(no subject)

[rm]

Why is every fandom I'm in full of MPreg stories without warnings on them?

Comments

[winterknight.livejournal.com]

This made me laugh out loud. *comforts* I don't mind mpreg as a concept, it's been done well in rare stories -- but the way it's handled usually makes me want to implode.

[drfardook.livejournal.com]

I don't read fandom but from the old usenet days I remember these things run in cycles. They'll find something new in a few months. Have they done hermaphrodites yet?

[ldybastet.livejournal.com]

Horrible! You have my deepest sympathies!

So far, I haven't seen any in my new fandoms, but that doesn't mean that they're not there... just that I haven't read much so far. *g*

I consider it non-con, to inflict mpreg on unsuspecting readers without warning or consent. ;-)

[rosepurr.livejournal.com]

What's MPreg?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Male-pregnancy.

[rosepurr.livejournal.com]

Why would that need a warning cut?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Because it's fucking irksome to read a story in a given universe and think it's pretty awesome and then three chapters in find out that it's going to be about Captain Jack Harkness (or Snape or whomever) having morning sickness and maternal instincts. Apparently someone is in this for that, but it isn't me.

[rosepurr.livejournal.com]

Okay. I don't read fanfic. I'm used to things with warning labels being because they aren't work safe or triggering. I'm not familiar with that particular fen etiquette. That's why I asked.

[rm.livejournal.com]

My hostility, I assure you, isn't for you.

Generally in fanfiction peopel warn for kinks or stuff that is AU. While the fantasy nature of universes like HP and Torchwood make coming up with MPreg plots more viable than non-fantasy stuff, that's waaay outside of cannon, and in teh way its usually done in fandom, definitely a kink. So it's both rude and wird when peopel don't warn fro it. Also, to be fair, MPreg is one of those things that fandom likes to kick around as the "oh god, please don't", but that's usually because so many of the stories are badly done.

[rosepurr.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the explanation. Fanfic kind of fascinates me as an outsider.

[photograficnerd.livejournal.com]

Ew.

Why do people find it necessary to have males pregnant? Is it some sort of mid-life crisis or hormone overload? Maybe it's my naivety rearing it's ugly head but I don't think I'll ever understand that working part of the female brain.

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

I sympathize. I've been watching the mpreg stuff popping up in Torchwood fanfiction (dammitall for being canon!) and it's driving me batty. It ain't what I read TW fanfic for...

[crazycatlady.livejournal.com]

I'm still waiting for someone to give a logical, justifiable explanation for male pregnancy in the first place. If men were meant to have children, they'd have been wired differently.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Reason? You mean like scientific plausibility? My impression is that a lot of fan fiction is about letting your id out for a romp. This is dream stuff. I suspect (perhaps unfairly) that mpreg is mostly revenge.

[crazycatlady.livejournal.com]

Well, not scientific per se although that would be an interesting read. I'm looking for more of the appeal, actually. To each their own, though.

I would vote for revenge as well, though.

[ithinkitisayit.livejournal.com]

On a more serious note, I think the appeal is the same reason why fanfic writers make het couples have babies: it's just what's expected of people.

You grow up, find a significant other of some form, get married, reproduce and then eventually divorce (though, I don't think there's societal pressure to divorce, and if there is, there certainly isn't as much pressure for it as there is pressure to find someone, get married and reproduce).

I honestly feel that part of the reason there are so many bad parents out there is because said parents weren't taught to think for themselves, or be self-aware enough to know they wouldn't make good parents. Ever watch Nanny 911 or Super Nanny, or whatever that show is? Well, there's this one character, a mom, who's too shy to tell anyone no. She's got two hellions for kids. The people's names don't matter, since those shows tend to have x number of standard episodes that repeat with different names and faces.

Anyways, it's pretty obvious from the get go that mom wouldn't make a good mom in the first place, based on her interactions with other people (ie: she tends to 'bow out' in confrontation). I always wonder if this mother would've even become a mother if she hadn't had so much pressure from society/it weren't so expected that every couple have children (or get married and then have children). Would she have become a mother if she had enough self-awareness to admit that she doesn't have enough bark to keep children in line? I presume she doesn't have the self-awareness, as opposed to self confidence to voice her objections, simply because if she lacked the self confidence to voice her objections, she could've still used birth control. Although, usually people like this tend to have a great sense of honour and don't do sneaky underhanded things like that. Unlike people like me, who sometimes bow out so we don't hurt other people's feelings, and then welch behind their backs, if we're sure they won't know about it or it won't cause that person harm. For me, I learned this tactic after being scolded for choosing the wrong option (when the outcome wouldn't have mattered either way), and when telling someone my honest opinion resulted in hurt feelings (usually, this has been my mother). For those reasons, I find this to be an acceptable practice in the moment (though, I cringe in recognition of the dishonesty afterwards).

[ithinkitisayit.livejournal.com]

I suspect that female pregnancy is mostly revenge, too. Okay, well, maybe not the pregnancy part by itself, but the societal pressures to reproduce I feel must be some form of revenge. "I went through labor pains for 23 hours, SO YOU HAVE TO SUFFER AS WELL, DAMMIT!!!"

[alabastardragon.livejournal.com]

*shudders* that is one category I cannot stomach!

[lady-ravenlocke.livejournal.com]

I agree about there needing to be warnings on these fics. For the most part, I've never understood the whole mpreg phenomena. I don't understand its appeal, I have yet to see more than one plausible reason for it to exist (because I believe the hermaphrodite thing has been done in some original non-human fiction I ran across years ago). Still, far be it for me to say what people can and cannot write.

However, I've always believed warnings like that were just common courtesy and, at least with my own work, have tried to put up warnings for everything from graphic violence to strong language. If it's something that would be on a warning for a movie or a video game, then why not warn people about it in your fiction?

I suppose, however, that common courtesy is like common sense. Not very common at all.

[nysidra.livejournal.com]

Reminded me of a story I read yesterday...

Pregnant Male raises touchy gender issues
"A transgender man in Bend claims he is five months pregnant -- in a case that would stretch the meaning of the 21st-century family and the limits of personal pronouns.
But what sounds on the Internet like science fiction or tabloid hype may be more a matter of semantics, hormones and personal choice.
The parent-to-be was born female but identifies as a man, he writes in his first-person account posted this week by The Advocate, a national gay publication. He legally changed his name to Thomas Beatie and married a woman named Nancy. Beatie declined to answer questions from The Oregonian, citing an exclusive contract with another media outlet.... "

*nods head solemnly

[maf779.livejournal.com]

'sides, we all know if men had to endure pregnancy and birth we would be extinct.
wimps.

[marcmagus]

So, I totally have to tell you this. I laughed at this post of yours when I read it, so then I had to share it out loud with S. Who got inspired, and has since written her first MPreg in one of her fandoms.