Possibly off topic, but what the heck. If it is moved elsewhere (or deleted) I completely understand. Kudos, to Terry and CC Malo for provoking such interesting dialogue.
Ann writes:
All this leads to, I think, an LNC fanon with a somewhat exaggerated compassion for Clark and a lack of compassion for Lois. Because I am a feminist, this is something that pains and bothers me.
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Hmm. I wouldn't say these are necessarily mutually exclusive. I mentioned the "prevalent" view of Clark as more vulnerable than Lois, but this is from my own --admitedly short-- experience in the fandom. Fandoms are strange things--I can cite something from my last fandom, X-files, as an example of how things become interpreted in ways that may or may not correlate with the series. In the show, one of the characters never voices a certain ethnic identification, but it appears with surprising (to me) frequency in a plethora of fic, discussions, etc. Someone mentioned the fanon vs canon thing and yes, I think that might explain some of it.
However, I personally (and this is where I might run into some trouble, this is my humble opinion), see Clark as being more emotionally vulnerable. He's 'suffered' less than Lois (who comes from a not so nice family and has been in not so nice relationships, etc) and because of this, doesn't have the emotional protection that she has developed. My "compassion" or sympathy for Clark stems from the recognition that he's more liable to reel from the damage than Lois. However, that doesn't mean I lack compassion for her. And it certainly doesn't mean that I'm indifferent to her suffering.
In fact, sympathy to Clark is not without a bit of condescention. 'Poor little Clark who doesn't know the way of the world, who hasn't been broken in yet,' so to speak. I can't call this an anti-feminist position, since I don't feel the same towards Lois which means, if any thing, that I see her as "superior" to Clark (I am biased, but I doubt most of you don't have a marked preference). But neither is it a feminist position either, if that's how you want to think of things, since it does not put them on the same level.
In the end though, my opinion has nothing to do with the characters' gender, but rather with wordliness. I think I'll leave it here, but I don't think I'm the only one whose "sympathetic" view of Clark is without an automatic devaluation of Lois.
I am more than happy to continue this discussion elsewhere, gender is an subject of particular interest to me.
