Anime Pancake Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Hi everyone!This is something I have never understood.Why do people sexualize fictional characters that were not originally made to be shown in a sexual way????For example, if there is a character that does not have a sexual personality, does not do anything sexual in the show, book, movie that they are in, and never talks about anything sexual or shows any interest in sexuality (most likely because the story they are in has absolutely nothing to do with sex or sexual interactions)WHY DO PEOPLE (not the original creator of the character) SEXUALIZE THEM? If the original writer of a story makes a character speak in a sexual way or makes them sexual in their actions, that is fine. But why do people (not the original writers) take characters that don't act sexual at all and then show them in a sexual way.For example, if a person looks for pictures of a character on the internet, they can see all sorts of fan-made sexual pictures that don't go along with the original character type at all. It completely goes against how the character has been shown in the original stories they are in and it is just plain unnecessary and disgusting!!!!I don't want to see characters in a sexual context!!! Unless they are "that kind" of character. I am a sensual person, but I still don't want to see a character doing sensual things, if they were never intended to display that sort of thing in the original storylines. So that should (hopefully) do away with the thought that "oh sexual people want to see characters doing sexual things" I'm sensual, but I don't want to see characters doing sensual things lolIf someone wants to sexualize a character, why don't they sexualize a character that is already sexual. Why do they have to with characters that never show any interest in sexual interaction at all?? The worse thing is when it's a character that has a really sincere or innocent personality, and people will show these same characters in a very sexual way.So annoying!!! Link to post Share on other sites
Akira Jumps Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I can see where you're coming from, but you have to remember that only 1% of the population is believed to be asexual. It's no surprise that the other 99% would want their favorite characters in more sexual situations. It's how they express their own type of love, so that's what they do, I guess. It does bother me sometimes, but I am *sighs deeply* a shipper through and through. I love seeing romance even where there is none. ;) Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 People cannot help who they are sexually attracted to. I see nothing wrong with sexualizing a fictional character, it's not like the character is going to find the fan-made porn of themselves on the internet and be humiliated :PAnd just because the character is not shown to be overly-sexual in the text/show/whatever, that doesn't mean they are not kinky perverts behind closed doors ^_^ that's how I look at it anyway. I have been sexualizing and romanticizing fictional characters from a very young age (like maybe 4ish haha) so yeah, it's just natural for me. Link to post Share on other sites
The Great WTF Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 For the same reason people have headcanons about certain characters or firmly believe they are a certain sexuality: because it appeals to them. Just because the creator does not depict a character as sexual, that does not mean the creator actually considers them nonsexual. For example, Greg Weisman, the creator of Gargoyles, fully intended for Lexington to be gay, but could not portray him as such in a 90s kid show. Link to post Share on other sites
poindexter Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I find it weird too.. I always feel nervous looking for pics of characters on Google because you just know that at least one of them is going to be someone's pornographic fan-art. I really don't want to see that. I'm sure it appeals to lots of people, but I doubt I'll ever understand it myself X) Link to post Share on other sites
SkyWorld Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 The worse thing is when it's a character that has a really sincere or innocent personality, and people will show these same characters in a very sexual way. Oh my gosh, tell me about it! It's really really disturbing to me how (for example) people would sexualize Honey-senpai... Goodness, no! It's even worse seeing characters from a kid's show sexualized, yeesh! That ruined the image for me. D: Kim Possible for example? *shivers* Link to post Share on other sites
Blakrana Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 ...it's not like the character is going to find the fan-made porn of themselves on the internet and be humiliated :P That is actually a common gag if I understand rightly. As it is...people are typically sexual creatures. Expressing their interest in a character, fictional as it may be, may be done in a sexual way just as likely as it might be done in a romantic, sensual or what have you way, and that's before you get into the more kinky stuff. In a sense, it's a modern form of the Pygmalion myth, perhaps. Note, however, that whilst there is plenty of sexual, fetishistic renditions of characters, there are also more 'modest' ones which can be rather charming. It really depends on the particular person how they're fondness for that character is expressed; whilst we may or may not necessarily agree with it, it is an inevitability all the same. I admit, I don't get it, being preoccupied with the impracticality of female armour over the intended result, but it isn't really for my benefit that it's there. Bit of patience and you can find some rather good and, I guess more 'tasteful' fan-art or original art. And, as raised above, creators of characters both may struggle to show a character because of the context of the program/time they're working in, or have to accept that much as they intend one things, people, be they shippers or fetish artists, will change what they've created to suit their desires in private. Might be somewhat uncomfortable perhaps (say fetishy fan-art of said creator's avatar) but something folks recognise. Link to post Share on other sites
