Slash Essay Research Poll/Post

[pepperlandgirl]

Ok, some of you may remember that I'm writing an essay for my Sex and Gender class about slash fiction. I need to do a bit of original research to get some stats on just who, in fact, reads slashfic. My (rough) thesis statement is Certain scholars are concerned with explaining and qualifying slash because it still seen as abnormal, or outside what is expected for women to fantasize about. In order to understand why this is, one must understand what slash is, who reads and writes it, and how it differs from accepted fantasies. Of course, for 'who reads/writes it" my hypothesis is normal women. But I'd like some data to back that up cuz it'll impress my professors. So I'm posting this poll. I have some requests though.

1) Could you, if you read slash and know several people who also read/write slash, post a link on your LJ to the poll? The bigger the audience, the more response, the better my stats are. I don't think I have a big slash audience looking at my LJ, so I'm going to need some help getting this poll some attention.

2) If you take the time to answer the questions, and you feel like it, could you reply to my post and give some thoughts on what you like about slashfiction? I may want to quote from a few people, so if you're cool with having your thoughts quoted, please post. Also, I would never use somebody else's words without their explicit permission, so if I think you have stunning insight, I will email and ask your permission.

3) I'm posting this in hopes that it will not cause a Kerfluffle. I just need some numbers to make my essay stronger.

I'm also going to put this in my memories so it'll be easy to find and link to. I think I'm going to leave it open for 2 weeks.

So, onto the poll!!!


[Poll #209797]

Comments

[marishna.livejournal.com]

*sigh* Very sorry if I screwed up your poll but I put 'Spangel' instead of 'BtVS' for the fandom question. Because I cannot read. Or understand the English language.

[pepperlandgirl4.livejournal.com]

No, don't worry about it. You didn't screw anything up. :)I understand Spangel=BtVS ;)

[diachrony.livejournal.com]

If you missed it, there's a post by thebratqueen that's an absolutely excellent essay on What is Slash? It may or may not be pertinent to your essay topic, but it's a wonderful and educational read nevertheless.

I don't really have time right now to get into why I like/what I like about slash but I will think about it and jot some notes down so I can get back to you on the subject.

[bloodroses27.livejournal.com]

I was introduced to Spike/Xander by a gay, male friend of mine. There was a fiction that he absolutely loved and wanted me to read. I'd seen slash fanfic, but never read any. We swapped stories and I became hooked. I love the interaction between the two characters. Also, there is just something about picturing these two beautiful men together that is enticing.

The only time I've had to defend my enjoyment of slash was to a female friend of mine who just didn't understand the attraction of two men. Her reasoning is that if the two men are gay, then they would have no interest in a woman, therefore you would have no shot, so why bother?

For me, someone else being turned on is a big turn on. When it comes to slash, the arousal factor has little to do with myself and everything to do with them. They are turned are, so I am turned on. There is also a kind of voyeur aspect to it. Male slash is something I am completely outside of. There is that element of watching something I shouldn't be seeing.

[caviling]

I don't really read any Slash--"So why did you take my survey?", you ask--but I really like the idea of it. I don't know if that helps at all. Part of why I don't--yet--is that the levels of fandom are rather intimidating. There's so much self-reference and so many layers of understanding necessary to really "get" the greatness of a given pairing that it almost doesn't seem worthwhile.

That said, even if I were the most diehard fan of a given TV show or whatever, I still probably wouldn't read slash fanfiction based on its characters more than rarely just because I'm not that into guy/guy pairings as more than an...occasional thing.

Best of luck with your project.

[catmoran.livejournal.com]

I've never been forced to defend my slash preferance, but I've offered to explain it several times. I've noticed that guys are always either intrigued (rare) or a bit grossed out. Very few women think it's gross, with a slightly larger minority interested in finding out more.

[elke-tanzer.livejournal.com]

I've completed the survey and will link to it in my LJ (I got here from catmoran), but I've also got a memories category for my fandom history (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=elke_tanzer&keyword=my+fandom+history&filter=all), if you're curious. I believe strongly that infinite diversity is "normal" for human fantasies.

I'm happy to be interviewed via email for your paper should the need arise.

