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Interesting essay

Via my flist (

lynnenne specifically):

SLASH FANFICTION: THE META OF ALL METAS

I’d love for people to read and share it, but the TL;DR is:

Slash is, first and foremost, a reaction against the sexual and gendered stereotypes that follow women in real life. It is also a direct result of the dearth of female representation in media. Using two male bodies offers an escape from forced identification and subverts the heterosexual male viewpoint taken in film, television, video games, and advertisements. Slash fiction is a world wherein women, for once, are not the ones who are “on display”.

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Oo, that is a good one.

Yes, I really enjoyed it - have had it open in a tab for days!

That article's pretty intriguing.

I like stuff that tackles subjects properly. :)

Such an interesting read. I didn't agree with everything, but a lot of it just had me nodding my head feverishly.

It made me think about all the issues, which is what all the best meta does.

Ohhh, that does look interesting!! Also, also: Relevant to My Interests!

*HUGS*

Enjoy! <3

Thanks again for sharing (you post the most interesting stuff!).

I agreed with some of this but disagreed with a lot of it. She makes some good points, especially about fan communities, but with some other things I felt like she was making some fairly sweeping generalizations. She claims one of the reasons fans enjoy writing slash is that the male characters have closer emotional relationships with each other than they do with their purported female love interests, but how does that explain the popularity of e.g., Harry/Draco slash or Harry/ Snape slash within Potter fandom? I read all seven books, and I don't recall Harry having anything other than an antagonistic relationship with either character (if you're going to make the emotional relationship argument, it would make a lot more sense for Harry to be in a relationship with Ron or one of the other Gryffindors or Weasleys).

I realize this is just one example--slashing two male characters who already have a strong bond of friendship makes sense to me, but from my admittedly cursory scan of popular fandom pairings, writers are just as apt to pair up two characters who actively hate each other than two who are friends to start with.

I also take umbrage with the notion that writers prefer slash because there are no good female characters out there. There are actually a lot--maybe not as many as good male characters, but there are still plenty. And for the notion that the female characters are all too physically perfect--well, I've yet to see one truly ugly male character, and most of them are on the good-looking end of the spectrum, with many being actively gorgeous. (Look at the Avengers. It's like a candy box for female viewers).

I wouldn't argue that we don't live in a terribly sexist, patriarchal society, and that this doesn't shape how women and men are portrayed in the media. But I also think the situation is a lot more nuanced than the way this writer presents it, and I have issues with her argument that writing a romantic relationship that excludes women completely is a somehow a profoundly feminist statement.

If male-male slash is something that turns a writer on, I say fine: go ahead and write it. I've written so much of my own stuff, some of it quite self-indulgent, that I would never cast aspersions on something that gives someone else pleasure and lets them explore their creativity. There's IMO room in fandom for pretty much everything. But I feel like this writer is trying too hard to put an academic spin on something she pretty freely admits is a turn-on.

One point I think she sort of makes but generally misses is that fanfic gives people the opportunity to envision things they wouldn't get to see in the source material--sexual or otherwise.

Anyway, thanks again for sharing this--it certainly spurred a lot of thinky thoughts, and I'm sure some of them will work their way into my future fan writing. : )

I agree with you. I tend to have similar feelings about everything that's written about fandom and slash: there's really no one answer. For every media representation argument, or character quality argument, or internalized misogyny, or any other argument, there is plenty of evidence. It seems to me that there are trends you can talk about, but no overarching explanation that unites them all.

I love reading scholarly analyses of fandom and fanfic, but I find myself often disagreeing with them. It's a fascinating thing to look at. If I were doing a dissertation in media studies, I think I would focus on fandom/ fanfic. I think you're absolutely right that there are trends but no overarching explanation.

Of course we all look at things from the perspective of our own experiences. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of slashfics I've written. And what prompted me to write them is the same thing that often prompts my het fics: there's an interesting relationship I want to delve into, and the story lets me do that. I have nothing against slash, it's just generally not my cuppa tea. It's been a part of a lot of fandoms since forever, though, so it's kind of a head-scratcher to me when someone writes a long impassioned essay justifying why they write it. They're part of a venerable tradition! : )

Thanks again for sharing (you post the most interesting stuff!).
Thank you! (I am incapable of not sharing.)

I realize this is just one example--slashing two male characters who already have a strong bond of friendship makes sense to me, but from my admittedly cursory scan of popular fandom pairings, writers are just as apt to pair up two characters who actively hate each other than two who are friends to start with.
I would say that antagonistic pairings are by far the most interesting. Take f.ex. Harry/Draco vs. Harry/Ron or Harry/Ginny. Harry/Ron... Um. I'm sure it exists, but I'd say that although they're close friends, there's no... friction. (That's the word!) There's something to be said for a proper good straightforward love story (Buffy/Angel, or Doctor/Rose), but then you need Plot Points to keep them apart, or you have to put problems in their path to keep them seperate. Whilst when the characters are antagonistic towards each other - yet clearly drawn to each other/always fighting - the issues arise naturally out of the characters and their history (see Buffy/Spike, or Spike/Angel, or Doctor/Master). This sort of love-hate relationship is rather common with male characters, and I think for slash fans they can build on the feelings and create something interesting. It's a much more rewarding thing to delve into than 'Here is a nice girl the hero can fall in love with'. I am of course over simplifying - and John/Sherlock would be the prime example of friends-slash - but I think the issue is with the sweeping generalisation, not with the point she is trying to make. Jack/Ianto is pretty much the perfect example of a slash-ship made real, rather than just to exist in subtext. Also with two male characters you are writing against the norm, they'll usually fight their attraction, or deny that it's there, and you have endless scope for creating interesting stories (and hot sex, often letting the characters be in denial). It can work with male/female also - Spike/Buffy being a prime example - but it's much rarer.

