Science, y'all.

[melannen]

ETA early morning jan 18: a short follow-up with more poll numbers + things /ETA

I was going to wait and post this later, with a much more elaborate stastistical work-up, population variables and meta-analysis - because I think it's interesting in its own right - but the ongoing conversation I'm seeing, and the extremely clear result I'm getting, is making me think it's more important to get the facts out there, than to make them pretty.

So: Are slashers straight?

I spent an afternoon and evening finding all of the polls & surveys of slash demographics I could that included a question on sexuality. Some I already had bookmarked, some I found through google, delicious, and following citations in academic papers. I'm sure there are more out there, and if you have links to more more polls I would love to add their data to my analysis. But you know what? The results of the ones I've found are pretty consistent, across a large range of survey population. And it is, to be quite honest, not the result I was expecting, even as a slasher who does not herself identify as straight, and is used to finding people like her in fandom.

Are slashers straight?


I present to you the raw numbers on sexuality for the 10 polls & surveys I could find results for, plus several more I could only find references to.

You'll note that there are a variety of categories used for sexuality; for the purposes of the meta-analysis, I am counting as "straight" any poll answer that was straight, heterosexual, primarily heterosexual, heteroflexible, or direct equivalent. I am using "queer" as shorthand for everybody else, including people who self-identified as bi-leaning-straight, questioning, and asexual. (You'll also note that the polls that included options beyond gay, straight, and bi had *significant* numbers of participants choosing them, something you might want to consider in general when talking about fans' sexuality. Just fyi.)

I only listed gender statistics for a few of the polls. That's because I'm lazy, and the way LJ polls work, separating out the responses by gender wouldn't have been terribly meaningful without a lot of annoying hand-collating anyway, so for the record: any poll with no gender statistics here either had no gender question, or over 90% self-identified women respondents. As this analysis is mostly meant to address the question of slashers' sexuality, I'm leaving gender identity unexamined for the quick'n'dirty version. (Though I'll note that only one of the polls had options specifically involving non-gender-binary people and orientation. Other possibilities, fandom: they exist.)

http://www.libraryofmoria.com/jsr/part2.html#21
2003
Library of Moria, a LOTR fic archive
Participants: 275
Heterosexual: 124
Mostly Heterosexual: 39
Bisexual: 84
Mostly Homosexual: 0
Homosexual: 10
Undecided: 6
Non-sexual: 2
Percent identified as queer: 37%

http://rushlight75.livejournal.com/38193.html
2003-10-14
Pre-metafandom, but widely distributed through its precursors
Participants: 1000
Male: 26
Female: 974
Only result available is an average Kinsey Scale rating: 1.8
(which kind of comes out to 40% queer, but not really)

http://idroppedarice.livejournal.com/59133.html
7-28-2004
Harry Potter slashers, by way of Fiction Alley Park
365 participants
straight: 173
bi: 119
gay: 22
undecided: 49
Percent identified as queer: 52.7%

http://lavinialavender.livejournal.com/179885.html
4-28-2005
locked, but currently available through Google's cache; mostly HP and anime slashers
participants: 203
straight: 85
gay: 8
bi: 73
Confused: 36
Percent identifying as queer: 54.6%

http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/242137/results
2006-2-13
posted by Proserpina "For the yaoi girls", but I have no idea where it was linked/promoted.
total: 43
heterosexual: 23
homosexual: 1
bisexual: 11
pansexual: 2
asexual: 1
unsure: 5
Percent identifying as queer: 53% 47%

http://hederahelix.livejournal.com/259632.html
6-29-2006
Mostly the metafandom crowd; specifically slash-focused.
Participants: 402
Heterosexual: 35
Heterosexual but slasher: 62
Bisexual, but heterosexual in practice: 102
Bisexual: 128
Bisexual, but queer in practice: 26
Lesbian, gay, queer, etc but slasher: 30
Lesbian, gay, queer, etc: 19
Percent identified as queer: 76%

