Fanfic Inara - anti-feminist?
POSTED BY: AgentRouka
UPDATED: Tuesday, January 6, 2009 12:10
VIEWED: 13612
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Originally posted by Platonist:
And as much as Inara may rely monetarily on her work and enjoy her role as a Companion, I think "Better Days" illustrated how sexually unfulfilled Inara really is, feminist or not. But, we already knew that because she is in love with Mal:) and one can't disregard Joss's interpretation of his own character.
This may not be a popular sentiment, but I am not a huge fan of where Joss was going with Inara, either. I think he has a mixed record when it comes to portraying feminism in his characters. Often it's awesome, absolutely awesome, but sometimes it's not. River in the movie is barely a character, he can tend toward replacing emotional responsibility with physical prowness (Hello, Zoe.), everyone was down on Simon instead of telling Kaylee to grow up and stop whining. And this whole thing with Inara gave me the same creepy crawlies that it would in fanfiction. It disappointed me.
That's why I tend to ignore those aspects of Joss's extra-work when it comes to Inara. He's squandering very interesting opportunities for.. what? Making sure her entire life revolves around Mal enough? Ugh.
As for Inara's secret, I know it, and while it's not perfect, I can deal with it. But it's not realy something she would need to protect the crew from. I do not think it would be selfish to put herself before Mal's feelings. He rarely does the same for her, so why should she? Self-preservation is not a vice, yet in female characters it is viewed as a crime.
The scenario with Atherton, on the other hand, didn't disturb me because it was less about Mal and more about what Inara is willing to tolerate. I'm sure she would have done the same for another person about to be skewered, AND she may have had a backup plan ready.
I just dislike the interpretations that place all of Inara's decisions in relation to Mal.
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Post BDM, I can see Inara involved in planning the heists, maybe playing a backup role, but not as a major gun toting Ninja. She doesn't need to be anything more than she is, others fulfill that role. Plus Mal would absolutely die inside if something happened to her during a heist. That’s the part of his life he doesn’t want her to become involved with because it is the part that he is the most ashamed of.
That's why I said criminal masterminding, not robbing banks and toting guns. I think she would be great when teamed up with Simon. Simon's plan for Ariel was brilliant and no bloodshed would have been required had Jayne not gotten greedy. That's the kind of thing I mean. :)
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Quote:
Originally posted by AgentRouka:
The title of this is a bit exaggerated, of course. But the subject generally interests me.
In a great number of fanfics dealing with Inara and Mal, the following things happen:
- The Guild is Evil
- Inara really doesn't like her job
- Inara has never really had good sex
- Sex with Mal is a REVELATION
- Inara cries over something Mal does and he doesn't find out
- a crew member tells Inara to get over Her Problem, while no one does the same to Mal
- Inara is terribly sorry for "running away"
- Inara abandons her profession or is unfairly kicked out
- Inara equates the Guild with the Alliance
- Inara has a romantic rival for Mal because she "pushed him away"
- Inara doesn't really like her fancy clothes or affluent life, and dresses in "Mal-appropriate" clothing
- Inara becomes the ship's cook or teacher
- Inara has no family
- Mal outwits Inara and leaves her speechless
- Mal orders Inara around and she "swallows her pride"
- Mal's insults are treated as out of his control, comparable to Simon's faux-pas
And so on.
Hmm, nice post. I always like it when people distill things.
Maybe will join in this discussion a bit later when I have time.
Heads should roll
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Originally posted by VeraSamuels:
At Dragon Con last Aug/Sept, Nathan revealed Inara's big secret. Because it's so huge, I'm not going to write it out loud, but knowing it informs a LOT of how Inara behaves and why she at least maintains the wall between her and Mal.
P.M. me if you absolutely have to know. I'll tryst you not to go squealing it [actually, I haven't come across anyone making it more public yet].
Devout Keeper of Jayne's Lunchbox
LALALALALALALA...NOT LISTENIIIIIINNNNNG!!!
I remember reading somewhere that TPTB would not start revealing secrets and backstory until they'd given up, and we've already been told by one that the Mysterious Vial did indeed officially contain something that would kill anyone Inara had sex with.
I refuse to give up hope!!! Do not tempt me vile... tempter.
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Quote:
Originally posted by AgentRouka:Quote:
Post BDM, I can see Inara involved in planning the heists, maybe playing a backup role, but not as a major gun toting Ninja. She doesn't need to be anything more than she is, others fulfill that role. Plus Mal would absolutely die inside if something happened to her during a heist. That’s the part of his life he doesn’t want her to become involved with because it is the part that he is the most ashamed of.
