Fan works are often particularly interested in the representation of minority and marginalized groups. Given the number of women involved in the creation of fan works (not to mention potential deficits of women involved in the canon source productions, such as T.V. shows), it is unsurprising that representations of women are frequently examined. Fan works often criticize representations of female characters that are underdeveloped, stereotyped, and non-essential to the narrative (making them disposable in a way male characters are often not). The tone, style, and approach of these fan works are widely varied, but they share common goals.
“The Bechdel Test”, by Frea_O, for example, is a semi-absurd fanfiction which breaks the fourth wall and points to the failure of the recent Avengers movie to pass the Bechdel test by having Tony Stark confront two of the female characters, Maria Hill and Natasha Romanov, with the fact that they have not had a conversation about something other than a man.This can be read not only as a critique of the canon source’s failure to pass the fairly simple Bechdel test, but also, given the dismissive way Hill and Romanov treat the test, as an indication that the test is a somewhat reductive or arbitrary measure of representations of women.
“Hermione Granger: Minister of Magic” by Icarus, from the Harry Potter fandom, has a similar light-hearted tone and plot, but the issue it raises—that of the lack of female leaders in the canon source—is treated more seriously. The story takes place post-series, and describes Hermione’s election to the post of Minister. Hermione says of her election “All I can think is what the hell took them so long to elect a female Minister of Magic! There have been great sorceresses in the past. Qualified witches. Half the founders of Hogwarts were women! What’s wrong with them?”, and the summary for the story reads “It only took thousands of years, Voldemort, a Wizarding war, and a major election scandal for a woman to finally come in third”. There are, in fact, several female Ministers of Magic in the canon source. However, the story can nevertheless be read as a reaction to the canon source, in which few female characters are presented as leaders (as opposed to male characters like Harry, Dumbledore, Voldemort and others).
In other cases, fan works dealing with the representation of women may be much darker. The extremely and intentionally disturbing fan vid “Women’s Work” by sockkpuppett and sisabet examines the treatment of women within the show Supernatural, drawing attention to the fact that female characters are frequently sexualized, victimized, portrayed as evil, and/or killed off.
While the show as a whole is violent, there is discrepancy between the treatment of male and female characters (for example, several of the recurring male characters are repeatedly saved or resurrected by God and angels). “Women’s Work” intentionally draws attention to the way the canon source represents women as stereotypes, often as love interests or motherly figures, and as disposable.
While the examples above explore general representations of women in the canon source, fan works may also challenge particular representations. When the BBC Sherlock episode “A Scandal in Belgravia” aired, there was immediate criticism of the representation of Irene Adler, who is ultimately outsmarted by, and then saved by, Sherlock Holmes. This criticism drew much of its strength from the fact that in her original incarnation in “A Scandal in Bohemia”, Irene Adler outsmarts and escapes Holmes. “A Case of Identity” by marysutherland is a fic which “rewrites” the ending of “A Scandal in Belgravia”. In this narrative, not only does Irene not need to be saved—she exclaims “Oh God…You’re doing your bloody rescuing damsels in distress act again, aren’t you?” when Sherlock interrupts her in the process of faking her own death—but it also denies that Sherlock ever outsmarted her in the first place. The story is largely a platform for Irene Adler to explain her side of events, while Holmes, seeing things from a view more in line with the canon source, is one step behind her.
All of the fan works above could potentially be classified as “feminist fan fiction” which “capably explores feminist concerns by drawing attention to the presentation of patriarchy in the source text and by re-presenting the canon based on a more explicitly woman-oriented worldview” (Leow 1.4). Certainly they all challenge representations of women, and, in addition, recenter the narrative on women and women’s voices.
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