Lemme burn down your fandom pedestals for you

[lyssie]

So, I was boredly poking around the internet and I found A beginner's guide to fandom. So I read it. And came across the following question and the author's answer.

And then I saw red.

OK, seriously, what’s with all the interest in making straight men gay?

Fandom is subversive. If a canonical worldview is entirely straight-white-male, then fans will actively resist it. Freeing homoerotic subtexts from restrictive source canons is a rebellion against heteronormative constraints.

Slash also provides readers the catharsis of a well-developed love story, but with even more obstacles to overcome. Slash deals with sociocultural issues of queerness on its way to romance. Because traditional genre publishers can’t push the envelope to the degree that slash does on a regular basis, slash often attracts highly literary, smart, and genre-savvy writers. When slashfic is good, it’s very good.

This? THIS PRETENTIOUS PIECE OF BULLSHIT? THIS is everything I fucking hate about boyslash fanfiction writers and readers. NO, YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL SNOWFLAKES OF SPECIALNESS, you assholes. You do not get to pretend you are better than people writing heteronormative (or femslash, because boyslash is never fucking inclusive) narratives. You are not fucking above us, so get off your high horses and stop being assholes about how amazing you are.

Sidenote: This is why I still fucking hate the OTW and AO3, because it is run by these pretentious, holier-than-thou snobs who venerate and worship the penis as a God that makes them above all lesser mortals. (OTW and AO3 seem to have been started by the very boyslashers who go on about how boyslash is so much better than anything else, and while it's amazing that they started it, I still feel unwanted there as I don't write literary m/m slash fanfiction, I write about women and het relationships.) /sidenote

Also, the idea that straight-white-male is something fandom resists is such fucking bullshit. WHITE PENISES are what make a fandom slash fanbase RUN, for fuck's sake (find me the mountain of movie!Nick Fury boyslash. Don't worry, I'll wait. How about the Psych boyslash fic with Gus? Any POC majority show/movie that gets a billion fics? No? Can't find them? That's because fandom reveres white men. But only if they can make them have sex/buy curtains)

If fandom resisted straight-white-male, there'd be a billion fics about men and women of color, instead of the tiny tiny scrapings that you occasionally see (usually an afterthought or backround pairing in some white cock pairing fic).

There'd be whole archives dedicated to the mountains of Midnighter/Apollo fic.

Not to mention all the hundreds of female characters (none of whom are male) that get constantly ignored in favor of pairing up all white dudes including the two white dudes who had three minutes' total screentime (Atlantis fandom, I am still bitter).

So, no, boyslash fandom, you are not any more special or intelligent than the rest of us. And claiming and believing that you are (and that boyslash fandom is the 'normal' part of fandom)? Just makes me want to punch you in the face.

Comments

[morwen_peredhil]

Apparently, there is nothing more social-justicey (is that a word? it is now!) than erasing/ignoring characters who have the poor taste not to be real people white men to make everything all white cock, all the time. If we were sufficiently enlightened, it would all make perfect sense!

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

It should totally be a word. =D

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

Bwah. Yep. (especially for this sort of "are you kidding me?" meta-schlock)

[scifiaddict86.livejournal.com]

That's funny cuz I seem to remember someone saying actual gay men hate slash because roughly "it trivializes and objectifies gay men and is written by fifteen year olds with no grammar skills". Your writing porn it fun yes but its not considered literature for a reason. Fanfic can brilliant but the audience it atracts I think depends more on the fandom then anything else(which was what was so awesome about BSG we had some very smart folks writing fic). Honestly I find slash worse than reg fic because it tends to be pornier and more about the fantasy than reg fic, its hard to be "literary smart and genre savy" when your just trying to atract the biggest audience possible. I have goteen reviews where people have said "you should add a slash becuase you'll get more readers" thats not why I write thanks(heck as long as someone reads it at all I'm happy). You know what I really hate boy slahers act like not liking boyslash is somehow homophobic, when even gey men tend to hate it. Its all just a matter of prefernces I like my het fic, you like your boyslash were all equally geeky here.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

Not all slash is porn. And I think het fic tends to be just as schlocky/ridiculous at times.

I don't think any genre is better than any other--it's that whole mind-set that makes me see red.

And while I do think some gay men dislike slash, there are gay men writing slash and queer fiction out there.

But people telling you to put slash in so you'll get more reviews? That is so out of line on their part, not to mention insulting and horrible.