That's why I said criminal masterminding, not robbing banks and toting guns. I think she would be great when teamed up with Simon. Simon's plan for Ariel was brilliant and no bloodshed would have been required had Jayne not gotten greedy. That's the kind of thing I mean. :)
I posted this over at another thread but I think it's a bit relevant here too:
"As to Inara as a petty thief, she would be a good one. Companions practice deception all the time and she's quick with a psychological read of a person and knows how to use her "assets" to get what she wants.
Add to that an ability to drive a hard bargain (see her negotiation with Mal in OOG about the rental price for the shuttle)and her ability to use words to get herself or the crew out of a jam using her wits (her TTJ rescue of Mal and Zoe for instance) I think she'd be an awesome but inexperienced petty thief (likely quickly remedied)"
As to Inara teaming up with Simon, they would be the masterminds of the 'Verse in a short while.
Just my humble opinion.
http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/
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I didn't like Better Days much myself. Is it just me, or did Zoe seem kind of judgmental when she confronts Inara about her client and Mal? And I really didn't like how the end implies that Mal sabotaged the futures of his crew in order to keep them together. Way I see it, he'd let them go, just like he let Inara go, and justify it to himself that they'll be safer while he tries to continue to live the only life he knows.
Though the discussion about what they'll do with the riches is pretty funny.
Anyway. That scene in Better Days... I can't necessarily say that in Firefly Inara's life didn't already revolve around Mal. She bought passage on Serenity to try to find her own independence, and ended up with an overbearing tyrant of a captain who controls her professional life through where he takes the ship to look for his own work. And we all know that it really annoyed her, she fights against it and that makes her a strong willed feministic woman.
I think there is a difference between Inara the person and Inara the companion, just like there's one between and Mal the person and Mal the captain. The persons underneath the titles like each other, despite the disapproval of their surface identities. And as long as she continues to stand up for herself (which she does), I don't think that makes her less a feminist, any more than Mal's feelings weaken his resolve.
And even if that wasn't just her mind wandering during the meet with her client, I don't find it that disturbing that a liberated woman like her might fantasize about someone she's attracted to, even if he also annoys the hell out of her.
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Great list. I do believe I've seen a fanfic for just about everything on you list (and I have probably been guilty of a few those myself). But that's what makes Inara a challenge in canoning her. I wouldn't necessarily say that it's an anti feminist movement, simply because most writers do not intentionally writer in an anti-feminist fashion. Speaking as someone who's written fanfic since she was fifteen (my god I'm getting old) and has had her share of many, horrific uncanon portrayals, it's hard as hell to write any strong female character with the right amount of balance. Too much one way and you've got a weepy damsel, too much the other way and she could go GI Jane on you. And when you address a pairing it is very easy to just make them a generic lovy dovey couple, blissfully in love or in traditional male/female roles instead of the couple that they actually are. It can be very hard to catch yourself too, in some fandoms readers may actually encourage the perfect life/fluff portrayal because the fandom demographic is less interested with realistic canoning and more so in reading a feel good RomCom. Whereas here at FFF.net, canoning is taken very seriously (which I am extremely grateful for because while RomCom/Fluff may bring in the praises and comments, canon writing is much more challenging and fulfilling imho) .
I think that Inara does enjoy her job, yet there are pros and cons of her occupation. It's obvious her career was chosen for her at a very young age, so on occasion she may have doubting moments, ie if a client treats her poorly (end of Shindig), however I think overall she prides herself and her position. She is very nurturing too, which seems to lend to being a companion. It's particularly apparent when she has her session with Fess Higgins, as she takes on a nurturing, teaching role with him, lying with him and teaching him about being a man, and that it's beyond just losing your virginity. She seems to enjoy being that kind of companion, it's possible different companions specialize in different aspects, and she tends to lean towards nurturer and teacher.
Now as for her never having great sex, that's entirely debatable. I have always thought that her sexual experience was at a young age, and making love was taught to her to be more or less of an art and union that was not to be a romantic extension. While she can certainly enjoy the sex she's being paid for, it lacks the emotion and passion one would feel with an individual they actually love because she was taught to not form an emotional attachment. I think Inara knows her Kama Sutra and has had her share of mind blowing sex, but she might not entirely feel fulfilled because she knows that sex between people in love is different than a liaison with a client, and that's what may help fuel her own fantasies. As for Mal being the object of said fantasies, I think that while they are very hot and cold, she muses about him because he is the exact opposite of her clients. He's different, he's rough around the edges, he's a little mysterious, and they have a good repartee when they aren't thinking the other is insufferable.
