well... there was Sylvie, the lesbian werewolf. But I can't remember the last time we saw her. The Killing Dance?

[frabjously.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I'd forgotten that thing with Gabriel. Good point. If Richard is anything close to homophobic (which he really isn't) then he has a psychological reason to be.

Re: homophobia

[frabjously.livejournal.com]

You expressed by feelings perfectly.

Re: homophobia

[frabjously.livejournal.com]

*my

[panicqueen.livejournal.com]

I thought that Sylvie was one of the best little-used characters in the books. She was sexy and powerful. She would make such a good, strong lupa. :( Fare thee well, Sylvie.