tchy:
there is literally no difference between academic scholars discussing their interpretations of a text and a bunch of people yelling YOUR HEADCANON IS WRONG at each other
As a Masters student I can vouch for this.
The difference is citations.
This is actually the most cheerful post I have ever seen, as of right now.
So here’s a thing. Probably tmi, idek.
In my reading for last week’s conference I came across an article (can’t quite remember the citation right now) that described writing slash as a queer act in and of itself: women (usually) writing erotic fiction in order to get other women (usually) off.
And I realized that maybe that’s exactly what it is for me. I miss having romantic and sexual interactions with women. I love my husband, but christ, I miss loving women. When I write and post slash for a largely female audience, I’m having sexual interactions (of a sort) with women in a way that doesn’t count as cheating. Women are still a part of my sexual life, in a way.
Sorry, I hope this isn’t creepy. It feels like an important realization for me.
Reblogging to add:
1. This isn’t all that writing is for me, but I think it’s a pretty big impetus for my slash writing.
2. I always have had a fairly brain-focused sexual life, so this actually makes a lot of sense. Huh.Thank you, doctornerdington!!! It’s not creepy at all, to me. This is something I’ve always felt so alone with and to see you express the same sort of thoughts is so comforting. I too love my husband dearly, but BUT I long for women. To be with a woman again. It’s something so deeply visceral it makes my heart ache when I let myself think about it. I hadn’t thought of my slash writing in this sense, but maybe subconsciously, that’s what I’m trying to do, or how it feels.
Bless you for having the courage to put this out there. <3
I’ve thought of this but didn’t know how to put it into words. Yes and yes.
I often wonder why I am obsessed with the sex lives of two male fictional characters enough to write about their activities….I suppose on some level it is about the ‘female’ aspect of it…..my favorite part of all of this is the friendship aspect of it all. The encouragement other female artists are given and just the all around loveliness I have encountered. Also the fact that we can be silly dirty minded people and get to escape our sometimes painful realities and still can have meaningful conversations such as this. Thank you!
I read in some article – of course we never remember citations, do we doctornerdington – that gay erotica written by women has nothing at all to do with the sex lives of men. It has to do with considering what sex could look like between partners who have no inbuilt power differential, who have grown up expecting to be free and self-determining agents of their own pleasure, who think nothing of asking for what they want and expecting to be a complete and active partner in sexual congress. In other words, men. Even writing lesbian erotica does not fulfill these criteria. It is nothing at all to do with the particular body parts involved, and everything to with how partners treat each other when they automatically consider that the person they’re having sex with is as much a person as they are.
And that’s HOT.
This ^
Yes. I think there’s a lot to be said for this. A LOT.
OK, since I tend to be citation gal:
doctornerdington’s essay is more than likely
Lackner, Eden, Barbara Lucas, and Robin Anne Reid. (2006) ‘Cunning Linguists: The Bisexual Erotics of Words/Silence/Flesh’, K. Hellekson and K. Busse (eds) Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in
the Age of the Internet, 207–24. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.hubblegleeflower’s essay is probably
Lamb, P.F. and Veith D. (1986) ‘Romantic myth, transcendence, and Star Trek zines’, D. Palumbo (ed) Erotic Universe: Sexuality and Fantastic Literature, 236–55, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
And just for good measure, here’s an essay that expands upon the idea of slash as queer female space that was kinda floating around fannish meta spaces in the early to mid 2000s
Lothian, A., Busse, K. and Reid, R.A. (2007) ‘Yearning void and infinite potential: Online slash fandom as queer female space’, ELN 45(2): 103–111.
Send me an ask if you want a copy of any of them.
Also, here is an earlier instances post that addresses the imaginary and the real life queer spaces in slash fandom:
hesychasm’s post: http://hesychasm.livejournal.com/74060.html
cathexys for the win!!!! Thanks so much! Yes, that was it! And more goodies to check out, too.
I call it the Squid Effect: when threatened, the student releases ink.
a professor commenting on the unnecessary prolixity of our papers (via vouksen)
