Labels In RD Fic (Or Lack Thereof)

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

A comment I left on a RD slash fic on AO3 and its author's reply set me thinking about the extremely relaxed approach to labels which virtually all RD fic writers seem to have.  With Michael_McGruder's permission I'm reproducing the exchange here.  (You can also find a link to their fic in the first comment to this entry; I recommend the whole series it's a part of.)

Me: You know, I think this is the first time I've read the word "bisexual" in an actual RD fic as opposed to meta.  Not a criticism, just an observation.

MM: Yeah, I'm not sure why everyone is so skittish about defining anyone as bisexual in fics, considering nearly 100% of them make Lister bi.

It's a good question.  I'm not sure whether it's because we're usually talking about Lister rather than Rimmer.  While the canonical evidence of his interest in women is undeniable (and no-one's trying to deny it) he also seems pretty likely to dislike the whole concept of labels.

Alternatively, it could be because of RD's setting and the fact that there are no humans around to make definitions necessary.  Or maybe there's just something about this show which encourages a laid back, laissez-faire approach to this kind of thing, much as no-one's bothered about defining Rimmer or Lister as a top or a bottom.  What do you think? :)

Comments

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Possibly. That's actually fairly unusual though in RD fic. I take your point though.

I appreciate that a lot, especially considering I define myself as a lesbian despite my crush on Craig. That's just what feels right to me and I really like the fact that no-one on here has ever questioned that. :)

Whilst I completely agree that real people can define themselves any way they want, it's different with fictional characters. Willow in "Buffy" describes herself as a lesbian after falling in love with Tara despite having previously been in a loving relationship with cis male Oz. I've seen this cited often as an example of bi erasure because she's not a real person and could have provided bi representation.

Of course it's different with Lister who's officially "perfectly straight" as Kahvi and Roadstergal would put it. Despite dreaming about kissing a man. ;)

I have to admit though, hearing the characters use words like "bisexual" and "racist" (Rimmer in "F&S") does jar a bit. Given the section in the Series IV doc about never having mentioned race (at the time) it's kind of a shame that Doug had to spoil that.

It doesn't really bother me that much though. If a fic is good people can use all the labels they like. :)

[(Anonymous)]

...You've got an unnecessary "cis" in that remark about Willow, seeing as how a relationship with a trans man would still have been a relationship with a man...

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Sorry! I wrote that in a hurry and knew it didn't quite sound right. I think what I was attempting to communicate to those reading this who've never seen "Buffy" was that Oz wasn't a non-binary or androgynous character, as his name is pretty ambiguous (it's actually an abbreviation of his surname). I wasn't thinking of trans men specifically.

I was trying to underline the fact that she was presented as having no same-sex interest prior to meeting Tara. Although we did meet a vampire version of her who was very clearly bisexual, but given the outrage online when her relationship with Tara became canon a lot of people overlooked that. As they always will unless you actually show them the characters kissing, sadly.