The guild isn't evil, however the flashbacks from OoG and her conversations make it easy to assume that the Guild is completely Pro-Alliance (as are most of her clients). In fact I believe that the early form of the Alliance is what legalized the sex trade and helped to form the Companion Guild, so there is heavy political bias and backing in the Guild itself. I think after the BDM she begins to doubt her ties and association with the Guild because her views have changed. She’s been through enough, and seen enough though of the dark side of the government to doubt her place as a Companion though, so it’s understandable. I do not however think she feels guilty for parting with the crew to teach at Madressa. She left by her own will, tried her hand at teaching at the House, but in the end of the BDM, it’s clear she’s more comfortable back home on Serenity. She may regret missing on some capers the crew had in her absence,
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Quote:
Originally posted by TuJiaoZuo:
I wouldn't necessarily say that it's an anti feminist movement, simply because most writers do not intentionally writer in an anti-feminist fashion.
Oh, I wouldn't ascribe it to a movement, at all! Nor do I think that the women writing this are intentionally unfeminist. I don't think they really consider what they are writing, and the result worries me because it says a lot about how women view female characters and by extension, female human beings.
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Speaking as someone who's written fanfic since she was fifteen (my god I'm getting old) and has had her share of many, horrific uncanon portrayals, it's hard as hell to write any strong female character with the right amount of balance. Too much one way and you've got a weepy damsel, too much the other way and she could go GI Jane on you.
To be honest, the only even vaguely GI Jane characters I have seen were Mary Sues, and they tend to invariably be slightly built. I think the balance is definitely skewed toward the weepy damsel or the louder version: irrational shrieking harpy. There is very rarely a rational, uncontested righteousness in the way Inara is portrayed, where she doesn't end up being shown the error of her ways. Themes like on the show in the pilot or in "Safe", where she goes up against Mal and doesn't care if he gets mad, maybe even wins out of purely being right, that rarely happens.
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It's obvious her career was chosen for her at a very young age,
Why is that obvious? There is nothing to suggest that there is anything involuntary about being a Companion, whereas there was many suggestions that it is not that easy to become one. Viewing her profession as something she did not fully, whole-heartedly and gladly choose is almost something I want to put on the list because it is entirely based on assumptions, but very pervasive in the fandom and I cannot help but wonder whether this is also due to some need to purify Inara, to take this choice out of her hands and make it "not her fault".
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While she can certainly enjoy the sex she's being paid for, it lacks the emotion and passion one would feel with an individual they actually love because she was taught to not form an emotional attachment.
Inara grew up in a society not so different from ours, yet the pervasive tendency is to assume she wouldn't have been surrounded by the same messages combining love and sexuality. Why would Companion training ignore this obvious link instead of merely making a distinction between professional and private sex? How could Inara even do her job if she wasn't somewhat experienced the many different natures of sex? How could she understand her clients?
What I see there is a hesitancy to allow a woman to NOT choose romantic love but something else, even if she knows the difference. The assumption that sex with a loving partner must necessarily be more fulfilling - sexually - it doesn't really have a basis. It is more fulfilling emotionally, but sexually? Why do people have affairs even though they love their spouses? Because sexual fulfillment is not necessarily linked to love. Who would know this better than a Companion?
I can buy that Inara may be emotionally unfulfilled, but this is always always always linked to sexual fulfillment, linked to sex with Mal being of a quality she has never experienced before. I don't buy it. It's one of the most damaging kinds of female fairy tale that sex with your true love is automatically awesome, or that it isn't as good if you don't love your partner.
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The guild isn't evil, however the flashbacks from OoG and her conversations make it easy to assume that the Guild is completely Pro-Alliance (as are most of her clients).
Which is also not the same thing as unthinkingly supporting bad choices that the Alliance makes. There is no evidence that the Guild has direct links with the Alliance other than supporting their general politics (which aren't that dif
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Yay! I’ve missed these kinds of threads! These discussions do stoke the fire to work on the half-finished, really-needs-to-get-finished fic. 
And it’s just fun, to break down the characters this way – thanks AR!
