Weekly Thoughts 4/29/23

I spent this past weekend watching the Scream series, from Scream to Scream. They’re all great movies. I had gone to see Scream VI out of curiosity, and it’s great, so I finally had the time to sit down and watch the other five movies. It’s a fascinating series, with a lot to say about victim blaming. That’s the most consistent throughline, other than the meta elements, and they do a really great job with both. And here’s a trip: I wanted to cap off this marathon by going to see Scream VI again, and I discovered that it’s been a month and a half since I saw it and it’s not in theaters anymore. But I still got it on screaming.

So, this week, I want to talk about the ethics of erotic fan art. Just like I will block suggested Facebook posts from annoying Dragon Ball fan pages that worship Broly, I often block suggested posts of fan art depicting women characters with inflated boobs. It’s never a question of quality of the art or whether or not I also think the character is attractive, or even a stigma against sexual fan art as a concept. For me, it’s crossing a line to change part of a character’s body to make them easier to masturbate to. Every part of a character’s body, like a real person’s body, is a part of who they are, and deserves respect; unlike real people, a fictional character was also made with specific intent, and each part of their body is meant to communicate something about them or influence how they move and exist in the world. Changing their physical form is tantamount to changing their core concept. If you think the character is attractive, then depict them that way; if you want bigger tits, then make fan art of someone with bigger tits, or design your own big tit character. You’re basically just slapping a wig onto a new person at that point.

It’s a choice motivated by some negative aspects of our culture, as well, even if the individual artist isn’t acting with particularly malicious intent. There’s the toxic (presumed, safely) masculine element of exerting control over women’s bodies so that they fit impossible standards. It’s a choice in depiction that serves mainly to say that women’s bodies exist for men’s sexual pleasure. Even if their body is already “really good” by that terrible standard, they’re never good enough. Fictional characters don’t have rights or anything to worry about violating, but it’s an extension of the way people talk and think about real people’s bodies, and reflects something toxic in culture. It’s an escape for men who think they’re owed a “perfect woman,” to take a fictional woman they already find attractive and “perfect” her as their own. It’s gross.

Quick example: I was recently exposed to two different fan arts of the Water-type Gym Leader of Galar, Nessa, where she had at least two cup sizes more than she’s designed with. For those who haven’t played Pokemon Sword or Shield, let me assure you: Basically all the characters in that game are super hot, Nessa being pretty top dog in that lineup. But why make her breasts bigger? Is she not hot enough for you otherwise? Then maybe find someone else to fantasize about? Because she’s a great character with a great design just as she is, and for as long as we’re talking about how hot she is (because that’s what I chose to talk about), she’s really hot. It’s gross for the reasons I laid out above to try and force her to conform more completely with impossible, male-centric beauty standards, and it really misses the point of her appeal.

By making that change to her design, you’re creating distance between your experience of the character and your desires. Further, you’re working to erase aspects of her personal identity by emphasizing superficial elements deemed sexually appealing. So, on both sides of the equation, it’s depersonalizing and objectifying in the pursuit of the concept of eroticism. Like, the hottest thing about Nessa is how, when she’s starting a battle, she gives you a death glare and holds out her Poke Ball at full extension, her hand and arm shaking a little from all the tension, excitement, and aggression. She’s intense and focused and knows what she wants. Her design reflects those aspects of her character, as well as all her other qualities. Making sexy fan art of her with inflated boobs ignores her identity and her attractive qualities so the viewer can masturbate to inflated boobs. It’s ignoring what likely drew a fan to her, while also replacing the attractive parts of her character with the idea of tits (as if those are otherwise hard to come by on the internet).

While I’m on the subject, another example: I saw a one-page comic where a guy tried to defend a picture of Anya from Spy x Family as a curvy adult person, wearing a version of her elementary school uniform. The argument was that it’s not pedophilia if you age her up to an adult, because she’s fictional and it’s not pedophilia if she’s an adult. But like, why make that art in the first place? She’s a child (claims to be five, probably four), so why are you making any sexy fan art of her to begin with? You saw her and thought, “She’s hot, but I’m not allowed to think that, so I’ll draw her as someone I am allowed to think that about, but cosplaying as the child I find sexy?” Or did you see her and think, “This child can be raised to be the perfect woman, so let’s show the desired endpoint, and I’ll have her dressed in an elementary school uniform either because I still like kids or because I want to emphasize the ‘innocence’ that makes her so easy to mold?” Like, there’s no good start or end point to the fan art, because at the end point: There’s no canonical adult Anya, so you’re just drawing what’s functionally a new character cosplaying as a child, which is somehow sexy for you. And like, to continue setting the table: If you’re looking for sexy fan art of Spy x Family, there are so many hot adults in that book that people are making erotic art of, it’s easily accessible, and there’s plenty of welcome for new entries for them. Why go out of your way to do sexy fan art of an aged-up child? I get that she’s fictional, but that doesn’t end all questioning into the matter.

That’s the more extreme example, clearly, and it goes harder into the toxic aspects of this trend. The thing I saw wasn’t literally “sexy four year old” (which I assume also exists in a darker part of the web), but it’s not too far off. It’s not hard to see how it’s another rung in the “make her boobs bigger” ladder, either. Whatever the exact motivation behind its production, the end result is to use a fictional child as the basis for exercising thoughts and desires about women existing solely as sexual objects for men. It’s replacing whatever you find appealing about a character with the idea of a sexual object; it’s gross in the same way as it’s gross to look at a person and rate their body while ignoring anything about them personally.

I have been going pretty hard on this subject, and when I think a lot about something, my feelings can get bigger than they actually are. I should close by saying the Nessa art discussed above isn’t like sending me into a rage about the injustice against women in society. It’s dumb and bad and I have a reaction to it on principle, but I go about my day without too much concern. The Anya one, I actually thought about more than I said here, because it’s gross. In general, I think a lot of ethical considerations don’t get discussed in regards to erotic fan art, because people don’t think of porn as “real art” and because they have some pretty urgent and desperate feelings wrapped up in it they don’t want questioned or bottled up. It’s worth thinking about, though. Just like it would be wrong to force a model to get implants about three or four cup sizes bigger, maybe think about why you’re not satisfied with a character designed the way she is, and what changing her design means.