[scifiaddict86.livejournal.com]

I know its not all porn , I just mean that slash tends to feel more like the inside of the authors head to me than canon. Since your already changing the character somewhat so they tend to be more what the writer wants them to be rather than what canon shows. I just like fic as close to canon as possible when it comes to character and I find slash doesn't do it for me. Het tends to exeragerate characters while slash tends to make one character submissive and another dominant to make a pairing fit. It not really any better or worse I just find I like the other better.

"But people telling you to put slash in so you'll get more reviews? That is so out of line on their part, not to mention insulting and horrible"

I know its just wrong on so many levels isn't it? I mean it was ff.net so you take everything with a grain of salt but still. Its just goes to what bothers you about the article that its not a competition and if your only in it for the page veiws your probably doing it wrong anyway. Writing should be a reward in itself.

[stexgirl2000.livejournal.com]

Slash deals with sociocultural issues of queerness on its way to romance.

Bwhahahahahahahahahahaha!

Yes, there are writers who have done that in their slash fic. They are usually the exception that proves the rule that most slash is written because someone wants to read about boys fucking with an overlay of traditional romance novel angst and fluff.

But to say that it's the rule and not the exception...

:headdesk:

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Do I think there's slash written to examine various things like the article claims? Sure. But I think it's a drop in the bucket compared to the other.

[miera-c.livejournal.com]

OFFS

Bending the "straight" part of "straight white male" (and oh hai you left out Christian and able-bodied) to engage in fantasies is barely subversive, kiddies, especially given the mild levels of queering going on on mainstream television and in movies.

Once upon a time, this was startling. It's not anymore. Slashers keep bringing this idea up as if it's gospel truth, and meanwhile many of us have moved past them to break down the "white Christian able-bodied male" parts and yet you assholes still act like you have some sort of innate superiority over us. And then when we call you on your REALLY FUCKING BLATANT misogyny and white supremacy, you scream at us and call us vile names and do anything in your power to avoid facing your flaws.

I'm so, so fucking sick of this garbage.

Not to mention all the hundreds of female characters (none of whom are male) that get constantly ignored in favor of pairing up all white dudes including the two white dudes who had three minutes' total screentime (Atlantis fandom, I am still bitter).

Word. About many things.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

All I want to do is wave a flag and go "THIS THIS THIS" at you. Which isn't constructive.

[rosewildeirish.livejournal.com]

Hope you don't think *I* am in that category of slasher.

Doubt I'd fit it anyway, since I write both het and slash. Haven't tackled any femslash as of yet that I can recall, and I probably wouldn't be writing it at the same rating as my other stuffs, but yeah.

The above? May be a valid opinion but it should be stated as such. Because while it may work for some slashers and for some authors of boyslash, you're right in that it's incredibly entitled and well, sounds much like a blowhard.

I figure the Atlantis anger is about Stackhouse and Markham?

[miera-c.livejournal.com]

Nope I was wrong, you were right. Didn't read carefully enough

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

Nope. I don't think most of slash fandom actually thinks that way or is like that, either.

It's just the way it's stated as fact rather than opinion, and it makes me cranky.

eta: and yeah, those two and their fic is still a sore spot.

[lavidaessueno.livejournal.com]

I think what makes me the most angry about this pretentious bullshit is the utter lack of awareness about the rich history of subversive literature--written by honest-to-God GAY MEN--that these women so blithely ignore.

It's insulting to GLBT people everywhere.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

UGH. I hadn't even considered that. But it's also gross.

[mfirefly10.livejournal.com]

Fandom is subversive. If a canonical worldview is entirely straight-white-male, then fans will actively resist it.

Newsflash: Taking the 'straight' part out of that equation is NOT subversive! Especially when the only reason you were interested in the first place is BECAUSE of said straight white dudes. (*waves to the majority of folks in most of the major fandoms*) How anyone can STILL believe this crap is BEYOND me.


Crap like this is the reason boyslash gets a bad rep among those of us who do not worship the white penis. Which is a shame, because there are plenty of boyslashers who would roll their eyes and rage just as much at this RIDICULOUSNESS as those of us who do not care about most boyslash. I feel very lucky that most of the boyslashers on my flist seem to love the female characters and non-white men in their fandoms as much as, if not more than, the white dudes.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

Yes, ALL OF THIS. (I am not articulate today)

[nique.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'm pretty sure I'm thinking about NONE OF THAT when I write/read boyslash.

