The Sociology of "Slash lite"

[minds_opaque]

Recently, several people over at johnpaulslash were discussing some common conflicting attitudes about slash.  The prevalence of slash in fic communities that I mentioned earlier reflects a fairly wide acceptance of the idea that certain Beatles, especially John and Paul, were in love.  But a number of people within slash communities have voiced

Comments

[padawansguide]

I think some people just don't like reading graphic sex, whether het or homo - so they'd rather read about J and P's feelings, rather than their sex life. Also, I think some fic writers are better at writing sex scenes than others. Like hbprincess always does a good job, whereas others come off as just writing bad porn.

Also, there are some who may not have a problem with people being homosexual, but don't really want to know the details of it. And that's fine too - as long as people are treated fairly and not discriminated against, if you don't find homosexual sex appealing, that's your business. No one should have to read anything they don't want to.

At least that's how I view things.

For me, I guess I'm less interested in read porn than I am exploring the J/P relationship, though I don't mind if a story has sex. It's nice if it's written well though.

So I think slash lite is not necessarily a bad thing. :-)

just a clarification, so you don't think I'm saying obnoxious stuff I'm not

[minds_opaque]

I think some people just don't like reading graphic sex, whether het or homo - so they'd rather read about J and P's feelings, rather than their sex life. Yes, and I'm one of those people. :-) First of all, these are real people who are old and dead, and I don't want to get into the issue of being sexually attracted to them. Also, on a broader level, sex in a story interests me largely because of the way it affects characters' relationships; the details aren't always necessary to understand that

Re: just a clarification, so you don't think I'm saying obnoxious stuff I'm not

[padawansguide]

Part of the reason I posted this entry is to suggest some alternatives to the idea that slash-lite fans are all homophobes. I like that idea very much. I don't like how the word "homophobe" is just thrown around. It's like if you don't agree with someone, you're a homophobe. It's like when people throw the "race" card around. I just think calling someone a racist or a homophobe is easy, and often not very accurate

Re: just a clarification, so you don't think I'm saying obnoxious stuff I'm not

[minds_opaque]

Agreed--when everyone is "racist" or "homophobic," the words lose their meaning and it's harder to identify and deplore people who truly are those things.

(And, although not everyone will agree, I do think it's possible to be tolerant of gay people, support gay marriage, etc., without finding gay sex hot. And there is a middle ground between "homosexuality is teh squick" and "homosexuality is teh hotness," where I would expect at least some slash-lite fans to fall).

It's just sad that we have to fight over what slash is and how it's defined.People who think it should be all sex and people who think there should be no sex make it hard for those of us in the middle who just want to read good stories about complex human beings who did have sex but did lots of other things, too

[spinalcracker]

Hi!

I popped over from johnheartpaul to let you know that cellarfulofboys is active and that you have been sent an invitation. (This community is the drabbling community that you expressed interest in; I decided to create it from scratch, rather than revive diereeperbahn.) You can find the invitation and reply to it by going to Manage >> Communities >> Manage Community Invitations. The first post is here.

Hope to see you there! :)