1. What fandom does is never strictly comparable to what TPTB do, because they have a degree of material power that we never will.
2. In the debate over what the writer's responsibilities may or may not be, I've seen a lot of good points raised on both (all?) sides by mature, intelligent, and thoughtful people. But you sure don't have to travel very far on the Intarwebs to find people who are none of these. And it's also easy to find torture, degradation, rape, and all kinds of exploitation used as fictional subject matter--not because these are all things that could happen and would mold the development of those involved--but on the level of "OMG, hawt!"
3. Which neatly segues to your raising the issue of sexual objectification. With regard to a fictional character, objectification is bad only to the extent the objectifier finds it necessary to despise and degrade the characters ze finds attractive. I mean, Jesus, it should be a *compliment* to someone that you get turned on. In RL, objectification is bad to the extent that the objectifier acts on the belief that the attractive person *owes* ze some kind of sexual gratification, or takes advantage of a power difference (e.g., "if you want to keep your job in this sweatshop, you'll make me happy.")
no subject
1. What fandom does is never strictly comparable to what TPTB do, because they have a degree of material power that we never will.
2. In the debate over what the writer's responsibilities may or may not be, I've seen a lot of good points raised on both (all?) sides by mature, intelligent, and thoughtful people. But you sure don't have to travel very far on the Intarwebs to find people who are none of these. And it's also easy to find torture, degradation, rape, and all kinds of exploitation used as fictional subject matter--not because these are all things that could happen and would mold the development of those involved--but on the level of "OMG, hawt!"
3. Which neatly segues to your raising the issue of sexual objectification. With regard to a fictional character, objectification is bad only to the extent the objectifier finds it necessary to despise and degrade the characters ze finds attractive. I mean, Jesus, it should be a *compliment* to someone that you get turned on. In RL, objectification is bad to the extent that the objectifier acts on the belief that the attractive person *owes* ze some kind of sexual gratification, or takes advantage of a power difference (e.g., "if you want to keep your job in this sweatshop, you'll make me happy.")