[crumblingwalls.livejournal.com]

I think that for me, a large part of the appeal of slash is that it's something that I could never do. I'm bisexual, and there's not a whole lot of new and untouched horizons out there for me, you know? It's like men digging the idea of two women together, I think. One that they could never be a woman in that situation, so it's a little bit taboo, and two, if one's fun, two must be more fun!

On a more serious note: Slash tends to flaunt a lot of gender stereotypes that fill het fanfic. If you're reading about Harry and Draco, or Spike and Angel, or whomever, the odds are that they can both take care of themselves pretty well in a given situation. In many of the fics that I've read where for whatever reason one character does have to take care of the other, a scene or two later, there will be something that causes the dominance in that, the who's taking care of whom, to shift. In a lot of heterosexual fanfiction, you're reading about Spike saving Buffy, or about Tom Riddle ravishing an innocent Ginny and Draco saving her from the big evil man. It's rare to find a fully realised, self sufficient female character in fanfic, simply because it's easier to write them more stereotypically. Frequently in fanfic, there's a gir, and she meets a troubled and broody boy, and the girl gets in trouble, and the troubled and broody boy puts his other issues to rest and/or comes to grip with his problems just in time to save her and sweep her off to bed. Slash, by defying that convention, manages to sidestep a lot of the sweeping generalisations and deus ex machina that comes with it.

In addition to this, I think that a lot of women find slash appealing simply because it requires two men to be possible a little more emotional than they would be in a het fic. No longer can a women be the impetus behind their getting together: One of the men must come out and say or act on that desire. Even in a lot of well written het fic, it works out that the woman declares her love, and the man has been brooding over her, so obviously he loves her as well, and they end up together and have a billion little babies.

The "billion little babies" bring me to my third, and probably final, point. Slash fic is far more open ended than het. I've found that for a lot of people, slash goes hand in hand with angst, and for good reason: Push come to shove, it's simply harder to live as a homosexual in most societies in the world. Parents disapprove. Friends freak out. Many times, there is no happy ending. And I think that a lot of realists sort of appreciate that about slash fic. I got fed up with quite a few pairings when I realised that 90% of the fics ended with "After Ron and Hermione married, the bought the house next door to the Weasley's. Before the end of the year, Harry and Ginny's first child would wander down the road and let himself into the house for tea. Two years later, Hermione had a little girl who they called Lily in honour of Harry's mum. The children got on well, and went to playgroup together, and everyone lived happily ever after." Because frankly, the hell? How many people do you know who ended up with a happily ever after? Because I don't know very many at all, and by "not very many at all," I mean that I know exactly two people, ever who it worked out like that for, where they married each other and were happily ever after with her parents next door and his best friend living down the street. And frankly, they nauseate me and make me feel inferior, because if they're so blissfully happy, why am I not like that? So maybe it's selfish, but I like that slash doesn't always have happy endings, or even endings at all.

Hm. This turned out much longer than it was meant to, and I'm still not near done saying what I wanted to say. I might have to post this in my journal later. In the meantime, if there's anything that I can help you with, let me know: crumblingwalls @ livejournal.com

[out-there.livejournal.com]

Good luck on the assignment. I'll post a link in my LJ. The results are interesting so far... *g*

[anenko.livejournal.com]

I can never resist a fannish survey.

Have you ever been forced to defend your slash preferances?

Not online, no--I don't think that I'm popular enough of a writer to attract attacks. In real life, I don't tell anyone about my fic habits, gen, het *or* slash. My immediate family know that I write and read fanfiction, but they have no idea what that actually *means* and I prefer to keep it that way.

As to why I like slash. . . a lot of people talk about how subversive slash is, or how it makes up for the lack of strong female characters. Neither of those reasons apply for me (I'm just as likely, or more likely, to write het than slash). It's usually a character who attracts me (a "fannish favourite") and I'll read and write almost anything dealing with that character. Sometimes, characters lend themselves more easily to gen or het stories (Dark Angel, Farscape). In other fandoms, the most intense or interesting relationship happens to be between two characters of the same sex (Xena, Big Wolf on Campus). (A simplistic breakdown would be: ensemble=het and gen, pair/friendship-centric shows: slash. This, of course, is just my personal pattern--Harry Potter and Buffy, ensemble casts, are hugely popular with slashers).

