(no subject)

[tsubaki-ny.livejournal.com]

First post. I'm not well-read in the Anitaverse at all (read one, skimmed others, read the comic, seen lots of excerpts and reviews), and so I've hesitated joining the com, or saying anything too mean (I'll probably continue hesitating on that one), based on, well, my scanty qualifications.

Still, I read something today that was rather like a lightning strike, and I wanted to share. (I've Googled to see if it's shown up in this community before, and I can't find it.) It's an old blog entry by Kit Whitfield (an author I first heard of in this com) on a permutation of the Mary Sue -- the "Snappy Sue."

The fit is so apt it's kinda scary, I think.

Writes Whitfield (naming no names):

"A variant of Mary Sue becoming increasingly common in female-written and -marketed fantasy fiction. Snappy Sue is an empowered chick, generally urban and frequently in her twenties or older, who's respected/admired/worshipped for being a Strong Woman. Unfortunately, the author continually asserts her strength by giving her a tendency to take her temper out on all around her. This, oddly, makes people admire her more."

[....]

"Though she owes much to the rise of feminism, Snappy Sue fundamentally doesn't like women. She tends to be surrounded by men and have few female allies - female heroism is in short supply here, and Snappy gets all of it. ..."

Full blog entry:
http://www.kitwhitfield.com/2006/09/mary-sue-gets-mean.html

It's really fascinating.

(The preceding entry is also pretty fun: Mary Sue in the time of George Eliot)

Comments

Snappy Sue and strong men

[rozasharn.livejournal.com]

Attractive men find her a turn-on, though they tend to be 'strong' men themselves; perish the thought Snappy Sue's aggressive behaviour might lead her perfect mate to be a naturally submissive man.

I would argue that Anita does fit this description. A lot of lashers say that Anita's men have all lost their backbone, but they seem to mean that the men all submit to Anita. That's covered by the scenario.

But a Real Man TM only has to be socially and physically strong. All her men are physically strong thanks to their supernatural qualities.

In the social realm Jean-Claude is the vampire equivalent of mayor or crime-lord, and enforces his dominance with violence. Richard wins every fight among the werewolves. Micah is the leader of the leopards. Those are all powerful, high-status men. They don't tell Sue what to do, but they do tell other people what to do.