on slash, and why i don't read it

[piranha]

janetmiles was linking to an interesting article on crossover slashfic, and somebody's comment sparked my own thoughts about it. she said:

it takes one of my pet peeves to astounding new extremes. The peeve? The automatic assumption that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A NON-SEXUAL FRIENDSHIP between two people who might have a sexual attraction for each other.

hear, hear.

i am really sex-positive, ya know. masturbation, oral sex, fuckbuddy sex, tantric sex, gay and lesbian and transsexual sex, one-night-stands, group sex, committed sex in a monogamous marriage, whatever; as long as it's consensual, sex without guilt is just great. well, for other people, since my own sex drive has pretty much shut down for the time being, except for maybe a once-every-2-months masturbatory quickie (sorry if that was TMI). that doesn't bother me at all; i am happy for all of those who're getting some.

but i was already tired of the slash phenomenon before my own sex drive went away. *grump*.

not that i mind anyone writing it; whatever makes them happy, whatever gets them writing, whatever turns them on. (with the exception of RP slash -- that offends my sense of people owning their own sexuality.)

the part of that essay that i could most relate to was that i also don't want my childhood (or really, any non-sexual) memories muddled by reading father mulcahy/spock slash. i like a lot of my reading and tv watching to be sex-free, to feature other types of relationships as strong and passionate. there is such a dearth of that, i don't want what little there is sexed up too.

we've had the sexual revolution, but i'm still waiting for the "close friendship revolution", *sigh*.

Comments

[snippy]

I'm not sure I understand: are you waiting for the close friendship revolution in fanfic? Or in people's lives?

[redbird]

I think you'd like calanthe_b.

Re: on slash, and why i don't read it

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

i rarely read fanfic. in real life.

Re: on slash, and why i don't read it

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

"academic, asexual, atheist antishipper" -- what could not be to like? *grin*.

though what's an anti-shipper? it seems to be a fanfic thing -- is that somebody who's not into sexual relationships between characters?

[crazed-lynn.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting for it, too. Hell, I've been actively pushing for it now for years. And I'm beginning to think it's not a problem that will be solved any time soon.

The issue? Living in a culture that puts a lot of restrictions on how one may and may not relate sexually causes a major leak. Sexual expression will happen, no matter how inappropriate the partner of the moment.

Sex positive cultures -- or sub cultures -- don't have nearly the problem with letting an attraction just be an attraction. Folks in those cultures are less driven to act on every opportunity.

Our intellect-brain plays havoc with our ape-brain. :)

Re: on slash, and why i don't read it

[snippy]

Thanks for the clarification.