Why isn't a friendship fic enough in the latter case? I certainly don't believe that people can't be friends without adding sex to the mix, but I am very fond of buddyslash (and buddyhet, which is rarer, as the main opposite-sex characters always seem to have a romantic vibe in the background--or worse, forced down the viewer's throat). The best explanation for my enjoyment of buddyslash found thus far is on this thread. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/dsudis/66748.html?thread=340668)

[xmirax.livejournal.com]

Don't know about anyone else, but the way I think about slash, is:

When you're heterosexual, and you're reading about a guy and a girl, you really don't care what happens to the girl, unless you're wanting to live through what she's experiencing vicariously. But when you're reading about two guys, it's yumminess all around, nothing like the imagery of two wonderfully muscled hard bodies doing naughty things to each other. That's the argument I use to convert people to Spangel, and it seems to work, lol.

And I love the darker slash fics, the ones that really get into the characters, I know that probably sounds wierd to the people that just read smut for smut, but for example, has anybody read Jenny's fics over at Love that Dares? She does some beautiful work with the characters, tearing them apart so we can see the inner workings, I love that kind of stuff. And I like the guy characters in BtVS and AtS so much better than the female ones, they seem much darker and more complex, so it's fun seeing what people can do with the characters.

I probably wouldn't read slash in any other fandom though, because I just don't see it working... The reason any pairing with Spike or Angel works for me is because of the nature of vampires, they'll sleep with just about anything.

It's interesting though, watching people's responses to slash... I think it mostly depends on how open-minded you are... And partly on how you were introduced to it. When I stumbled across some slash stuff a while back, it was on the BW forums, and they had some awesome links posted, Jenny's site being one of those links, I believe. Slash is deceptively hard to write, and I think some people just get turned off to it because there's not a whole lot of really good writers writing it. Unless I'm living under a rock, and there's actually tons of really good slash writers out there... If anyone thinks I'm wrong send me some links please!:P

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

a couple of possibly useful links:

* a recent survey (http://www.livejournal.com/users/rushlight75/27483.html) and results (http://www.livejournal.com/users/rushlight75/38193.html) on *who* we are
* another recent survey (http://www.livejournal.com/users/wemblee/51822.html#cutid1) for a paper (I don't think she posted the results, but you could talk to her)
* a bib (http://www.livejournal.com/community/virgule/3453.html) from earlier this summer some recent stuff missing, but useful)

You also might want to check out virgule for some interesting discussions on slash theory, and I have a whole bunch of stuff linked in my memories (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=cathexys) under "General Theory."

Re your thesis: I am slightly surprised by your assumption that "certain scholars" are viewing slash as abnormal. Most of the research I have seen on slash has all but normativized it. Definitely the canonical triad, Jenkins/Bacon-Smith/Penley, as well as the more recent and otherwise very problematic Symon&Salmon all regard slash as perfectly normal (the latter actually trying to scientifically "prove" how normal it is :-).

[pepperlandgirl4.livejournal.com]

I mentioned this in another post, but I wrote this post rather quickly and threw my thesis in as an afterthought, and ooops, it's the old one. I have changed it...my focus is more on why the scholars care. Why they deem it worthy to study or write about or think about, and why you can find literally hundreds of defenses and justification on the web and LJ. My assertion is because it is initally viewed as abnormal, not so much because it is found to be abnormal.

Does that make more sense?

[mpoetess.livejournal.com]

A couple of clarifications: I don't read/write slash exclusively, but it's definitely the majority. And I have to play devil's advocate and say that very seldom have I been forced to defend my slash interests -- placed in a position where I personally have to answer. But I seem to have a radar for encountering folks in fandom who attack or disparage those interests in such a way that I can't resist responding to defend them.

I also had a bit to say on why I write and read slash, in response to someone else's recent question, and I think it fits the stort of comment you were looking for. Rather than spam your comments with the text, I'll just link you to the entry (http://www.livejournal.com/users/mpoetess/273823.html) in my own LJ.

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

Hey there,

I answered and I linked to you in my journal.

My initial fandom doesn't have a specific name...she kinda calls it "perils" because of everything she puts one character through, lol! You can find her at splix. Her site is down at the moment or I'd link you to the stories.