SMW22792 Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 People cannot help who they are sexually attracted to. I see nothing wrong with sexualizing a fictional character, it's not like the character is going to find the fan-made porn of themselves on the internet and be humiliated :P And just because the character is not shown to be overly-sexual in the text/show/whatever, that doesn't mean they are not kinky perverts behind closed doors ^_^ that's how I look at it anyway. I have been sexualizing and romanticizing fictional characters from a very young age (like maybe 4ish haha) so yeah, it's just natural for me. I don't see an issue with it either, but I'm kind of guilty of it too. :P As long as what you're into doesn't have any negative repercussions on others, I don't see the harm in it. Link to post Share on other sites
Crimson Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I guess the reason I can think of that people sexualize characters is because of their own curiosity. Like was mentioned above, most of the population does experience sexual attraction. I'm just speculating here, but I think writing/drawing sexualized fanfiction is a way for them to express and explore their own sexuality. As for why people sexualize characters from inherently non-sexual stories is because of the freedom they have as a creator. Fanfiction itself is a creative act, no less valid than the original creator's. Characters that have already been sexualized aren't ambiguous, so fanfiction would have to do a lot of work to explain a difference from those already explored feelings. Whereas if a character's sexuality hasn't been explored, the fanfiction creator can explore that character's sexuality and feelings in a similar way to how they can explore their own. It's sort of like every possible partner and sexual orientation is possible for a not originally sexualized character, and exploring that as a creator seems like it'd be interesting if it's something I was into. Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Jade Cross Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Its been pretty much explained in the previous posts. People have the freedom to chose to sexualize any character or pretty much anything they want. Think robots, animals (though technically these are sexual to begin with in a sense) or even Slenderman. Yea they made a female version of him showing cleavage and joked about how those would drive you insane (whether it was with pleasure or pain is up for debate). Though a female version of slenderman would be more like sexualizing a mannequin but I think the point is more or less clear. I do agree that there are things that cross the line when sexualizing but that's more of a personal matter and opinion than a fact. Link to post Share on other sites
Destan Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I totally agree with you, it's really disgusting. Like the people said above, sexual people like to make non-sexual characters do sexual things even though some of them go too far in my opinion Fandoms let people see what if the non-sexual characters were sexual, it's their fantasy that goes wild I think. Sadly you can't stop them. In my opinion, it destroys the image you had from the non-sexual characters and it will never go away Link to post Share on other sites
Anime Pancake Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Thanks everyoneI'm glad to know I'm not the only one that finds it weird Link to post Share on other sites
Hardly any Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 It straight up unnerves me to see certain fandoms' pornography. *coughmylittleponycough* Sexualizing little kids happens way too often for my sanity. It's not pedophilia if it's fictional, right? Link to post Share on other sites
Cleo Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 I don't mind people putting characters in romantic ships (love, love, love), but sexualizing them bothers me greatly. :( And yes, also, changing characters' orientation as it fits them. Gosh. I don't mind, if the character is hetero, gay, bi, trans, intersex, just let them all be happpppyyyyyyyyyy, it makes me happy. :Đ I'm just like ... uh, fanfiction.net, uh. It's like ... everyone loves to make characters gay there ...? Even if the character is completely hetero in the book, it's like, THEY'LL FIND A WAY TO SHIP THEM WITH A PERSON OF SAME SEX, SOMEHOW. It's just ... respect the fictional characters' orientation, okay? Well, if he's bisexual, please feel free to ship them with all genders, just ... Let the character be ... Keep them in character, allright? And there is certain lack of friendship/brotp appreciation, okay? :( I ship lots of characters romantically, none of them sexually, but I ship lots of them also just platonically/friendship-ly (THAT'S NOT EVEN A WORD) ... and I'm kinda afraid to even voice that opinion, cause "HOW CAN YOU SHIP FICTIONAL GIRL AND GUY ONLY AS FRIENDS". I can, deal with it and stfu. And I always keep myself away from M-rating anywhere, it just never peaked my curiosity and I just want to stay away from it. Link to post Share on other sites
Grace Barton Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Sexualising characters doesn't really bother me. People will have their ships, regardless of gender or orientation. I personally prefer the romantic side rather than the sexual side, particularly if I have more than one favourite. I do hold in sighs of frustration when sexual related art shows up in my searches, especially when that content was not part of my search. But I just skim past it. I'm not required to look at it, after all, and it can be ignored. Still, it is irritating when that sort of thing constantly crops up. As a writer, I think about what may happen if my work ever got published. People would probably sexualise my characters. There would be pairings that would make me go 'No... just, no.' And yes, there would be sexualised art/fiction. Thinking of it happening doesn't bother me. The only thing that would bother me is poor characterisation. I have a character who is very calm and reserved, and under no circumstances would ever be, shall we say, sexually adventurous. If I saw art/fiction with him engaging in that sort of thing I would want to bang my head against the nearest wall, only because it is such poor characterisation. But I'd be pretty open to most pairings on a romantic level. If I saw a piece of fanfiction with a romance between two of my characters that was in character, and well written and thought out in a way that would make it work, I'd be content with that. I can even handle orientation changes. Randomly taking Character A and pairing them with Character B just for the sake of it, and what the heck, let's twist their personalities a bit, give A a secret kinky streak and B a subtle flirtatious streak, and a setting that results in a night of wild passion... that would annoy me. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Sexual attraction to fictional characters is a thing, but yeah...I don't get it. But then I don't like what porn I have accidentally come across, either. It's more gross than appealing, and this is coming from a sexual. Now sexual content related to shipping, I do get and have a guilty pleasure for. (Guilty because viewing sexual content doesn't sit well with my religious beliefs.) In the same way that if you ship something you get all sappy about it and like seeing them bonding and stuff. But gross stuff like incest or pedophilia...nopenopenopenopenopenope∞ Link to post Share on other sites
