Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Fanfic and Orientation

Statistical analysis shows that queer orientations are heavily represented among people involved in slash (same-sex) fanworks.  I'm not surprised.  I also hypothesize that fanfic has helped the gay rights movement by making literature in which queer behavior is not unthinkable, but rather adorable.  People get used to it, and that's progress.  Similarly original material featuring queer relationships is helpful, and I suspect that again a lot of folks into original queer lit are themselves some flavor of queer -- plus some straight allies who may be heterosexual but bi-reading-romantic.
Tags: fantasy, gender studies, news, science fiction
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  • 11 comments
aldersprig

aldersprig

January 10 2014, 11:07:53 UTC 7 years ago Edited:  January 10 2014, 11:08:31 UTC

I am fairly certain growing up reading Marion Zimmer Bradley and Mercedes Lackey helped me come to terms not only with my own bisexuality, but with being open to non-hetero sexualities in general.

...that and the Penthouse magazines I wasn't supposed to find, which had a lot of lesbian activity ;-)
ysabetwordsmith

Thoughts

ysabetwordsmith

January 11 2014, 04:01:16 UTC 7 years ago

>> I am fairly certain growing up reading Marion Zimmer Bradley and Mercedes Lackey helped me come to terms not only with my own bisexuality, but with being open to non-hetero sexualities in general. <<

I enjoyed those stories a lot. *chuckle* But my earliest examples were Sam/Frodo and Bert/Ernie. I was bemused when I found out that not everyone perceived them as couples.

>> ...that and the Penthouse magazines I wasn't supposed to find, which had a lot of lesbian activity ;-) <<

Hee! I was partial to Playboy myself.
aldersprig

Re: Thoughts

aldersprig

January 13 2014, 14:43:36 UTC 7 years ago

I liked both, but the Penthouse is the one I remember having lesbian spreads.

catsittingstill

catsittingstill

January 10 2014, 12:00:35 UTC 7 years ago

I have seen speculation that Willow in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series also had an effect on general acceptance of homosexuality.

She was adorable--and didn't become less so when she realized she was gay.
ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

January 10 2014, 23:57:37 UTC 7 years ago

>> I have seen speculation that Willow in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series also had an effect on general acceptance of homosexuality. <<

That makes sense, although a lot of people were bitterly disappointed by what happened to Tara.

>> She was adorable--and didn't become less so when she realized she was gay. <<

It does seem to make a difference in reception, when a character is introduced as queer vs. discovers being queer later. Some people will stay with a favorite character who wouldn't have bothered with a queer-up-front one. Others feel somehow betrayed or misled, and will dump a character who comes out. Some actively enjoy queer characters and look for them in particular.

In other words, a lot like real life.
lyonesse

lyonesse

January 10 2014, 13:24:31 UTC 7 years ago

i believe k/s fic (the ship that gave us the word "slash") was primarily written by and for straight women, kind of like 'lesbian porn' for men who dig women. seems to me k/s started a better cultural trend or six, though :)
ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

January 10 2014, 23:54:10 UTC 7 years ago

That sounds about right.
johnpalmer

johnpalmer

January 11 2014, 19:41:13 UTC 7 years ago

I remember seeing a lovely rant about how if you like slash, you damn well better support same sex marriage and any other gay civil rights issue, people are not zoo animals clowned up for your amusement, and so forth. I wouldn't be surprised if it did help.

I also remember Hugh Laurie in an interview giving some fodder for slashficcers about House - I mean, I don't know if he was intentionally doing it, but that's how it came across to me, meaning I think he recognized the value to the entertainment industry. (Or maybe he just likes reading House/Wilson stories.)
ysabetwordsmith

Thoughts

ysabetwordsmith

January 11 2014, 20:10:51 UTC 7 years ago

>> I remember seeing a lovely rant about how if you like slash, you damn well better support same sex marriage and any other gay civil rights issue, people are not zoo animals clowned up for your amusement, and so forth. I wouldn't be surprised if it did help. <<

I agree. My stance on writing outside your own categories is:
1) Writing only about your own categories is erasure and boring.
2) Do your homework so you don't botch the details.
3) Always give back to the community whose inspiration you use. That can be a percentage of your profits, your support on political matters, volunteering on projects that benefit them, whatever.

>> I also remember Hugh Laurie in an interview giving some fodder for slashficcers about House - I mean, I don't know if he was intentionally doing it, but that's how it came across to me, meaning I think he recognized the value to the entertainment industry. (Or maybe he just likes reading House/Wilson stories.) <<

Some creative people just enjoy feeding the fen.

Me, I like to use fanfic to find out what people really really love reading. A lot of fanfic is fixit material for things that people find insufficiently satisfying in mainstream entertainment. It's not hard to hack that and identify things that will serve as fanmagnets to load into a canon. So that's one reason my original writing includes same-sex relationships, free love, nonsexual touch, comfort care, mindful problem-solving, enemies resolving their differences, etc. I've set up some entire projects explicitly to facilitate things like crossovers (Schrodinger's Heroes) or racebending (The Blueshift Troupers).
technoshaman

technoshaman

January 11 2014, 20:35:51 UTC 7 years ago

Colour me in that last group...

Though I suspect having read the original K/S story a lot of the next wave of stuff got written because of a very Fenimore Cooper-esque reaction: "Dear gods, I could write better than that drek!"

And they did! :)

What's funny-strange (and kinda sad) to me is that a LOT of the fanfic authors (and almost all of the vidders) are *women*, regardless of orientation... including a number of my favourites. I'd say I wished there was a way for those stories to get out there... but I'm already, slowly, getting that wish. You're where I can see you, annathepiper has both self-pubbed in one 'verse and is under contract for a trilogy, e-pubbed, in another... I think now it's just a matter of time and staying at it.

Same as I think about gay rights in general. The avalanche has already begun. It's too late for the pebbles to vote.
ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

January 28 2014, 03:39:41 UTC 7 years ago

>> Though I suspect having read the original K/S story a lot of the next wave of stuff got written because of a very Fenimore Cooper-esque reaction: "Dear gods, I could write better than that drek!" <<

A mighty source of inspiration. It's part of what has me looking at film these days.

>> I'd say I wished there was a way for those stories to get out there... but I'm already, slowly, getting that wish. <<

Sooth. Tell ALL the stories. The bottleneck in publishing is breaking down.