More of the same old, same old, now with visual aids

I'm not really supposed to post until three more pages are colored and I'm not quite done with the third one, but my fingers have been itching. Everybody's probably heard about the much talked-about female character flowchart by now but I'm really too annoyed to not talk about it, even days later. Some links:

rawles on tumblr: This chart is like a pictorial representation of a dumbfuck metafandom essay about how all female characters are shitty so that’s why they are sadly forced to write about nothing but white dudes.

And this comment by homelight: Wow, there is literally ONE LINE leading to "strong female character." One. Line. That's a pretty perfect illustration at how narrow and limited the faux-feminist standards for "acceptable females" in fandom are. Pretty ironic, considering how one of the goals of feminism is to fight against the narrow and limited standards that women are measured against to match the idea of "good, acceptable women" IRL.

Yeah. That, pretty much.
More links in this post by havocthecat.

One of the good things that came out of this mess is this enlightening post about Yoko Ono, who never deserved any of the crap people have thrown at her, just as she doesn't deserve being listed on this flowchart: Dear Yoko Ono: You shouldn't even be here. by bossymarmalade
(... and btw, anyone who utters the phrase "she yoko'd the band" and finds it funny and oh so fitting should stop, just for a second, and think what exactly it is they're saying. Same goes for the lovely saying "bros before hos". If I never again encounter any of those phrases used uncritically in fandom... yeah, that would be nice.)

Here's an interesting post from 2008: Yoko Ono: A Feminist Analysis (Introduction: Oh Yoko!)

Yoko Ono’s name is tossed around as an insult, sometimes “jokingly,” sometimes really and truly hatefully. Any woman who dates a male band member and expects to be treated like a person, or any woman who is seen to in some way cause a change in a male artist of any kind, is particularly at risk of being called “Yoko.” To a lesser extent, so is any woman who expects to be given equal consideration as her partner and her partner’s friends friends. Why is it an insult, exactly? Well, because “everyone” hates Yoko Ono. She’s a mentally unbalanced, scheming, money-grubbing, castrating bitch. Oh, and she broke up the Beatles. Or so they say.

Oh yes, and finally, as to the vague "Can she carry her own story?" checkbox in the top line, that one step on the very, very narrow road leading to the One Approved Strong Female Character? Fic writers in particular are in the business of fleshing out even the most minor of characters - usually a guy - and make them carry their own story with ease. That is just one of the things we do here, isn't it. Fandom seems to be under the impression that Stargate's Dr Parrish, botanist with approximately five lines of dialogue, can carry his own story, just as the thoroughly underwritten Arthur and Eames from Inception can.
But Ellen Ripley, Tsukino Usagi, and Sarah Connor can't, apparently. *laughs and laughs* No, seriously, WTF?!
The question is meaningless. The question, if anything, would be more like: am I willing to let her carry her own story?

I'm torn between the usual feelings of rage and frustration because people out there are endorsing this flowchart as witty and clever and, worse, a useful resource for writing "strong female characters" - and relief because at least on LJ & DW so many folks have debunked this as the misguided, disingenuous, counterproductive BS that it is. Thank you, guys. ♥

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in other news, megatexas was back on his way up north and we had a great time. He always brings sunshiny weather with him, too, which I find very thoughtful. :) I think have a few pics to post, too. But I'll write that post when the coloring is done.