Anthracite_Impreza Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Some of the things I see on deviantArt make me want to wash my eyes out with bleach, just sayin'. Link to post Share on other sites
Death-G-Reaper Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I've felt that way. Like even when a character's orientation isn't canonically addressed people will still apply a sexuality to them based off who they had an emotional scene with once that one time. Like why can't we just leave it up in the air? Unaddressed? If the creator didn't address it, why should we? Link to post Share on other sites
Death-G-Reaper Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 It straight up unnerves me to see certain fandoms' pornography. *coughmylittleponycough* Sexualizing little kids happens way too often for my sanity. It's not pedophilia if it's fictional, right? Pony fan art bugs me so much, especially when it's with weird fetishes like diapers and such (why is diaper fetish even a thing?). Some of the things I see on deviantArt make me want to wash my eyes out with bleach, just sayin'. Deviantart is one of the worst places for that. :/ Link to post Share on other sites
crinklyace Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 It straight up unnerves me to see certain fandoms' pornography. *coughmylittleponycough* Sexualizing little kids happens way too often for my sanity. It's not pedophilia if it's fictional, right? Pony fan art bugs me so much, especially when it's with weird fetishes like diapers and such (why is diaper fetish even a thing?). Some of the things I see on deviantArt make me want to wash my eyes out with bleach, just sayin'. Deviantart is one of the worst places for that. :/ I understand your confusion, but if you're really interested in learning, check out Understanding Infantilism http://understanding.infantilism.org/. It's different things for different people. Just like ACE is different for different individuals. Everyone here wears a different hat. Be well! :) Link to post Share on other sites
noparlpf Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Yesterday I scrolled by a sexualised image of the Pokémon Gardevoir. I just don't even. Link to post Share on other sites
Sisky Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 1. For fun. 2. Sexual fantasies. 3. Exploring characters in different circumstances than the ones in the original work. Sex is a big part of life for most people. I personally believe characters are not limited to what you see in their story, just like real people aren't limited to what you see of them in public. Just because people never see me do certain things doesn't mean I don't do them at all. The creators of characters most likely have way more information about their characters in their head than they choose to reveal to their audience. You only see a very little part of those characters. The more creatively inclined people like to expand on that. It's entirely hypothetical anyway. Honestly, the only one who really knows if sex "goes along with the original character type" (btw, no, it's not only certain types that have sex, be it fictional or real people) is the author. And unless the author is uncomfortable with people doing it, people can ship characters all they want. Don't like it? Don't look at it. It's not your place to decide who can and can't have sex. Yeah, I know I sound harsh here. But the OP's tone really boils down to "stop doing things because I don't like them" and that just doesn't sit right with me. You can avoid looking at things like that, it's your responsibility to do so. Link to post Share on other sites
andreas1033 Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 When ever a person reads a book, they project there own understanding into what they read. Its the observer effect. Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 I am very disgusted of those people. They dont like the characters...they take the appearance/body and throw away the personality. Such people arent fans or anything else, they are perverting the image of those characters. Link to post Share on other sites
dandelionfluff Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 I honestly don't care for the most part. People write fanfiction, draw fan art, etc. It's their freedom to do so. HOWEVER, when I search for say, a picture of a pokemon and I see pikachu posing seductively in a bikini, that's where I draw the line. Like with people sexualizing My Little Pony characters...that crap is disturbing. If it exists, there's porn for it. Unfortunately. I'm a huge fan of the Simpsons and whenever I try to search for a gif of a certain quote, I always find pornographic images, some incestuous and even involving the underage characters like Lisa and Bart. That stuff is disturbing and just unnecessary. I believe that there are some things that are off limits, like stuff for kids and characters that are children. I don't want to see porn of Pokemon and ponies and Dora the Explorer...heck one time my friend showed me a pornographic comic starring Hello Kitty and friends. That kind of stuff is just sick to me... Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 It depends what it is. If it's something like Sonic, MLP or Pokémon, I find it gross and creepy. But if it's based on something like superheroes, Final Fantasy or I guess something like Anna/Elsa from Frozen, I don't mind it so much. I guess if it involves semi-realistic humans, I can live with it. I know that doesn't really make sense, but still. Link to post Share on other sites
*a*rteest Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 a picture of a pokemon and I see pikachu posing seductively in a bikini, I'd probably just laugh if I saw this, honestly. One of my fandoms is wgere the mains are really, really sexual, and I think they'd think it hilarious to be considered so in fanfic and fanart. In fact, I can't believe an episode featuring this was never done....it should have been. I can imagine it being really funny. LOL Link to post Share on other sites
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