Quote:
Originally posted by AgentRouka:Quote:
Originally posted by TuJiaoZuo:
I wouldn't necessarily say that it's an anti feminist movement, simply because most writers do not intentionally writer in an anti-feminist fashion.
Oh, I wouldn't ascribe it to a movement, at all! Nor do I think that the women writing this are intentionally unfeminist. I don't think they really consider what they are writing, and the result worries me because it says a lot about how women view female characters and by extension, female human beings.
I was a little shocked, when I first read Firefly fanfic, at how many young woman wrote romantic fluff. I had thought my mother's generation put an end to that, and yet here were a group of women basically fantasizing of nothing but a strong man to take care of them. I guess that can be fun and all, but reducing strong characters like Inara and Kaylee and River to little dolls with nothing to focus on but the man in their lives – ack! I’m just not into any Joss verse so I can imagine myself as the stay-at-home caretaker of a big man who’ll protect and coddle me in return. Sure, I’ll imagine good sex and fluffy romance, but in the Joss verse I expect the female characters I identify with to have some backbone, and for the relationships to not fall into the usual gender stereotypes. That’s what Joss is all about, right? Break the stereotypes while making fun of them whenever possible.
Anyway, I guess fanfic was my first experience with a kind of anti-feminist movement in the younger generation. And I do think it is, at least in part, consciously done. I’ve had young women tell me: “But I don’t want to go to college, I don’t want to work - I want to find a husband to support me while I stay home and have kids, and all the feminist stuff be damned!”
I admit, I find that disturbing. Stay at home moms are lovely, but for a young woman to plan for nothing else is like she’s setting herself up to be trapped and unhappy.
Oh sorry. I got a bit preachy.
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It's obvious her career was chosen for her at a very young age,
Why is that obvious?
Seconded. I don't see this as obvious at all. In fact, it never even occurred to me! My own assumption is that strong-willed, independent Inara chose her own path. Supporting this: I see the Guild as a place that would take a great deal of care in making sure that each novice *wants* to be there. Certainly, this is arguable given Nandi’s situation. But then, I never saw Nandi’s “shunning” as a systematic thing, but more like the reaction of a clique to a suddenly very rebellious member.
AR said: “I cannot help but wonder whether this is also due to some need to purify Inara, to take this choice out of her hands and make it "not her fault".”
Whoa. Nice insight! I think you’re right, AR, that much of this comes down to assumptions we all make about the nature of the Guild. I don’t see it as a place that would force any little girl to become a Companion. I think each little girl (or boy – I really want gender parity in the Guild, although I fear it’s not so!) would have to work very hard to prove that she wants to be there, and would have to show a high level of self-awareness and comfort with sexuality, as well as skill with people, in order to earn a position as a Companion.
TuJiaoZuo said: “While she can certainly enjoy the sex she's being paid for, it lacks the emotion and passion one would feel with an individual they actually love because she was taught to not form an emotional attachment.”
This I agree with. It may not be lock-step with feminist principles to say that Inara can’t get fulfillment from the type of sex she chooses, but, after all, why does she have to be a cutting edge, perfect feminist?
So here’s the thing: We are given more than
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Oh forgot to reply to the priginal post...
So, I'm very much guilty of having Inara's role in my fic centered around Mal. To excuse myself I'll say: everything in my fic is pretty much centered around Mal. Also, Inara's quest is kind of like Mario out to save the princess. You know, with Mal being the princess. But I do have her throwing her Companion life away for Mal - so she can have a chance at "rescuing" him - and she returns to Serenity feeling all kinds of apologetic for having left him.
So I'm just saying, I hope that some of the things on that list are not automatically horrible plots LOL!
But the one thing in AR's original post that really has me thinking is the idea of Mal having to change. Clearly, there are ways he would need to soften up before they could actually have a relationship. But, in terms of the Companion issue, I'm not sure what could be done. Perhaps the only properly feminist solution is for him to accept her profession and learn to live with it, but I don't see that as even a remote possibility. I don't think he could do it. And I don't think he should have to, that he's a bad man if he doesn't tell her: "OK, honey, go please your client and I'll have dinner ready when you get home!"
So, really, I think the only way they could be together in any long term basis is for Inara to change. I can't see any other way. And I don't think that's not due to my own gender stereotypes - I think that's just their situation.
Quote:Oh. I think that's every day for me LOL!
Originally posted by AgentRouka:
My theory is that many of the female writers feel that they would "treat Mal much better" in Inara's place and thus correct Inara's missteps without regard to pesky things like equality or charactisation. But that's only on my very judgmental days.