...although now that I think of it, most of what I consume involves canon pairings, anyway. But. Uh...


That's a very special part of fandom. I promise that not all (and probably not even a majority) of slashers are thinking about that when they write. It's usually more 'hey, they'd be hot doing it.'

*shrug*

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

oh, I know. And when I'm not seeing red/annoyed, I know that a good 99% of slash fandom doesn't think that way, either. It's just a loud, obnoxious, few.

But every so often, these BNFs will say something that makes me go "are you fucking kidding me?"

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

When slashfic is good, it’s very good.

Sure! So is toast!

(And I'm an AO3 volunteer who doesn't think that way, for the record, though I know the people you're talking about.)

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I'm slowly working on my bias and prejudice about the AO3. I know most of the people involved are nothing like that, but occasionally, I get yanked back to my knee-jerk "I don't feel welcome" vibe.

(it would help if people didn't pretend that the fic there was all of stellar and amazing quality, 'cause, um, no. It's not.)

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

Yes, seriously, it's an open fanfic archive. Sturgeon's Law (with Internet corollary) still applies!

[st-aurafina.livejournal.com]

Having had the Any Two Guys/Migratory Slash Fandom group blow in and out of the purview of my fandom newsletter over the past five years, I totally hear what you're saying. OMG, the pretension. OMG, the arrogance. And OMG, the blithe dismissal of female characters (and the butt-hurtedness when they're called on it.)

(I named the flock of parrots outside my house "Migratory Slash Fandom" so I can yell "Just settle on Teen Wolf and stfu!" at two in the morning. It's good therapy.)

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

Bwahaha. I need some annoying birds so I can name them. =D

[sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com]

Wow.

Fandom is subversive. If a canonical worldview is entirely straight-white-male, then fans will actively resist it. Freeing homoerotic subtexts from restrictive source canons is a rebellion against heteronormative constraints.

Who knew I've been doing fandom wrong all these years?

It's things like what you linked to that ever make me hesitant to tell people I write fanfiction.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

The hilarious thing is that I don't have a problem with the whole pretentious "fanfiction is a part of the oral tradition" line of meta I've seen every so often. It's just... this one thing.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I have written it, and I don't think it's awful. I just... it's so boring. *embarrassed*

[auroramama]

I see the self-celebratory pretentiousness, especially given that slashing two white guys hasn't been subversive in ages. And I see the complete neglect of f/f and f/m. But I'm not seeing the put-down of non-m/m fanfic. Is that due to white passing-as-het and cis privilege, or to my being too chicken to write fanfic in the last 10 years?

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

It's not as implicit in the linked piece--but I've seen many many comments over the years about how slash fic is just so much better written than het (in general, f/f is rarely mentioned in these sort of discussions, unless as an afterthought or "but that's for straight dudes to wank off to").

But I do think some of the "fanfiction.net has horrible fic and AO3 is filled with well-written fic" has a sort of implied "because slashers started AO3, and it is not filled with icky vaginas". But that could easily be me reading bias into something due to history.

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

How about the Psych boyslash fic with Gus?
Okay, so I introduced a RL friend to fanfic several years ago and she started writing her own for Psych (Shawn/Juliet)... and when I explained what slash was, she said that maybe the Psych fans were really protective of the Gus-Shawn friendship, because there wasn't much written for them.

Ahahahaha. *cries* I haven't watched much of the show and I don't care about slash (doesn't work for me) but even I can see that Shawn/Gus should be hitting fandom's slash kink, and the fact that it isn't? Yeah, I wonder why that is.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

Yup. And, I get that the Shawn-Lassiter pairing has some of the hate-sex vibe going for it, but that still doesn't explain the lack of BFF4ever pairing stuff that I see in every other fandom (Frodo/Sam in LOTR, Merry/Pippin, too, etc)

But that whole 'protection of friendship; is usually the anti-slash brigade's arguments for Why Slash Is Bad... Sadly.

[femme-slash-fan.livejournal.com]

Uhm... I write any sort of fic I like and yeah, I see your point with this. I had some utter fuckhead try to tell me about 'Slash is best' and I flipped my shit on them and basically told them I'd write whatever kind of fic I liked, if they wanted Slash then they should have waited for my regular 'Request your fic' post... apparently now nobody wants to fuck with me so... guess I won?