Okay, I don't have time to wade through all 133 comments so far, so forgive me if this has been said already. :)
While I agree that the way that Jack/Ianto has been written has a number of flaws, I don't think that this is one of them. I think that the "Jack thoughtlessly using Ianto as a sex toy" interpretation is the result of people bringing their own preconceptions to the show, and trying to impose heteronormative preconceptions about boss/secretary relationships onto Jack/Ianto. The fact is, all evidence from the show suggests that Ianto is the one who initiates sexual most of the sexual encounters between them-- when we see Jack initiating (Cyberwoman, End of Days, KKBB, Adam) it's usually something romantic (kisses, dates, hugs)-- while Ianto initates romantic stuff too, he's usually the one we see initiating actual sexual encounters.
I think that the only way that the writers could avoid some people jumping to the sex-toy conclusion (due to their own social conditioning) would be to go all-out smoochy romantic, "I love you", like so much fanfic. And even then, people would just try to impose another set of heteronormative assumptions on their arses-- they'd be configured as a traditional "husband and wife" team-- and personally, I feel that many of those dynamics are just as distrubing as the boss/secretary dynamics imposed by the "sex toy" group.
Honestly, I don't think that the writers can really get out of this one, because the problem (in this instance) isn't the writing; the problem is societal attitudes towards gender and sexuality.
no subject
While I agree that the way that Jack/Ianto has been written has a number of flaws, I don't think that this is one of them. I think that the "Jack thoughtlessly using Ianto as a sex toy" interpretation is the result of people bringing their own preconceptions to the show, and trying to impose heteronormative preconceptions about boss/secretary relationships onto Jack/Ianto. The fact is, all evidence from the show suggests that Ianto is the one who initiates sexual most of the sexual encounters between them-- when we see Jack initiating (Cyberwoman, End of Days, KKBB, Adam) it's usually something romantic (kisses, dates, hugs)-- while Ianto initates romantic stuff too, he's usually the one we see initiating actual sexual encounters.
I think that the only way that the writers could avoid some people jumping to the sex-toy conclusion (due to their own social conditioning) would be to go all-out smoochy romantic, "I love you", like so much fanfic. And even then, people would just try to impose another set of heteronormative assumptions on their arses-- they'd be configured as a traditional "husband and wife" team-- and personally, I feel that many of those dynamics are just as distrubing as the boss/secretary dynamics imposed by the "sex toy" group.
Honestly, I don't think that the writers can really get out of this one, because the problem (in this instance) isn't the writing; the problem is societal attitudes towards gender and sexuality.