Friday...

One of the things I hate being told is that "This is the way X is so you will just need to accept it."

It's a bullshit statement and if everyone just accepted the way things were we'd still all be living in caves banging rocks together. Change happens because people want to move beyond the constraints of the now into something better. Women got the right to vote because a small group demanded change and started a movement that we are still fighting for to this day. Slavery was abolished, religious freedoms are more widely accepted and so on but all these changes came about because someone somewhere said hey hang on a minute this isn't right and fought against the status quo.

Telling me to accept things the way they are, telling me that my fight is useless because things are the way they are and they won't change no matter what I do is a red fucking flag.

You know what it's a bullshit statement from a scared majority who don't want things to change because they are perfectly happy with the way things are, they way things run in their favour and change scares the shit out of them.

When I played Star wars Galaxies I railed vehemently against the "NO TRADE" aspect of the game and time and again got told I should just give it up it's never going to change. Well I and the group of people fighting this with me didn't give up and eventually we won. The no trade items were reverted back to tradable. It may have only been a game but what it showed me was that no matter what other people say if you, as a human, want change to come, you have to fight for it and you have to be stubborn and persevere.

And this is how I feel about sexism and the objectification of women. Yes sex sells, though not as much as it used to. Women,  well people actually, are slowly growing tired of this. And men, smart men see through it. I get that some males of the species are led by the lower brain but I and many others don't buy into this BS that this is THE ONLY way to sell stuff, to entice guys to read books or get them interested in a particular subject / object / etc.... I think most men are actually smarter than that.

In the world of Sci-fi and Fantasy the myth that it's a totally male dominated arena is slowly being busted. Girls and women are a huge force to be reckoned with and while it may be that the jocks with cocks think they rule the roost I think they'd be surprised. Women spend a lot of money on books, clothes and toys and if there were more items available I think they'd see how much more they could make if they start marketing and catering to the female market as well. Until then I will fight for it. I will push against the norm. I won't accept that I have to take what's given even if it puts women down or marginalizes them simply because (some) men prefer tits and ass to well written, well thought out, strong female characters. I get this is an uphill battle, I get I may not see significant change in my lifetime but that doesn't mean I won't rail against it anyway.

So telling me that this is the way things are and it's never going to change is only going to strengthen my resolve to initiate and fight for change.  I know change is scary but it's worth it in the end.

ps. I also tend to get testy when people say I can't do something because I'm a girl and I've fought this one long and hard as well but this would be another post for another day. 

Pantsdance and other internet delights...

So the other day while sitting at home, watching Aliens on DVD, editing my star wars fanfic hanging out with my darling husband all the while watching my twitter feed when I noticed @thebloggess tweet about her #pantsdance. An open invitation to a party being streamed live from her bathroom with Dr. Pants a band playing live. So I joined in.

It occurred to me that this internet thing is pretty amazing. We facebook, we tweet, we message, we share photos, and we somehow become joined. We have this virtual world in which there are no borders and everyone gets to play ( well mostly). We share, it is in our nature to do so. We want to belong and we build communities just so that we can.

It has been fun to read the tweets of other writers. I am enjoying being a part of this lively and encouraging community. I'm writing at the moment instead of creating art. I'm editing the DOTE books so that I can get on with the next book I have burning up my brain.  I know that DOTE is just a fanfic so in the eyes of many writers not real writing at all but that's not true. Writing is writing and stories no matter what are stories.

Lots of good advice to be had.

I also read, fairly often, that one has to sell one's work to be of worth because giving it away for free means it's worthless. I have to disagree with this. Self worth doesn't come from monetary value, at least not for me. I get my self worth out of knowing I did something well. It doesn't matter if it is my art or my words or even doing the laundry. I watched my dad try to sell himself and his art to galleries and it was something I swore I'd never do. He was a brilliant artist with water colours ( and I don't just say that as his kid)   but for me watching him try to get accepted like this was painful.

 I don't much care about that side of things and I never really have. I know it irks people when i say that but I really just like to make art and write stories. I give my creations away because it makes me feel good to share art. And fanfiction should never be sold anyway especially not star wars fanfics unless one wants one's ass sued to the moon and back.

I'm lucky in that I don't have to make money off my art to live but even if I did I would probably have a different job and still do art on the side. I love being creative and I don't want it to be a job. I have already experienced that once or twice and decided long ago that was not for me.
This doesn't mean I won't or never have sold my art but it's not a driving force for me, neither is being elite and famous.

So it annoys me when I see people write that giving it away for free = being of no worth. I don't think that's true. I create beautiful things and I write wonderful stories and I share my works freely so that people can enjoy it. Art wants to be free and it should not always be over priced and exclusive. Now... before the angry hordes come down on me I am all for people making a living off their art. I BUY art, music and books regularly. I try to support the people who DO make a living from their creativity. We make a living in all manner of ways I just choose not to do so from my art. Now my words on the other hand... if I ever get past the DOTE stuff and write my own worlds then we'll see but it doesn't make what I do of no worth just because I don't stick a dollar sign on it.

in the mean time I am enjoying the mad interwebz it gives me a sense of belonging when I am on my own and procrastinating.