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4retr0ghost3 · 5 years ago

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The Problem With New-Age June Egbert (And Why She Should Have Remained Fanon)

an immediate disclaimer, i want you all to know that my opinions on june egbert have changed vastly over the past couple months. i have discussed the issue of her character with transfemme mutuals of mine, as well as other trans individuals i know. the fact of the matter is i have publicly said things that i feel are no longer emblematic of how i think. the way i viewed june’s character was very close-minded—and while yes, those conclusions were based on real experiences i had and witnessed, it fails to recognize a bigger picture. for a long while most of my opinions were fueled by anger and frustration, as well as a lack of understanding of why i was angry at other people’s points of view. longer time followers may remember when i released a post of a text conversation i had with an instagram follower of mine. there are still points i made in that post i agree with and will mention in this essay, but i also made some points that failed to consider a selfish point of view as well as how much anger was being perceived, and for that, i apologize. this disclaimer will be relevant as i move into the essay, but to simply state—in the original post, i had explained why i personally thought june wasn’t good representation because of how i and many others interpret egbert’s character. however, i came across so ridiculously angry and selfish and i look back and shake my head at my stupidity. to summarize, my opinions have changed drastically and i want you all to know that i have a much bigger picture now to form my thesis and points. i deleted the post that had those screenshots a while ago, as well as the asks i got in response to said post, because many points i had stated are no longer emblematic of how i feel, and i didn’t want them to be the only source of people’s knowledge on my opinions. while i do not think i was being transmisogynistic, like so many people like to describe such opinions as, i was being close-minded and failed to consider people’s experiences and opinions. if you think i’m being insensitive, prejudiced, biased and the like for any of the points i make later, please message me or send an ask so we can have a real conversation. i’ve opened up to such before and have changed my opinions because of it, as i stated. so if you wanna discuss, don’t be afraid to contact me! take all of what i say with a grain of salt, as there is a chance my opinion will already start changing after i write this. i think it’s important to have this conversation regardless. it’s very complicated and messy and opinions can change on a dime.

alright, disclaimer over. let’s get into the essay.

first, let’s talk about some positives and what i like about june and some of the community that surrounds her.

something that i enjoy about june is how happy she makes a lot of people in the community. i’m glad transfemme individuals get to relate to a character and put their identities into her. i understand that well, as i also do similar with john. i get the same joy from transfemme june art by transfemme creators as i do enby egbert from enby creators, and transmasc john from transmasc creators. i am transmasc myself, so i highly relate to the excitement given from seeing one’s experience reflected in a character they relate to. not to mention, june is still an egbert, and still the same character i fell in love with. an egbert is an egbert no matter the interpretation, and i love them always. (you all know my john brainrot is real okay i hhrgrhrnr lomve)

as i have said, i am not transfemme myself. i do not understand the experiences they go through, and i never will entirely. i recognize that now (something i had failed to recognize before), and understand that everyone has a different interpretation. the reason why i personally don’t see the headcanon of june is simple. to me, john doesn’t read as transfemme. same as how to me, roxy does read as transfemme. the way i view john’s character is that he needs to learn to be comfortable in his femininity as a man, and needs to grow out of his ignorance. through this, he grows out of his internalized homophobia and learns to be comfortable with his attraction to men. this is how i personally see egbert’s character, and recognize that others do not see it this way. to me, john transitioning to female undermines what i see in his character.

now, what i started above is purely my opinion. anyone who thinks differently is free to think differently, as the egbert character is highly versatile and many people see them in diverse ways.

the reason i state my opinions and views is because this directly correlates to how many people now immediately write off those who like john because they assume that their motivations are fueled by a hatred towards trans women, which is both ignorant and a generalization. the reason why i don’t headcanon june is personal to me, and has almost nothing to do with the isolated transness that she has. if june lined up with my perception of egbert, i would be more likely to headcanon her. and i know the same goes for many others.

yes, of course there are people who have a suspicious distaste for june. i understand that entirely, and know that transmisogynism is very real and very prevalent. but the fact of the matter is that the majority are not like this. making assumptions without direct causation from those you’re making assumptions about is ignorant and hypocritical. these same people would never stand for others who like john making assumptions about their opinions and motivations, especially when this can be directly attributed to identity.

you see, june is no longer just transfemme john.

she’s a symbol of a harmful ideology, and she only became this way when illmotivated people got their hands on this otherwise harmless headcanon.

need further proof? back when i had made that original post, a blog dedicated to transfemme john asked me permission to reblog it. their reasoning? they didn’t like june, and were frustrated at many people coming across their blog assuming that the blog is for june. i will not call out the blog by name because i did not ask permission to mention them directly and i don’t want them to get targeted.

now, you may be asking yourself, why would a transfemme john blog not like june? this is where we get into the whole point of the title.

the problem of new-age june egbert.

june egbert has existed in the fandom for some time now, and has always been floating around. however, those in the fandom currently have surely noticed that only recently has this controversy around her character been arising. why is that?

there are multiple reasons, all of which i think are being overlooked.

