I'm so glad you read and commented even though you're not familiar with the source.
are the Cro-mags the high school bullies?
Yes. This is what Ducky calls them in canon. They are high school boys Ducky's age (15-16), who are... sort of jocks, hypermasculine, and pick on Ducky a lot.
I'm curious about this part, because is it true? It's obvious I think that he wouldn't rape her, but maybe he is attracted to her? It seems like if there was no attraction, this would be more of an angry, defiant thing, but I get the sense from this that maybe he is attracted to her, a little, which makes the whole thing more complex. Like he can't even let himself think it because he fears that would make him what he is seen as.
That's such an interesting point! And I never would have thought of it on my own, because my Ducky is very gay. But you're right; I think Ducky in this 'verse is sort of hyperaware of his own sexuality as dangerous, and if he did have feelings -- or even just attraction! -- for one of the (younger, white, vulnerable) girls, it would be very scary because he really doesn't want to be that kind of person, and I don't think he has a lot of models of healthy relationships.
(I suppose an alternate interpretation of Ducky's lack of sexual feelings//severe discomfort about sexuality in the books is that he's not gay, but just terrified of his heterosexuality because of how horribly sexist he finds the Cro-Mags' attitudes towards girls.)
and it makes me think about how I tend (we all tend, I think) to think of textual characters as white unless proven otherwise. White is default...
Yup. (Although my friend tartanshell said that when she first read the books, she thought Ducky was black at first, which is a really interesting perspective; I reread the books since writing this piece and thought about it some more and it's quite interesting.)
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Date: 2006-08-24 07:31 pm (UTC)are the Cro-mags the high school bullies?
Yes. This is what Ducky calls them in canon. They are high school boys Ducky's age (15-16), who are... sort of jocks, hypermasculine, and pick on Ducky a lot.
I'm curious about this part, because is it true? It's obvious I think that he wouldn't rape her, but maybe he is attracted to her? It seems like if there was no attraction, this would be more of an angry, defiant thing, but I get the sense from this that maybe he is attracted to her, a little, which makes the whole thing more complex. Like he can't even let himself think it because he fears that would make him what he is seen as.
That's such an interesting point! And I never would have thought of it on my own, because my Ducky is very gay. But you're right; I think Ducky in this 'verse is sort of hyperaware of his own sexuality as dangerous, and if he did have feelings -- or even just attraction! -- for one of the (younger, white, vulnerable) girls, it would be very scary because he really doesn't want to be that kind of person, and I don't think he has a lot of models of healthy relationships.
(I suppose an alternate interpretation of Ducky's lack of sexual feelings//severe discomfort about sexuality in the books is that he's not gay, but just terrified of his heterosexuality because of how horribly sexist he finds the Cro-Mags' attitudes towards girls.)
and it makes me think about how I tend (we all tend, I think) to think of textual characters as white unless proven otherwise. White is default...
Yup. (Although my friend