gender & sexuality issues in fandom, some thoughts

(Icon used semi-ironically!)

So I'm following unfunnybusiness@JF to keep updated on a lot of outrageous things (good source for interesting news actually though I need to find another place with more gender/LGBTQ-specific issues and China-issues) and it's been very educational and also very...rage-inducing. ffrantsrants is entertaining especially for fandom meta; possibly I should start following metafandom? sf_drama?

Anyway, the point is that I've run across a lot of gender/LGBTQ current issues lately that, paired with my readings for my Sexuality and the Law class, are fascinating and make me wish I had the time to meta about how fandom (as I've encountered) deals with these issues. Genderswap, for instance, is poorly-named, when it's actually changing the physical sex of the character in question. Is it propogating stereotypes? Is it enforcing the mainstream view of binary genders and binary sexes? Of course, "it's just a kink" and that may (or may not) excuse it to some degree, as long as the people who enjoy it are still aware of the actual issues in the world involving genderqueer individuals. (After all, rape fantasies are only just fantasies and I wish people would learn to distinguish liking a kink from supporting something IRL. Also: YKINMK.) I don't know that I have much (or any) authority to be speaking on these issues but I do know I want to learn more.

( Cut for walls of text, yo. )

TL;DR - Sometimes I do more than flail superficially at hot people! And sometimes I think that's worth sharing.