As I said in my last post, I think this particular brand of fandom discourse is old and tired, but before we put it to bed (at least on this blog) allow me to clarify a few things:
- Canon feminizes Hans. You can read and/or characterize him differently, but canon does in fact do this.
- Top/bottom preferences have no inherent connection to how "feminine" or "masculine" someone considers a character to be.
- Femininity is not inherently negative and masculinity is not inherently positive. To wit, reading femininity in Hans is not derogatory.
- Fem/masc queer couples are not heteronormative just because they present a certain way, and it's insulting and honestly kind of gross and reductive to imply that they are.
- Shipwarring disguised as morality is shitty. If you like Hans to be more masculine in presentation, just say that. It isn’t a moral issue.
- Top/bottom preferences are just one preference out of many, and it is strange to only attach a moral standard to sex in particular. Not having a preference does not make you morally superior either!
- I personally prefer it when Hans is depicted as taller than Henry, and when he enjoys bossing Henry around in bed. Does this automatically make him more masculine, and Henry more feminine for enjoying being bossed around?
- Similarly, I like seeing them both as equally bad about repressing their feelings. I consider Hans as someone desperate to be a provider for Henry, and I think secretly Henry would enjoy being taken care of for once in his life. I am severely squicked out by people smoking and quickly scroll past art that features hansry doing it. Why are those preferences okay while top/bottom preferences aren't? What makes penetration so damn special?
- No one is going to view sex, sex positions, and sexual roles the same way. Society might attach morality to these things, but not everyone is going to relate to them in the same way, and other people can think or write about sex in ways that are distinct from those social standards.
- "Oh, so does this mean you support people writing these characters as OOC?" Fic writers aren't paid, so they can do whatever the fuck they want with these characters. I don't personally enjoy it, but I don't have to. That's what the back button is for.
- I don’t think I’m the arbiter of what is morally right or correct either, by the by.


