2 Embracing (or equality for) the Mary Sue

I've just come across this Tumblr post denouncing the term Mary Sue as sexist; I've been hanging around in fiction communities since I was little and have a very good idea of what a Mary Sue is, but I'd never considered it's negative effects beyond, well, bad fiction. This looked like a good article to start with... and then I read the first paragraph:

So, there’s this girl. She’s tragically orphaned and richer than anyone on the planet. Every guy she meets falls in love with her, but in between torrid romances she rejects them all because she dedicated to what is Pure and Good. She has genius level intellect, Olympic-athelete level athletic ability and incredible good looks. She is consumed by terrible angst, but this only makes guys want her more. She has no superhuman abilities, yet she is more competent than her superhuman friends and defeats superhumans with ease. She has unshakably loyal friends and allies, despite the fact she treats them pretty badly.  They fear and respect her, and defer to her orders. Everyone is obsessed with her, even her enemies are attracted to her. She can plan ahead for anything and she’s generally right with any conclusion she makes. People who defy her are inevitably wrong.  

 God, what a Mary Sue.

I just described Batman.

No, no you didn't. You described how you see Batman. He is orphaned, which helps create him. Its an origin story, and I guarantee you there's much worse; he is rich too, but he spends most of his time trying to escape the image associated with it - part of the reason he's such a dedicated crime fighter is that he's desperate to give something other than his money. He isn't so intelligent that he doesn't have a research department, and he sure as hell isn't all that pure or good. I'd go so far to say that at times, he's downright treacherous. He doesn't always defeat the superhumans, and not all his friends are loyal. Eventually, everyone hates him. He definitely doesn't plan ahead for everything, otherwise he wouldn't get through Robins like they're on a work placement.

I've mentioned my position on tropes in comics before, and I stand by my opinion. Tropes are everywhere, and these days it really is rarely an issue of feminism. Look at Selina Kyle; orphaned, troubled childhood, high intelligence and physical skill, and gets to still be the good guy despite being also a master criminal, so attractive that even Batman wants her. Of course, as with the quote above, its only the bits of her story that are relevant to a Mary Sue argument.

You can look at most of the superhumans too and pick out enough information to make them a hideous stereotype. Have you played Arkham City? If you read the character descriptions, every single one makes the characters look like Nobel prize winning supermodel pro-athletes. Dr Freeze! The Penguin! They're all rich, they're all privileged, but for some reason its never enough. You know why? Because a comic where they throw parties, have affairs, and commit petty finance crime would be Dallas.

Here's the next bit that irked me, which is sadly the very next paragraph:

TV Tropes on the origin of Mary Sue:

The prototypical Mary Sue is an original female character in a fanfic who obviously serves as an idealized version of the author mainly for the purpose of Wish Fulfillment. 

Notice the strange emphasis on female here. TV Tropes goes on to say that is took a long time for the male counterpart “Marty Stu” to be used. “Most fanfic writers are girls” is given as the reason. So when women dominate a genre, that means people are on close watch, ready to scorn any wish fulfillment they may engage in. This term could only originate if the default was female.

 In fact, one of the CONTROVERSIES listed on the TV Tropes page is if a male sue is even possible. That’s right, it’s impossible to have an idealizied male character. Men are already the ideal.

You only have to look on the Wikipedia page for Mary Sues to see that the origin is from a female character, and that there are male-typical Mary Sue terms. Mary Sue is the term for a female version of this character, so it isn't that weird for the emphasis to be on female.

I think I've only ever encountered less than five male fanfic writers in eleven years, but that still isn't enough data to make any judgement call on the gender of 'most' fanfic writers. However, it's worth pointing out that the origins of Mary Sue start in one of the biggest Mary Sue vessels of them all - Star Trek. The term originated in a fan written tale, satirising this wish-fulfilment character that was present even in the show. It didn't catch on because it was female, it caught on because it was the first prominent attempt as prodding fun at the Wesley Crushers of sci fi. It was a representation of a repeating character type, so it became the common term.

What’s really wrong with a thirteen year old girl having a power fantasy, even if it’s badly written?

Because it's badly written. There are plenty of perfectly well written power fantasies by men and women, so throwing down the vagina card when someone criticizes your writing is just lame. I've seen so many terrible stories suddenly defended because the author has released an 'I'm just a girl, I have dreams' statement. If it isn't just a self-fulfilling piece of tripe, you'll care about the quality of your writing.

Let's skim down a bit:

So of course, a girl using traditionally feminine traits to dominate and triumph means she’s a sickeningly pure Mary Sue who makes everything go their way. Feminine traits are disdained and look down on, so when the positive feminine traits are prominent, the reader has an aversive reaction. How can a character be so feminine and triumph? She must be unrealistic, she must be badly written, because everyone knows it is impossible to be feminine and powerful.

 Hang on, didn't this start with criticizing Batman for acting masculine? Yes, he's a bit of a tool sometimes, but he has an ego! What self-respecting masked avenger wouldn't have an occasional god complex? If you look at classical literature, there are Mary Sues everywhere; Odysseus is a womanising, self-important moron and king of everything, Aeneas is a bizarrely intelligent hero who makes all the women swoon. Whole tragedies were written around Mary Sues. They aren't a new thing, and I doubt they will fade out any time soon.

There are plenty of feminine and powerful comic characters within the Batman franchise alone; we've already covered Selina Kyle, and there's also Poison Ivy, Oracle, Harley Quinn, and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. No one would dare call any of them Mary Sues, probably because you'd wake up in an abandoned fairground tied to the tracks of a rollercoaster. There are equally as many badly written powerful, feminine characters - you know how I feel about Ghost - but it's because they're badly written, not because they're women, that people have problems with them.

 Let’s look at what kinds of Mary Sues people will point to. People will claim a female character is a Mary Sue if she is a love interest. Put a female character within a foot of a male character, and people will scream “Mary Sue!” Why does someone falling in love with her make her a Mary Sue? Well, she hasn’t “earned” this awesome dude character’s love. What has she done to show she’s worthy of him? Fans miss the irony that this line of logic makes the male character seem more like the Sue in Question, as he’s apparently so perfect one has work for his coveted love and praise.

 Never have I come across anyone who has called a love interest a Mary Sue, outside of - you guessed it - badly written fanfic. Lois Lane is not a Mary Sue, nor is MJ Watson (although, she is technically a type of shoe). Vicki Vale isn't even a Mary Sue. Is it just me, or do men kill each other for even a chance at attention from Poison Ivy? They're all strong women and their respective men have to earn their affection, and more often than not they reject their suitors in the process. Any character automatically falling in love with another is unrealistic, and deserves to be called out - not for being a Mary Sue, but for being (say it with me) badly written. When was the last time you admitted your affection to someone and had them immediately agree they're at the same level and you should both just get married? You have to work for it in real life, so you have to work for it in the comics.

The post drifts off a bit towards the end, and I lose track with what it actually has to do with Mary Sues. I think the problem is that people get so overheated about issues like this, they try to discuss all their opinions on it at once. I know, because I'm the same; I have to fight the impulse to go off about the costumes of female comic characters, or the representation of mutants.

The term Mary Sue is a valid one, otherwise it never would have stuck. There's a difference between people who genuinely admonish badly written characters and people who are just sexist, but it works both ways;  I've seen so may women call out men for liking male Mary Sues, but getting defensive over Bella Swan. Feminism isn't special treatment, its equal. Equal isn't being the same as men, its not receiving more or less because of your gender.

Ultimately, blame Gene Roddenberry.

[EDIT: I used valid three times in a sentence, but it's gone now. Shh, relax, it's all over.]