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Slash & Het & Femmeslash
I had a whole bunch of friends come over for my belated birthday party, which was a blast. I'm really lucky in that my friends are friendly with each other, so if I step out for a minute I don't have to worry about anyone being left out of the conversation.
Only downside is that I'm super behind on comments, but that's a small price to pay. ^_^
And now, meta.
When people get to discussing slash and het (note: femmeslash is almost never mentioned in these discussions) there will be, at some point, at statement to the effect that 'slash and het are equally problematic' meaning that arguing that one is inherently better is pointless. The fact that neither genre is more feminist or subversive by default is true but what doesn't get mentioned is that het and slash and femmeslash are troublesome and empowering in different ways.
Before I begin, a few notes:
-no genre is quantitatively better or worse than any other. Romance novels are not less worth-while than lit novels, nor are they automatically written with less skill.
-every genre (especially in fanfic) is largely composed of horrible stories.
-not every story or fanfic says or is trying to say something subversive or culturally relevant. This is okay. Stories can be neutral. They can just be there to be PWP, they can just be there to watch the characters have adventures.
That said-
At its best, slash is both subversive and feminist, a genre written by women for women and comprised of narratives removed from the heteronormative culture standards.
At its worst, slash is misogynistic and forces blatantly sexist roles on the characters involved, while erasing and vilifying women and femininity. Additionally, it can be portray men in unrealistic and objectifying ways.
At its best, het is a way to celebrate relationships between equals as well as deconstruct and explore traditional and nontraditional gender roles. Also, it can be used to forfront forefront female characters who are often not given the same screentime as their male counterparts.
At it's worst, het supports sexist dynamics and glorifies the male point of view, as well as reinforcing the idea that all women must be in a relationship to be happy, that that The Man You Love > Everything Else In Your Life.
At it's best, femmeslash gives even more screen time and attention to the ladies and allows authors to explore issues that might feel unnatural or out of character for a male character to be party to. Additionally, because femmeslash is less popular within the fandom, I have noticed a trend for there to be more well-written fics when looked at proportionally.
At its worst, it objectifies women and supports the idea that lesbians do not get happily ever afters.
supports the idea that lesbian leads to death.
Your thoughts?
[ETA: I'VE EDITED THIS A BIT TO REFLECT POINTS THAT COMMENTATORS MENTIONED, TO CLARIFY SOME OF MY THOUGHTS, AND ADD THINGS I FORGOT.]
Only downside is that I'm super behind on comments, but that's a small price to pay. ^_^
And now, meta.
When people get to discussing slash and het (note: femmeslash is almost never mentioned in these discussions) there will be, at some point, at statement to the effect that 'slash and het are equally problematic' meaning that arguing that one is inherently better is pointless. The fact that neither genre is more feminist or subversive by default is true but what doesn't get mentioned is that het and slash and femmeslash are troublesome and empowering in different ways.
Before I begin, a few notes:
-no genre is quantitatively better or worse than any other. Romance novels are not less worth-while than lit novels, nor are they automatically written with less skill.
-every genre (especially in fanfic) is largely composed of horrible stories.
-not every story or fanfic says or is trying to say something subversive or culturally relevant. This is okay. Stories can be neutral. They can just be there to be PWP, they can just be there to watch the characters have adventures.
That said-
At its best, slash is both subversive and feminist, a genre written by women for women and comprised of narratives removed from the heteronormative culture standards.
At its worst, slash is misogynistic and forces blatantly sexist roles on the characters involved, while erasing and vilifying women and femininity. Additionally, it can be portray men in unrealistic and objectifying ways.
At its best, het is a way to celebrate relationships between equals as well as deconstruct and explore traditional and nontraditional gender roles. Also, it can be used to forfront forefront female characters who are often not given the same screentime as their male counterparts.
At it's worst, het supports sexist dynamics and glorifies the male point of view, as well as reinforcing the idea that all women must be in a relationship to be happy, that that The Man You Love > Everything Else In Your Life.
At it's best, femmeslash gives even more screen time and attention to the ladies and allows authors to explore issues that might feel unnatural or out of character for a male character to be party to. Additionally, because femmeslash is less popular within the fandom, I have noticed a trend for there to be more well-written fics when looked at proportionally.
At its worst, it objectifies women and supports the idea that lesbians do not get happily ever afters.
supports the idea that lesbian leads to death.
Your thoughts?
[ETA: I'VE EDITED THIS A BIT TO REFLECT POINTS THAT COMMENTATORS MENTIONED, TO CLARIFY SOME OF MY THOUGHTS, AND ADD THINGS I FORGOT.]
no subject
I think that when slash is at its best as you've described -- an accurate portrayal of gay relationships that recognizes their validity -- then that CAN be a feminist thing. Feminism is about more than just women's rights -- in fact I think that feminists owe it to themselves to take up other causes because those causes, while not directly related to women, involve women. Racial issues, for example, affect POC of all kinds but they do have specific ramifications on WOC, and so feminists owe it to themselves to be against racism.
Same is true of gay and lesbian issues. Even if you're talking about a m/m relationship, what you're dealing with is battling traditional views about gender dynamics and sexual dynamics -- feminist issues.
no subject
Generally, fics where the relationships are flat and simple and backwards will just be the result of bad writing, period. On the other hand, a good writer can actually make interesting stories about concepts like oppression or traditionalism, if it's explored as such. Quality writing makes the difference between a simple pairing-fic, and, say, writing Hanabi's attraction to Hinata as an exploration of Mycenean feminist theory and the female/lesbian quest for self-discovery (http://ronsard.livejournal.com/33255.html) (I love
Of course, there's really nothing wrong with just being pairing-fic, but you see my point. A character like, say, Konan (who comes to mind due to the RP), can be an annoyingly stereotypical and one-dimensional figure, or she can be used narratively to explore issues of female disempowerment, oppression, and the struggles of second-class women in a sexist, classist society.
The best slash writers are generally those who understand what they're writing about in the larger spectrum of the LGBT community, and who are just good writers, period. Cardboard cut-outs are bad no matter the genders involved, but I do think cardboard cut-out yaoi can often be sadly misogynistic.