Quote:The worst thing for me is what writers do with Inara when they bring on some OC female heroine (who's often suspiciously similar to the fantasy ID of the writer) to be Mal's gal-pal. Inara generally goes through some very predicable stages: jealous and pouty, then fiesty, then finally gives in to the romantic superiority of the Mary Sue before disappearing into minor character obscurity. And Mal hardly takes an active part in this process, but waits in some manly pose for the victor to come claim him.
Does anyone else notice this? How do you feel about it? Bothered? Indifferent? Overjoyed? Ready to explain/defend/re-interpret?
Not only does this woefully mis-characterize Inara, it removes any independent personality from Mal. He becomes like the Disney prince of the 50s - setting around all handsome and flawless, with absolutely nothing but his good looks and fancy castle to prove him desirable. These kinds of stories work hard to show that the woman is deserving, but never ask whether the man is really worth it.
So - how many fics ask whether Mal really deserves Inara? Not the fancy Companion Inara, but the empathetic, smart, tough, caring Inara? Why do we so easily assume that he's such a good catch for her? Just because we are all so completely in love with Nathan and Mal's so damned sexy?
Hmm... food for thought...
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hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left
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Whoa. Nice insight! I think you’re right, AR, that much of this comes down to assumptions we all make about the nature of the Guild. I don’t see it as a place that would force any little girl to become a Companion. I think each little girl (or boy – I really want gender parity in the Guild, although I fear it’s not so!) would have to work very hard to prove that she wants to be there, and would have to show a high level of self-awareness and comfort with sexuality, as well as skill with people, in order to earn a position as a Companion.
Inara certainly went into the Guild willingly and with her eyes wide open. I do feel that there was likely a small bit of family pressure to be a Companion. Moreana's remark that being a Companion was a "family business" for Inara leads one to believe that maybe her mother, possible sisters or even aunts are or were Companions. It may mean that she was encouraged but it still was her own decision.
BTW I'd like to see male Commpanions too, but it's a proposal that's highly controversial and much debated among the Guild members.
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Can you accede that finding emotional and sexual fulfillment at once may be something novel and wonderful for Inara
Yes, AR, I realize you pretty said this already. Sorry – had to say it my own way.
I have to agree with you there Mal4Prez. You can be fulfilled sexually without the emotional component. And emotions are scary, and are very scary for Inara. I get the feeling that Inara has pushed her emotions about sex into the background, like most professionals. It's all about the client.
That's what makes Mal scary. He wants the emotion. And I'm also a hopeless romantic too and want Mal to be "special".
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“Why wouldn't the Guild be just as horrified by the revealed secret as Inara herself? Inara is/was Pro-Alliance, as was Simon until he had reason to be suspicious, yet they have no problem being sane moral beings, so why should the Guild be making apologies for a government that betrayed them as much as any other citizen?”
But they can’t be moral beings – they’re a bunch a’ whores!
The Guild is likely very independent and would be horrified too about what certain members of the Alliance did.
There are also many ties to the powers that be. It's likely most clients are powerful either socially, financially or politically so a certain investment in the power structure is inevitable.
The Guild has to walk a tightrope between total independence from the power structure and alienating their most important clients.
I don't see the Guild having a knee jerk rejection of Inara, but I do see some sort of investigation as to Inara's actions. She did abandon her teaching post and runaway with a "pirate" and she also put the girls and other teachers at the Training House in danger, but I'm not sure that the crew has even been identified as the ones that sent the Miranda message so if they are unidentified there would be no sanctions of Inara for the message.
I'm not sure what the results of the investigation would be but I'm fairly sure that Inara does stay on Serenity in some capacity.
Quote:d, boring (I thought) Companion. The “real” Inara talked smack to YoSaffBridge in the trash can, and cried in HoG, and got all awkward after kissing Mal, and even used bad words when she was pissed off. I think the post BDM Inara would be more of that
As for Inara’s future role – I don’t see her cooking at all! She is so not a domestic. I see her liking the thrill of the jobs, and being good at it. As I’ve posted on another Inara thread recently dug up, I think there was a “real” Inara hidden behind the smooth, polishe
That's the Inara I'd like to see too.
And as to Inara's mother there is no clue whatsoever. So i wrote a fic where Inara explains to Mal that her mother was a Companion but she was raised by a foster family and every so often her mother would breeze in, take her to tea and speak a bit romantically about her life as a Companion.
It would
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