http://wisdomeagle.livejournal.com/931805.html
February 2, 2007
Mostly the metafandom crowd; not all slashers - includes het & gen fans.
469 participants
straight women: 206
bi/omni/pansexual women: 186
lesbians: 56
asexual: 30
Straight men: 10
bi men: 5
Gay men: 3
Percent participants who identify as queer: 59.7%

http://jadelennox.livejournal.com/265022.html
Feb 7, 2007
A small poll of one fan writer's circle, not specifically fandom-focused:
Participants: 35
straight: 8
gay: 1
bisexual: 10
sligtly bisexual (kinsey 1 or 5): 9
other: 5
Percent participants who identified as queer: 71%

http://sailorptah.dreamwidth.org/11270.html
Feb 13, 2008
Mostly the metafandom & anime crowd, but not specifically fandom-focused; a freeform survey which emphasized complex & fluid sexuality
Total participants: 71
Identified as some subset of queer: 60
Percent participants who identified as queer: 84.5%

http://kleenexwoman.livejournal.com/248586.html
2-12-2008
Mostly the metafandom crowd, but with some exposure outside it
Participants: 577
gay: 25
bi-leaning-gay: 47
bi: 62
pan: 76
bi-leaning-straight: 84
straight: 192
asexual: 37
other: 23
no labels: 31
Percent identifying as queer: 66.7%

Polls whose results are not included in this analysis:

There are two other polls on FAP, but they were free-response threads and I'd've had to collate the results by hand, which I didn't have time for: http://forums.fictionalley.org/park/showthread.php?s=f041f722f3998ddd1bfbc6055d650507&threadid=19455&highlight=slash+survey and http://forums.fictionalley.org/park/showthread.phps=f041f722f3998ddd1bfbc6055d650507&threadid=133998&highlight=slash+survey

...it's on my list.

blnchflr ran a poll through metafandom sometime in early February, 2007, which was deleted, originally at: http://skuf.livejournal.com/132143.html . The only data I could find was a reference that it was "running closer to just 35% saying they are "strictly het".

I found several fandom demographics polls pre-dating 2003, but none of them had a sexuality question, which is interesting in its own right. (I suspect that the farther you go back in slash's history, the less likely it is that we would have even dared to ask these questions, and the less likely we would have gotten accurate answers, if we did. And in a time when fanfic was getting a *lot* of flak from the straight world, presenting an image to outsiders of "ordinary housewives" was important. I think the time when we need that protective image is fading.)

Finally, Wikipedia's reference for saying that "polls claim most slashers are heterosexual women", which has propagated everywhere, is Anne Kustritz's paper "Slashing the Romance Narrative", first published in the Journal of Amercan Culture in 2003, available in pdf here: http://www.laurientaylor.org/research/sources/slashfic.pdf . She, in turns, cites three informal fandom essays in her fandom demographics section, which is only a small part of the paper - those three essays are no more or less rigorous or inclusive than the 11 I have analysed here, note. The first is a clearly parodic essay on the Sith Academy, http://www.siubhan.com/sithacademy/criticalintro.html , which uses no poll or survey data, and does not even touch on the question of slashers' sexuality (despite Kustritz' citation implying it does.) The second is given the URL http://www.apps4.vantagenet.com/zpolls/count.asp?rlt=91221204045&id=91221204045 , which was a poll of the Darth Maul Estrogen Brigade in 2000. It is no longer available online, nor can I find any other references to it remaining online. The second was at http://www.sockii.com/ma/criticalintro.htm ; it is also no longer online, and I can find no details on it whatsoever except the date given of 1999, though the URL + the other references in the paper strongly imply that it was limited to TPM fandom, like the others.

