Because Ive Been Looking At The Buck Wild Way People Filter On Ao3, Im Now Curious

Because I’ve been looking at the buck wild way people filter on ao3, I’m now curious…

Lumberjack leaves small town to tend trees in a major city, it’s either their dream job or a relative is retiring and offered them the job or they’re losing their job and this is the only one who hired them.

High Power Exec quits because their parent(s) forced them into this line of work (family business perhaps) and they’re finally in a position to leave and pursue their dream of being an arborist/guide for their nation’s parks.

A guy loses his job, but is okay with it because he has always wanted to stay home to cook and look after the kids. He was only working because he was afraid to quit when he and his wife welcomed their first child as he didn’t think people would understand and bully them. He wishes that he had the courage to do it sooner.

The successful business person visits their hometown and decides against selling their family home and decides to use it as a second home as the visit to their childhood home reminded them how nice it is to relax in a quiet town when life gets too hectic

There is such a strange, nuanced distinction between a trope being okay at the micro-level and problematic at the macro level, and I don’t think we appreciate it enough.

Like, let’s take one trope for example: the old 80′s “career woman is unfulfilled and unhappy until she Finds Love and quits her job for a man.”

I think a lot has been said about this being a sexist trope. But I would argue that on its own, it’s actually… fine? It could even be an important story to someone, depending on execution. Because, well–work isn’t fulfilling for most people! Lots of workers, even in very high earning jobs, get burned out and are sort of encouraged to stay in this unhealthy rat race where all that matters is make line go up.

Of course a relationship can be more fulfilling than a job! Damn!

But. But.

While an individual story about a woman going “work sucks, fuck this, I actually just want to have a torrid romance and leave to have wild sex with a muscley lumberjack in the hills” doesn’t necessarily have to be sexist…. that kind of story being the overwhelming majority is.

One snowflake is harmless. A snowstorm is not.

One story about a woman being better off not working is harmless. Every single story being about it, in a culture that pressures women into having less independence and power, is not. 

So then what do you do? Do you tell everyone who wants to write their cheesy lumberjack romcom to stop? Will that even work?

Non-Australians!

(And please reblog if you take a guess, I want a good sample size to see what people actually know/don’t know about Australia

Some more Animorphs Spoilers:

Atlantis is real.

Animorphs Spoilers:

Jake doesn’t make the basketball team.