la la la femslash
9/8/04 21:32![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schmericaI don't really find the "why do lesbians dig m/m slash, anyway?" discussions all that interesting anymore -- like most slash discussions, it seems to have lots of interesting theories but basically come down to "why are people turned on by what turns them on?" which, really, strikes me as a question that doesn't need an answer -- but it struck on this last go-round that, hey. No one ever asks about the straight girls who write/dig femslash, eh?
I imagine this is possibly a combination of several things:
a) That femslash tends to be under-represented or -cared-for or -considered in slash fandom in general.
b) That there aren't that many of us (and possibly an assumption of queerness goes along with the writing of f/f, though I'm not really confident on that point. At any rate, straightness is not necessarily something immediately apparent, especially since slash fandom tends to be a very queer-seeming place, at least in the circles I'm most familiar with).
On a completely different note, my dad and brother left yesterday for their week at the national trapper's convention. I love them both dearly, but the week every year when they're gone? It's like vacation, man. Yaaaaay.
I imagine this is possibly a combination of several things:
a) That femslash tends to be under-represented or -cared-for or -considered in slash fandom in general.
b) That there aren't that many of us (and possibly an assumption of queerness goes along with the writing of f/f, though I'm not really confident on that point. At any rate, straightness is not necessarily something immediately apparent, especially since slash fandom tends to be a very queer-seeming place, at least in the circles I'm most familiar with).
On a completely different note, my dad and brother left yesterday for their week at the national trapper's convention. I love them both dearly, but the week every year when they're gone? It's like vacation, man. Yaaaaay.
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(no subject)
9/8/04 22:02 (UTC)In terms of writing slash, the majority of writers are female and there's definitely a large straight contingent writing. These girls, I feel, sometimes operate on the non-threat theory, explained to me as thus by a male friend- Guys love seeing two chicks together. (If they're hot.) And by not having a male figure present in the scenario there is no threat of someone upstaging their masculinity. It's enjoying the scenario without having a yardstick to measure up to in your imagination. Theoretically, the inverse works the same way.
I think for many female writers femslash can almost come too close to reality than they want from their fiction. They want something sexy, but detached. Something that allows to focus their sexuality out of themselves is a rather freeing element present in slash. Femslash is, in a sense, too close to actually Being Gay.
In terms of fanfiction, the lack of femslash can come from a lack of a relationship to base it off of. Sure, there's "best friend" subtext everywhere. But the media tends to objectify lesbian relationships and turn them into a more masculine-geared fantasy. On the other hand, the opposite direction can also be taken and given a sappy, over-sentimental feel (Because That's How Women Are.) In general, it tends to alienate the lesbian element by overexposure.
Or I could be just talking with no reason at all.
(no subject)
10/8/04 09:40 (UTC)And, really, the other thing is comes down to? Everybody should write *what I like*.
(no subject)
10/8/04 11:09 (UTC)Right on.
(no subject)
10/8/04 12:42 (UTC)sorry, that just brought out the 12 year old in me.
Very interesting convo...really.