Comments | bloodyxunicorns: Warning for gay content on... slash comms?

bloodyxunicorns

Warning for gay content on... slash comms?

Apr 17, 2011 21:43

I've realized.... I'm a rather slow person. I follow a handful of comms. All slash. Two comms more than the others. Now, there was a post on a certain comm (I'll not name names because I don't want anyone to get upset; I mean no harm) where a commenter had brought up people who post slash as warnings on a lot of comms (worded of course better than ( Read more... )

stuff, comms, slash

Comments 16

charisstoma April 18 2011, 02:13:24 UTC

In a "slash" com I really can't see the term slash being placed in the warnings. As you say that is why the entry ws posted to that particular com.
Warning notices are for those things, in my opinion, that are triggers to some people. Sometimes I might slip and put something here which doesn't really belong here.
Content or Summary are for .. well content and advertizing what might be in the post. This is where I would expect to see M/M or F/F or M/F/M or whatever if it was going to be posted, so that a reader could more easily winnow out the entries that were what they particularly might want to read.

bloodyxunicorns April 18 2011, 14:58:44 UTC

Yeah, I agree with all that you say. I've always thought of warnings as things put for either triggers (like what you said) or you know others might not be able to read (heavier stuff/or kinks). But if they're there for slash (as in it's a slash comm...) then I don't think a warning for that makes any sense---though Calladyr (comment below) does make a good point of why others might do that.

calladyr April 18 2011, 03:38:24 UTC

I agree that it seems rather pointless and redundant to have such a warning on the individual posts. I would guess (and this is TOTALLY a guess) that maybe it is to protect from outsiders wandering into a post (via an external link, a web search, etc.) accidentally and finding themselves amidst something that frightens them. From those of us in the older days of web crawling, when you often stumbled across porn innocently enough (or, for some, not so innocently), this is rather familiar. Like when I was searching for information on the TV show "The Golden Girls"...and stumbled across...you guessed it, granny porn! scary stuff...I've been scarred, let me tell you...

So maybe, it's just to protect against those random hits from web search engines...I'm sure much of the general populace doesn't really know what "slash" refers to, or even "m/m", unless you add phrases like "homosexual", "homoerotic", etc.

Just a thought...

bloodyxunicorns April 18 2011, 15:10:09 UTC

I never thought of it like that, but I can definitely see your point. It could be why some of them do that. Though I doubt it's all of them.

Some of the reasons why a few might do it is because of crossposting purposes (those who post to many at once). There's also the fact that some may look at the posts below to see what other's have done to get a better idea of how they're supposed to make their own post (if that makes sense). In doing that, they may see the warnings for slash and copy. Now, all of these are just assumptions; I have no idea why they really do that. It may be a mix of what I've said and you, and perhaps other reasons we've yet to think of. I will say I don't really think it's "right"....

Um... granny porn... Just thinking about it is scarring me! Why is there granny porn?! D:

saskia399 April 18 2011, 14:36:54 UTC

I think the main issue was the word 'warning'.

Especially for gay people who don't want to feel like their relationships are anything abnormal, the main issue in that original discussion was not the label: Slash or MxM, but the word 'warning'. Labelling isn't bad, it's quite useful for finding fics you like or don't like, but unlike warnings like 'rape' or 'BDSM' (which could also be a point of discussion for people of that lifestyle), the word 'warning' was the central issue.

I think that makes sense. We don't have to abolish the labels, just relabel (!) the word 'warning' ^_^

I also think that as slash writers we could change the world view just by taking care of the words we use. We already create many worlds where homosexual relationships are the norm or at least as normal as heterosexual ones. Maybe if we adjust our thinking just a tiny bit, we can change our own by careful use of wording? @_@ ^_^ Maybe I'm too optimistic here, but I think those little things can matter big time!

bloodyxunicorns April 18 2011, 15:37:07 UTC

You make a point! There's very few things that can be put in a "warning" category without it being offensive (though maybe some might still). For BDSM/slavefics/D/s/incest, and other things I can't think of at the top of my head, it could be put under a "content" category instead, like you said. That way if people do the whole "M/M, slash, homosexual content" thing it won't be offensive or deemed as a "warning" if they put it in their post, under something like that instead ( ... )

saskia399 April 18 2011, 16:26:11 UTC

No babbling, some valid points here! *nods ( ... )

bloodyxunicorns April 21 2011, 18:48:56 UTC

I think many slash writers have had people angry at them for writing what they love (slash) and are putting 'warning' as a guard against that @_@ But in a way it is a way of agreeing to the issue that homosexual content may be harmful. Which I totally disagree with. I'm sure many have! But I do agree with you that in putting a warning it's agreeing that homosexual content is harmful. Not right at all. There's an easier way to mention that your fic has m/m content or even f/f without putting it as a warning. You can make it obvious in your summary perhaps---if you're posting it on a comm or somewhere that isn't just for slash ( ... )

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