I put "Scarlet & Black" sequels, which are "Provocateur" and "Sacred and Profane"(currently WIP). Ewan McGregor portrayed the character of Julien Sorel in the tv miniseries of S&B and she continued the story.

Best of luck and if you need anything more from me, please drop me a line.

I should add...

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

that for how I came to slash, see my post here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/lauramcewan/321.html

Why do I continue to read it? I love the idea of real relationships between men. They can love and cry, be happy, be sad, care for one another with a true and deep commitment. It's love...it's just...love.

Plus it hasn't hurt hubby's and my sex life! :)

[mhari.livejournal.com]

I recently fielded my first "but why would a girl write about gay men?" question. :) But I don't think I've ever been backed into a corner to explain myself.

As to why -- eh, there aren't many decent female characters in my fandom, and the Mary Sues get old. Also, I can get het and gen at the library. ;)

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Hi.

I was introduced to slash through a Trek anti-slash essay in 1983. It nestled in the back of my mind (complete with an overheard offhand comment about Batman and Robin) for many years. I started reading Buffy fanfic in 1998. And encountered Xander/Angel. This led to Xander abuse fic, which dragged me into TPM because of Obi-abuse.
TPM got me into SW, which was my first true fannish love back in 1977, and so i come full circle.

[essene.livejournal.com]

I started reading it when someone recommended Ars Morendi on TWoP. I don't remember quite why I kept reading once I discovered it was slash other than by the time I figured it out, I was so sucked into the plot and the characters that I couldn't NOT finish.

I mainly read and write Spike/Xander (though I have tentatively dipped a toe elsewhere). There just seems to be this huge underlying current of something between them. They're almost polar opposites, and yet they both have this aura of pain around them and huge depths of emotion to be tapped into. Reading/writing about male interaction on a sexual as well as an emotional bonding level is interesting. I already know for the most part what goes on between a guy and a girl, how does the relationship work between two men, not only in public, but on a private, personal, sexual level?

I write slash for a couple of reasons. First, because they force me to. Really. I don't have an option here. Second, I've read too many slash fics where the characters get sooo distorted that I don't even feel like I'm reading about Spike or Xander anymore; the author has made them overly-romantic and cuddly and sweet, or made one competely subservient to the other. I don't see these characters as being able to admit their affection or attraction to each other except under extreme duress or complete anomyinity. Third, it's a real challenge. To try to get inside a guy's head and get the equipment to function and the writing to be believable and hot. I don't have those body parts, and I can only use my own experiences, and physical sensations to try to approximate what I imagine a man might feel in a sexual situation with another man. To get that to work successfully is exciting.

Plus? S/X with all the right qualities gets me all sorts of hot and bothered.

[cosmicfish.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry - I've forgotten how to read. Instead of answering Do you write slash? with I just read it I don't write it I answered No, never. I hope I didn't throw anything off! ::whimpers::

[swtalmnd]

just to clarify, i read all kinds of things, but in fanfic only slash, and write only slash

good poll, and good luck!

My answers

[(Anonymous)]

I'm not a LiveJournal user, and I can't figure out how to take this poll without joining (I NEED sleep!). However, I am a single female heterosexual with no kids in the 30-40 age bracket. I read slash all the time, though I do not write (gen, het, or slash). I was introduced to slash in the early eighties with Star Trek, but I got heavily into it with the Professionals in 1987.

Incidentally, my best friend and I talked our own stories, stealing favorite characters from different universes before we ever heard of fanfic or slash. I mention this only because two straight female teenagers fantasized an astonishing array of bisexual original characters.

I've never really felt I had to defend my interest in slash, though a few people have more politely inquired why I like it. When I first started to order zines through the mail, I had my mother sign the age statement (over 18) because I did not want to lie to the publishers or her. She never objected. Actually, I do have friends for whom I have had to defend any interest in fanfiction. I consider this odd, since they will read novelizations and continuing stories such as Buffy or B5 books.

[jcalanthe]

Of course, for "who reads/writes it" my hypothesis is normal women.

Could you explain what you mean by "normal women"? The word "normal" can mean a lot of different things, and I'm curious what it means to you in this context.

[blackletter]

I agree here that some sort of basic definition of "normal" would be useful. I'm perfectly normal in terms of non-psychotic, functions successfully in the real world sort of way, but perhaps not entirely normal in the arena of sexuality and gender self-perception. (And this gets into why I think I like slash.)

