Slash and YOU

[OMGalarm]

For some reason I had the thought today about this. It was said several pages ago that we like slash because we get the hot guys without the women so we don't feel threatened...something like that??

I was wondering today, do gay readers like straight smut for the same reason??

I am totally NOT trying to be silly or in any way make fun of anyones sexual preference. I could care less who anyone wants to sleep with or is sleeping with as long as they are all consenting adults!!

I was watching something on TV today and there was a gay man who made a comment about another guy not being hot, and he knew because he was a gay man. And then I thought of this thread and slash...

I don't know for sure why I like slash, but I do. And I thought about that theory and wondered if it would work the other way???

I remember in my previous fandom, there was a lot of lesbian women. That read both the straight and the man-on-man fics. It was bandom, so there were rarely any girl-on-girl to read, mostly just man-on-man, and still they were eager readers and writers. It always confused me, cause they were only attracted to women in their daily life, and still was so obsessed with these fics about men shagging it up.

I remember this hilarious girl telling a story about his dad borrowing her computer, and finding her hardcore gay sex fics and he came to her and was all "are you sure you're a lesbian?"

[gallantcorkscrews]

For some reason I had the thought today about this. It was said several pages ago that we like slash because we get the hot guys without the women so we don't feel threatened...something like that??

I was wondering today, do gay readers like straight smut for the same reason??

HAHAHAHA I love you q...

I wonder if the 'threatened' thing is a distinctly female trait. We're more easily threatened (heh). Like would a gay guy read straight smut so he wouldn't be threatened by Bella? It doesn't seem very likely -or, if I can be stereotypical, manly- to want to read straight smut so they aren't threatened, but I'm sure they're some out there. Maybe a gay girl would read straight smut because they weren't threatened by Edward- but most of the gay ladies I know find penises ridiculous and wouldn't find the smut hot so much as hilarious. So maybe the 'threatened' thing is straight female thing. Blah. My idiot speculation.

[that_writr]

I've had a couple of conversations about this very issue with some lesbian friends who read/write slash.

What they told me is that they like how slash explores the gender issues in relationships, but (the writers at least) are uncomfortable writing something that's really personal (with femslash). Writing m/m slash, they never feel like they're writing THEIR experiences.

Even so, I WILL admit that I'm surprised by how many lesbian women write or read m/m slash, but how few gay men write or read femslash -- some het men will, but that's not the same comparison! Het women read m/m slash. Bi women read m/m slash and so do lesbians ... so why don't more gay men read femslash? I don't get it. Maybe it's just that m/m slash still delivers for lesbians on the EMOTIONAL things, plus the gender issues, regardless of the sex. But men (straight OR gay) don't have the same interests in reading femslash stories.

But it is something I've long noted as a slash reader and been confused by, too. Gay and bi men read and write m/m slash, as do het, bit and lesbian women. Het and bi- men read femslash. But not gay men. I have never met ONE gay guy who read (a lot) of femslash! They might read something by a m/m slash reader they know personally, but they're not out there randomly trolling for femslash!

And I've never found a really good explanation for this except that men are ALL sex fiends (whatever their orientation) and if they're not interested in the sex in the story, they're not interested in the story! :p

[alexajaye]

I'll be honest and admit that I never once thought I would ever love to read about two guys kissing and undressing and doing all kinds of things I could never say without turning red in the face. Never once.

When I first started writing, I was writing Fan Fiction without knowing what to call it. Twilight is really the only fandom I actively write for right now, but I've written others. It wasn't until I started going through the filters on FanFiction that I started finding slash stories. And I looked at it the way I looked at everything else.

Is the grammar good? Is the story good? Do I care about the characters? Does the author give me enough of a chance to care about the characters before they jump in the sack?

If I can answer all those questions with a "yes," we're golden.

Why do I like it? I have no idea. And I mean that. I've read all kinds of slash, most of them AH. I got really attached to Edward and Carlisle. I haven't really taken to Edward and Jasper, and I have one make sexfest to thank for that, because there was nothing really going on but a lot of sex.

I don't know any gay people. I don't live in an area where they're very abundant or very willing to come out in the neighborhood like regular people. And it has a lot to do with where I live. I have nothing against gay or lesbian people. What you do in the privacy of your own home is your business, and it's your right to do that. I don't like the way a lot of closed-minded people use slurs against these people, and this feeling has only gotten stronger since I started reading slash.

Believe it or not, but somewhere in the world -- other than the vampire stuff -- it's possible for a lot of these scenarios to be taking place. The characters might not really represent the crowd of people they're included with, but they sure as hell make you look at things different.

Now, ask me why I write it now, and I still don't know. I'm a writer, and when I have an idea, I have to write it down. No matter what. And if it evolves, then so be it.

As far as the religious angle, I was raised a Christian -- I guess. And I'm going to piss someone off when I say this, but the Bible is a guide, not a rule book. And it's not required that everyone follow it to the letter. If we did that, women would not be able to vote, we would all still have slaves, and we'd probably still all be in the Dark Ages.

But that's my opinion, and don't shoot me for saying it.