![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Then I got thinking about Seme/uke stereotypes...
"The men aren't ALWAYS wealthy businessmen, Arab sheikhs, or cowboys!
...Sometimes they're pirates!"
- brieboo from this thread on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
childfree.
Which made me think of the stereotypes for Semes. I suppose it’s highly dependent on genre in the first place or at least the setting but the overriding point I suppose, would be that they’re men in positions of power. Military men, yakuza, aristocrats, businessmen, all that sort of thing though even if they’re not wielding a tangible economic influence then they’ve still got some kind of supernatural/spiritual power. Particularly for the supernatural aspect, characters like Fuma Monou when he becomes the Dark Kamui in X and the title character of Judge, only have these supernatural powers to elevate their status otherwise they’re simply a school boy and a sallaryman, respectively. Though I suppose the Judge of Darkness can’t exactly be characterised as a Seme simply because there appears to be no uke to play him off against.
Yet, (and here I’m generalising and being entirely subjective because I’ve never actually read a romance novel, sci-fi and fantasy were always much more my thing) if we’re assuming that the heroine in such novels is always disempowered in some way, not necessarily limited to social standing then I supposed the argument would then be, aren’t any designated ukes equally disempowered in some respect. I think I’d argue that that isn’t the case because even if the heroines in the novels are just as aristocratic as the heroes, they’re still subjected to all the constraints that women were subjected to in those times. The very nature of being female in the setting takes away some of their influence, I think.
Of course I could be entirely wrong and there could be tonnes of romance novels written about female Managing Directors of massive corporations who fall for the newly arrived office boy, who feels unworthy of such a powerful woman or handsome but otherwise fairly useless young aristocrats at court being desperately in love with powerfully and indomitable Queens (heck, that’s not even fiction, we did have Elizabeth the First after all).
But that aside, I suppose the Seme/uke relationship might be more balanced from a social perspective because both protagonists are male. They needn’t have the same occupation but generally there’s a lot more equality going on from a social perspective. The Seme might be a warrior of great renown but his uke is also equally likely to be the pulling the strings from behind the scenes, and they are both aristocrats at the end of the day. Another might be all claws and fangs youkai but that’s hardly anything that his uke can’t deal with, with an awful lot of spiritual power behind him. The Sakurazukamori is equally matched by the 13th heir of the Sumeragi clan. And so on… The only case where I can’t quite think of an equal relationship is the case of a yakuza Seme because it keeps making me think of Viewfinder but I suppose Wild Adapter might count instead.
Overall in regards to the Seme/uke relationship I think that all that traps them into those roles is their nature and emotions, which in of itself reflects a certain aspect of consent, which I’ve always presumed was lacking from the average romance novel, where the woman is trapped without any other choice. But then I suppose that indulges the fantasy of letting go, not because you have to give any consent but because there is no other choice. It takes the responsibility of consent out of the hands of the ‘submissive’ party; something that I suppose just doesn’t sit well with me. I mean, sure, tie him up and sodomise him but only if that’s what he wants you to do.
...Sometimes they're pirates!"
- brieboo from this thread on
childfree.Which made me think of the stereotypes for Semes. I suppose it’s highly dependent on genre in the first place or at least the setting but the overriding point I suppose, would be that they’re men in positions of power. Military men, yakuza, aristocrats, businessmen, all that sort of thing though even if they’re not wielding a tangible economic influence then they’ve still got some kind of supernatural/spiritual power. Particularly for the supernatural aspect, characters like Fuma Monou when he becomes the Dark Kamui in X and the title character of Judge, only have these supernatural powers to elevate their status otherwise they’re simply a school boy and a sallaryman, respectively. Though I suppose the Judge of Darkness can’t exactly be characterised as a Seme simply because there appears to be no uke to play him off against.
Yet, (and here I’m generalising and being entirely subjective because I’ve never actually read a romance novel, sci-fi and fantasy were always much more my thing) if we’re assuming that the heroine in such novels is always disempowered in some way, not necessarily limited to social standing then I supposed the argument would then be, aren’t any designated ukes equally disempowered in some respect. I think I’d argue that that isn’t the case because even if the heroines in the novels are just as aristocratic as the heroes, they’re still subjected to all the constraints that women were subjected to in those times. The very nature of being female in the setting takes away some of their influence, I think.
Of course I could be entirely wrong and there could be tonnes of romance novels written about female Managing Directors of massive corporations who fall for the newly arrived office boy, who feels unworthy of such a powerful woman or handsome but otherwise fairly useless young aristocrats at court being desperately in love with powerfully and indomitable Queens (heck, that’s not even fiction, we did have Elizabeth the First after all).
But that aside, I suppose the Seme/uke relationship might be more balanced from a social perspective because both protagonists are male. They needn’t have the same occupation but generally there’s a lot more equality going on from a social perspective. The Seme might be a warrior of great renown but his uke is also equally likely to be the pulling the strings from behind the scenes, and they are both aristocrats at the end of the day. Another might be all claws and fangs youkai but that’s hardly anything that his uke can’t deal with, with an awful lot of spiritual power behind him. The Sakurazukamori is equally matched by the 13th heir of the Sumeragi clan. And so on… The only case where I can’t quite think of an equal relationship is the case of a yakuza Seme because it keeps making me think of Viewfinder but I suppose Wild Adapter might count instead.
Overall in regards to the Seme/uke relationship I think that all that traps them into those roles is their nature and emotions, which in of itself reflects a certain aspect of consent, which I’ve always presumed was lacking from the average romance novel, where the woman is trapped without any other choice. But then I suppose that indulges the fantasy of letting go, not because you have to give any consent but because there is no other choice. It takes the responsibility of consent out of the hands of the ‘submissive’ party; something that I suppose just doesn’t sit well with me. I mean, sure, tie him up and sodomise him but only if that’s what he wants you to do.