I've never been in a relationship and I've never had sex. And I rather prefer it that way. Honestly, I can't stand being touched at all, and the very idea of me, personally, having sex is bizarre. But the idea of other people having sex is perfectly acceptable. So part of the appeal is probably plain old voyeurism. But why, then, slash and not steamy het?

I've never liked heterosexual romance in books. For a very long time, I assumed that this meant that I just didn't like romance. Period. Then I discovered slash, which held a great deal more appeal for me. I don't relate to women, and never have. So in a het relationship, one of the characters always feels foreign to me. I can't sympathize with her, I can't relate to her, so I can't like her as a character. And I'm always left wondering what on earth he saw in her and a little disappointed. In slash, I relate equally well to both characters, so I feel like I understand both sides of the relationship. Thus, I can be sympathetic to both characters and get a good deal more enjoyment out of watching the relationship unfold.

I feel like I should add two more details of note. One, is that this does not carry over into real life. (i.e. I have as many friends who are girls as I do who are guys. I don't hate or disparage women. I'm not some crazy misogynist. I just don't quite understand them.) However, the people who know me best have remarked to me that they "often forget I'm a girl" or something along those lines. I like people who can see me as "not a girl" (which does not therefore automatically assume that I should be a man. The dichotomous idea of gender is seriously flawed, but that's a rant for another day.) Secondly, I enjoy gen as much (or sometimes more) than slash. When I read, I read for plot. (I have little interest in PWPs.) If there is a romantic relationship, I like it to be slash, but I'm equally happy if there's no romantic relationship at all.

Oo. That got longish. Anyway, good luck on your thesis.

I'm with you.

[jadzia325.livejournal.com]

I'm not quite sure why slashyness is so appealing. Something about two hot men, both being masculine while neither is weak or subordinate is what really is hot to me. The equality of the characters.

I'm in love with Queer as Folk too, as are many hetero females. There have been TV shows about how weird and unexpected it was for the show to have ANY hetero following, let alone single hetero females.

Maybe we're just lust monkeys.

Anime

[orpheneritus.livejournal.com]

I have been into anime for a very long time. You may or may not be aware that slash (or yaoi/shonen ai) is a very common subject matter for Japanese Manga's. If you would like to see examples, you can contact me via my livejournal.

I am more than happy to bore you with the history of boy love in Japan.

[arderei.livejournal.com]

I'm also writing a thesis on fanfiction, and I'd love to see yours when you're finished. I posted a survey (http://www.livejournal.com/users/arderei/10595.html) in my LJ recently, and there are some responses in the comments, if they might be helpful to you. The survey focuses mostly on Harry Potter, but there are quite a few questions about slash, and some really interesting answers.

Anyway, just trying to be helpful to a fellow thesis-writer. Good luck!

[ntamara.livejournal.com]

I stumbled across slash (and fanfic) purely by accident via a site that posted episode summaries (www.televisionwithoutpity.com), and was at first a bit giggly and intrigued by all the homo-erotica (not to mention nc-17ness of it all), but quickly got into the spirit.

Why slash? m/m sexual fantasies have definitely been a part of my fantasy life since at least 15 or 16 (I'm female btw), when I started writing fiction and mostly homoerotic fiction as well (I didn't know of slash or fanfic at the time, I'm 23 now).

I find slash quite hot, more so than I would het (which I will read on occasion, but quite rarely). Maybe it's the fact that I can distance myself somewhat from what's going on (while at the same time also identify with some characters). Like, I will happily read mpreg and slash non-con, but het non-con (and preg) just freaks me out.

Good luck with your thesis (I'd definitely like to read it when it's done, any chance you'll be posting it to the net or making it available in some such way?), kind regards, ntamara (naomitamara@yahoo.com)

[morgan-d.livejournal.com]

This might be of interest: I started writing Star Wars stories pairing Han Solo and Luke Skywalker when I was 11 years old (1984), simply because I saw Han and Luke in the RotJ movie and thought they made a good couple. I've never read fanzines, and I never heard the terms "fanfiction" and "slash" until 1998. So my entrance in the slash universe was completely spontaneous, not induced by the fandom.