I also take umbrage with the notion that writers prefer slash because there are no good female characters out there.
Well, I think the article is 10 years old? Maybe what she meant was 'Few interesting m/f 'ships'. Although overall I think it's just a bit of a tangent? Female character, overall, are not particularly important if you look at stuff through slash-goggles.

And for the notion that the female characters are all too physically perfect--well, I've yet to see one truly ugly male character, and most of them are on the good-looking end of the spectrum, with many being actively gorgeous.
I think this is about identification. Women can objectify male characters (the same way female characters get objectified by male viewers), but it's far more difficult to identify with the very beautiful female characters on screen. All of which is really a different argument, about how we need more 'normal' women on screen, and unrealistic beauty standards etc.

I have issues with her argument that writing a romantic relationship that excludes women completely is a somehow a profoundly feminist statement.
Well, it doesn't have to be either-or. We should be able to have fabulous female characters AND lovely slash. They are really not mutually exclusive.

But I feel like this writer is trying too hard to put an academic spin on something she pretty freely admits is a turn-on.
I don't think that's a bad thing? Anything that tries to take women more seriously is good, in my book. Yes, it's a turn-on, but it's still being dismissed, whereas men's porn is taken far more seriously.

One point I think she sort of makes but generally misses is that fanfic gives people the opportunity to envision things they wouldn't get to see in the source material--sexual or otherwise.
Maybe she took it for granted?

Mostly then yes - interesting, but flawed. Should have been longer! :)

Anyway, thanks again for sharing this--it certainly spurred a lot of thinky thoughts, and I'm sure some of them will work their way into my future fan writing. : )
Looking forward!

This is pretty interesting thinking! :)

And then people started talking! Everything is shiny. :)

I read a similar analysis/explanation awhile ago, and I do find it an interesting argument. I don't think it's the whole story, but I do think it's an important point to make. I am always fascinated with these 'what's slash really about, anyway?' pieces because, well, on a fundamental level I just don't get it.

My major problem with the argument is that decently done female characters, while yes, they are rarer than the male ones, are by no means as rare as these arguments imply, and it seems to me that slash communities often seek out the kinds of shows and movies that are the very worst offenders of the type. I suppose there's an argument to be made there about seizing on the things that are most degrading to women and subverting them, but for me I'd rather find the good stories about women and the well-done het relationships and celebrate those.

Also the point that one person the author cites in there makes is, to me, exactly why slash doesn't appeal to me: if two guys want to kiss each other, that's got nothing to do with me. I guess I can see how that would be freeing? But . . . it's got nothing to do with me. So why should I find that hot? IDK.

I read a similar analysis/explanation awhile ago, and I do find it an interesting argument. I don't think it's the whole story, but I do think it's an important point to make.
Yes, there's not a simple explanation.

My major problem with the argument is that decently done female characters, while yes, they are rarer than the male ones, are by no means as rare as these arguments imply, and it seems to me that slash communities often seek out the kinds of shows and movies that are the very worst offenders of the type.
*cough* Supernatural *cough* And I guess if you have a show built around male characters, the women often end up on the outside... So it works both ways.

I suppose there's an argument to be made there about seizing on the things that are most degrading to women and subverting them, but for me I'd rather find the good stories about women and the well-done het relationships and celebrate those.
Well, it shouldn't be either/or. There's more than enough space for everything.

But . . . it's got nothing to do with me. So why should I find that hot? IDK.
Well... I wouldn't expect you to understand.

*cough* Supernatural *cough*
Precisely.

Well, it shouldn't be either/or. There's more than enough space for everything.
Well, except when one has the misfortune to fall for a fandom that the slashers have colonized. They tend to have the force and numbers to overwhelm everything else :-\

Fortunately, as stated before, the biggest slash magnets tend not to have the most compelling female characters, so I usually move on before long . . .

Well... I wouldn't expect you to understand.
Realizing people are attractive is such a process, for realz.

Precisely.
I have never watched a single episode...

Well, except when one has the misfortune to fall for a fandom that the slashers have colonized. They tend to have the force and numbers to overwhelm everything else :-\
Ah. Yes, I can see the problem. You just have to write your own fic, I'm afraid...

Fortunately, as stated before, the biggest slash magnets tend not to have the most compelling female characters, so I usually move on before long . . .
Sad, but I don't doubt it.

Realizing people are attractive is such a process, for realz.
There, there. *pets*

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