firstly, june egbert was brought into the mainstream of the fandom thanks to the toblerone hunt. there are multiple issues with this. bringing june into the spotlight removes her from the protected circle in which she could be consumed and shared by those who truly care about her. the most important of consumers, transfemme people themselves. bringing her out of that circle removes her from a community in which her representation will be treated with respect and care. people weren’t hateful towards june (at least not openly) until now because before, june was treated as what she should be—a headcanon by and for trans women.

second, this new spotlight given to june unfortunately undermines many of the ideologies upheld within the homestuck fandom. one that i will always die on a hill for. all characters are up to the interpretation of the reader. the wonderful thing about homestuck is that the characters are all so vague. they’re broadly written, aracial, and are easy to project onto. it’s a free for all, when it comes to character interpretations. no one is canonically cis or trans, which makes it so the whole LGBTQ+ community can come together and enjoy the same character for different reasons.

canonizing june destroys this, same as how canonizing transmasc roxy does the same. same with giving jade a dog dick, making rose pregnant, treating dirk as cis, and the like. people who connect with other headcanons feel as if they can’t indulge in them anymore because of this, and that’s really unfortunate.

now, don’t get me wrong, having canon representation can be fantastic. however, homestuck is a special case. both for the reason i stated above, as well as others i am going to address now.

the post canon is not canon the same way homestuck proper is. june and transmasc roxy would be different if they were canon in homestuck proper. i would be dying on the hill of properly addressing their identities, and portraying them correctly. however, these two pieces of representation as well as many others weren’t directly canonized in homestuck proper. even if you feel they were coded, it was never stated directly. this changes the name of the game. homestuck is very complicated with canon, now more than ever. the dubiously canon is a highly confusing topic. it’s technically official, because hussie had purposely chosen these writers to create the continuation. but at the same time, the same man said these things weren’t a part of canon. that the canonicity is up to interpretation from the reader, hence the distinction between homestuck proper and the dubiously canon. and it’s only grown more murky after hussie left the team.

basically, everything about homestuck^2 is honestly a mess, and june is emblematic of that carelessness from the writers.

yet another issue with the toblerone canonization is that now, june is in the hands of the writers who have proven they don’t care about genuine representation. the way they treated transmasc roxy was atrocious (i say as a transmasc person, mind you) and it’s only getting worse. i doubt june is going to be any different. keep in mind, andrew hussie is a cis man who wrote john as a standard cis straight man. clearly, he doesn’t have much authority on how representation should be properly done. and besides that, the entire madness that is the character interpretations of the homestuck^2 writers is not comforting. this specifically is what i mean when i say june was removed from the small, comfortable community in which she was cared for. now she’s in the hands of writers who aren’t going to do her justice.

the last issue i have with june’s now mainstream status is that people are injecting their ideologies into june as a character, which is deeply unfortunate and frustrating. as we all know, june stans are known for their harassment and anger towards those who do not personally headcanon her. they throw around the word “transmisogynist” like it’s nothing, to the point where it feels as if it’s lost its meaning. (which, might i add, is only hurting those who say it.)

however, besides those apparent issues, some other issues tend to be overlooked. within that community, there is a blatant cycle of mlm, transmasc, and biphobia. mlm already have a difficult enough time getting proper, well-done representation. (i would go into the issues with davekat in both epilogue timelines as well as ult dirk but those are issues for another time). this group of people frequently targets transmasc individuals who find solace in john’s character, as well as claim harmless mlm ships to be abusive, fetishy, etc. there’s also issues with bi erasure, which can be found in their treatment of characters who are clearly bisexual. terezi has had romantic relations with karkat and dave as well as vriska. vriska had her issues with tavros as well as dated john in a doomed timeline. roxy canonically had a crush on dirk. but many people decide to overlook these things in favor of claiming they’re lesbians.

and this is not to say that lesbophobia isn’t an issue in the fandom, because it is. but that’s not the issue i’m talking about right now. (also, strangely enough, the same people who like june this way also defend hs^2. which, need i remind you, completely tore apart the only canonical lesbian relationship in both timelines. a little fishy, no?)

these ideologies are also highly entrenched in the current homestuck team’s “fake woke” attitude, where they shoehorn sloppily written identity arcs into the story in favor of steamrolling over real issues. this is a defense mechanism used so they won’t be called out for things they’re doing wrong. it’s the same damage control they use when they gave us that davekat update, and it disgusts me.

another notable issue with this particular breed of june stan is they steamroll other’s identity. you have no idea how many times i’ve experienced second-hand dysphoria from someone referring to a drawing of john as june. these june stans would be livid if someone referred to a drawing of june as john, so why the double standard?

tl;dr, june herself is a lovely entity who many find comfort in. unfortunately, thanks to the environment, she is now a symbol associated with hatred, ignorance, carelessness and spite.

in conclusion, can john and june please just fucking coexist.

and now, for a drawing of june, because i know that was all heavy and she deserves some real love.

#take time to read this for the love of god this is important to me :)#john egbert #june egbert #homestuck

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