Oops, my claws are showing

[grammarwoman]

It's Friday again, which usually means my attention span is shorter than...what was I saying?

Anyway, so I'm bopping through LJ links and links-of-links, and I came across an online magazine that had a bunch of interviews. (Jason Dohring, you know I will always have a soft spot in my headheart for you after Logan, but please, "Moonlight", to be brief, sucks. No, really. It does. People's Choice award or not.)

Then I saw a picture, combined with a name, and I had to click it.

I struggled for a bit with the internal debate: Must not be catty, must not be catty, must not be catty...oh, fuck it.

This article's picture and caption caught my eye. Butcher, hm. I wonder if she's related to Jim Butcher? Sure enough, she's Jim Butcher's wife (psst, garrity, if you're reading this: the picture of Jim Butcher farther down the page makes him look like a relative of space_mice, doncha think?), and she's now a suspense romance novelist. The cattiness comes in (and oh, how a piece of my feminist's soul shrivels to expose this to the light) when I look at that picture and think, Huh. Piercing green eyes, long and curling red hair, milkmaid complexion...one or more of these things is Fake. (To be scrupulously honest, though, judging from the more candid shots further along in the article, those characteristics may all be legit and merely enhanced in the initial photo.)

Is this jealousy? Unfortunately and truthfully, yes, as that's almost the exact visage I would love to present to the world. (I have utter lust in my heart for red hair; I sincerely don't understand why women dye their hair bleach blond when they could be auburn instead. I felt like slapping Anne Shirley when she complained about her hair. And curls? Having suffered through stick straight hair and bad perms as a child, I weep for natural curls like that.) As the wife of a (presumably) financially successful author (and a romance author herself), why shouldn't she take advantage of the Glamour shots kind of beauty enhancements available to her? She looks lovely, if perhaps a trifle severe in that red lipstick. I should be wishing more power to her for her hard work and success. Instead I'm ready to dismiss her as a literal embodiment of Mary Sue-ness. *sigh* Sometimes, I really suck.

Now that I've made my shameful confession, I'm curious about you guys. What image pops into your head when you come across the phrase "Mary Sue", and does it reflect at all on what features you wish you had?

Comments

[miniglik.livejournal.com]

sincerely don't understand why women dye their hair bleach blond when they could be auburn instead.

This was probably rhetorical (*grin*), but I actually can't dye my hair red. Because it's already kind of a strawberry blonde, any attempts to make it more red turn it pink, sadly. I think platinum may be easier for a lot of people.

That said, my ideal on beauty has always been light auburn hair, perfect pale skin, and big lips. I think because it's something I come close to (blond hair with a bit of red, pale-but-very-imperfect skin, and biggish lips) but don't quite achieve. So I kind of covet the way I could look, if only I were prettier.

My mental image of "Mary Sue" seems to have no physical features, just perhaps a perky 80s ish girl in the Trek uniform with bouncy hair. (I can't seem to divorce the image from its origins, I guess.)

[grammarwoman]

This was probably rhetorical (*grin*), but I actually can't dye my hair red.

Well, see, there you go. You can't go auburn, therefore...(And besides, from the few pictures I've seen of you, your hair is gorgeous and perfect for you. So don't change it now, y'hear? *grin*)

And actually, for the most part, my bafflement is literal. There are so many women out there, IMHO, that would look so much better with a hair color other than platinum. Maybe not red, but something closer to their own natural color or at least more flattering to their complexion. I find it hard to believe that that many women are just a few shades off blonde so that they're correcting their color rather than flat-out denying it.

My mom, for one: she had blond hair as a girl, but her true color now (not that it's been seen in years) is a mix of grey and light brown. I could see wanting to cover the grey, but the ash blonde shade she's chosen just doesn't go well with her ruddy complexion.

So I kind of covet the way I could look, if only I were prettier.

Pshaw. See above, re: you = gorgeous.

My mental image of "Mary Sue" seems to have no physical features, just perhaps a perky 80s ish girl in the Trek uniform with bouncy hair. (I can't seem to divorce the image from its origins, I guess.)

Fair enough, especially considering all the critical analysis I read that mentions specifying ridiculous physical attributes (purple eyes! Ankle length hair!) as part of IDing a character as a Mary Sue. Does this mean you see Deanna Troi that way? *grin*

[garrity.livejournal.com]

Yah . . for me, Mary Sue is always a frame of mind. Whiny, dependant, needy, and a hsotage-on-the-hoof who finds his or her own unique snowflakely wonderfulness thorugh the benevolence and approval of the lead characters . . . Wesley Crusher is a Mary Sue, f'rexample.

[herbivorous.livejournal.com]

If we're going to be catty...dear, I think that *you* have better hair. Yours is nice and shiny. Her color might be nice, but look at those ends! Curly or not, there is NO excuse for that sort of split-end snarlfest. Get thee to the salon for a trim, I say, and then learn to use silicone detangler if necessary.

As for the complexion: TOTAL. MAKEUP. You, too can have a milkmaid complexion of you master the use of powder and blush. I'm sorry: It's artfully applied, but she does NOT have cheekbones like that IRL. Look at the last picture: We start to see the True Complexion, and its shiny and a tad on the red side. In other words, just like a Real Woman.

That being said, it's always amazing to me how you can describe a couple of features and people think "OOOOH, SO PRETTY!" and then you look at the actual *person* and, well--all the green eyes and red hair in the world won't do squat if you don't have good bone structure. Likewise, you can have El Nondescripto hair and eyes, but have a good overall package. Baryshnikov did not have especially memorable hair or eye color, but oh, the package....

When I think "Mary Sue", though, I get the exact opposite image. Instead of perfection, I think extremely dowdy frumptastic bluenosedness.