Previous Post My second time reccing someone else's LiveJournal: I "met" bana05, a.k.a. published author Savannah J. Frierson, through our mutual love of Doctor Who companion Martha Jones on lifeonmartha, but reading her reactions to the show, as well as about her life experiences in general, has been enlightening beyond the scope of our shared fandom. As a straight white guy who was raised with liberal tendencies, I'd long since concluded that no amount of academic "empathizing" with women or people of color (or homosexuals) can substitute for actually, you know, talking to them - or, at least as importantly, listening to them - which sounds condescendingly common-sense, except for the part where so many white people, myself included on occasion, often neglect to do it. While I've made a lifelong habit of trying to educate myself on social and political issues, especially as they relate to race, gender and sexual preference, like a dutifully left-leaning, well-meaning white person, it's only been relatively recently, through feminist fan sites like When Fangirls Attack and LJ communities like lifeonmartha, that I've had the chance, not only to discuss and gauge reactions to how all these issues of ethnic and sexual identity in real life interact with the science fiction and superhero stories that I've loved for so long, but also to hear from, and bounce my own ideas off of, people who don't necessarily share a) my genitalia, b) my vaguely beige complexion, and/or c) my sexual preferences. I haven't always agreed with what I've read, nor have I always felt comfortable with it, but it's forced me to think about the characters, the tales and the genres that I've immersed myself in since childhood. And as someone who's written about interracial romance, and forced herself to confront her own feelings about it as a black woman, bana05 has kind of embarked on a similar journey from a different starting point, I suppose. It doesn't hurt that Savannah is funny and friendly - say hi, and she won't bite, I promise - and if her writing online is any indication of her published work, I might just have to break my rule against romance novels and give hers a try. Here's a sample of her fandom musings: Martha Jones and Love: A Rant/Meta Anyhow, I'll stop embarrassing her now.

If I actually was familiar with the events of Doctor Who (I haven't watched much since the latest guy came in as the Doc), I might have grasped the nuances of things better.

However, I recognize the passion over a character getting screwed by the writing... I could go on and on about Vizh and Wanda, and how bad an idea it was to emphasize the whole "Wonder Man brain patterns" thing, so it's not completely alien to me.