(I will also note, because it seems worth noting, that the demographics section of that paper was very strongly trying to make the point that slashers are NICE WELL-ADJUSTED WOMEN WHO ARE NOT DEVIANT OR SCARY, so I am inclined to think the author had a bias toward categorizing slashers as heterosexual, especially as she uses the phrase "mostly to totally heterosexual" in the passage with the citation, but does not qualify heterosexual anywhere else. There is a lot of wiggle room in "mostly", as the variety of categories in the polls I listed above demonstrate. ...also, I @#$%&^@$ hate wikipedia's goddamn paternalistic notability and citation rules, since it means those two ten-year-old Phantom Menace polls somehow turned into GOSPEL TRUTH on the way to the printing press.)

So, over 9 polls, in a variety of slash subfandoms from the late-teens yaoi set to the mid-thirties meta fans set, dates ranging over 7 years. Only onetwo polls had less than 50% queer participants, and that wasone of them the earliest one, and even they were at 37% and 47%. The median percent of queer participants was 59.7%, and the mean was 61.5% 60.8%.

SO when people say things like "slash fans are appropriating queer experience", what THE MAJORITY OF SLASHERS, WHO IDENTIFY AS QUEER hear is either "you aren't queer enough, your queer identity isn't real" or "male voices are the only ones qualified to speak for the queer community."

I think the question of how queer women can appropriate queer men's identity, and the damage that can be done when gay men speaking about themselves are drowned out by women, are valid discussion topics, and worth addressing. That is not a conversation that is going to happen as long as THE MAJORITY OF SLASHERS, WHO IDENTIFY AS QUEER, are being erased from the discussion. fyi.

And SO when people say things like "slash is a legitimate way for straight women to express their sexuality", what THE MAJORITY OF SLASHERS, WHO IDENTIFY AS QUEER hear is either "you aren't queer enough, your queer identity isn't relevant" or "straight voices are the only ones qualified to speak for the slash community".

I think the question of how straight women's sexuality interacts with queer sexuality, and the ways straight women's sexuality defines slash, are valid discussion topics, and worth addressing. That is not a conversation that is going to happen as long as THE MAJORITY OF SLASHERS, WHO IDENTIFY AS QUEER, are being erased from the discussion. fyi.

Can I say that one more time? I like saying it. Science makes me happy.

THE MAJORITY OF SLASHERS IDENTIFY AS QUEER.

ETA: People in comments have pointed out math errors that change the numbers slightly: I've added corrections in the relevant places. The conclusions still stand, however (for now.)

ETA 2 early morning jan 18: a short follow-up with more poll numbers + things /ETA 2

Comments

[azurelunatic]

And let me see about whipping up a survey that might in some accurate and reasonably sensitive and sensible way measure these things.

[melannen]

Oooh, yay! Yeah, it's been a few years since the last big one. (I think survey!fail salted the ground on demographic polls for 2009.)

[azurelunatic]

Drafting commences, part 1!

Disclosures: I am not personally an academic by trade, although there are probably going to be a lot of acafans and possibly even people outside the slash community coming to see this, if it gets bounced around a lot. I am setting the poll to display full results (that's the part that displays your username with your answers) only to me, and I'm not sharing that. (Since I get to see yours, it's only fair that you get to see mine: I will disclose my own responses in a footnote after the survey proper.) I do not have formal training in queer theory, gender theory, or the like, just what I've picked up from the internet and various readings. I owe a lot to the Dreamwidth volunteer community for whipping my ass through disability-friendly language (and website) design features, and axelrod for questioning the gender binary persistently and loudly and in my face. I also do not have formal training in poll creation, though this is mitigated by the many years I spent as a phone goon administering consumer research surveys to the general public as well as narrower audiences, and the various critiques of the surveys from the public and my fellow interviewers and my own critical skills. This survey has not been overseen by a review board of any type other than the concerned interest of select of my fellow fans in the drafting process. This survey attempts to be inclusive of people with disabilities, people who don't fit the gender binary, and people who engage the world and slash fandom through other means than reading text although a whole lot of slash fandom is text-based. (Please tell me if you think I've got something wrong, though if this gets spread around a lot, I may not have time to fix things, I may review your feedback and disagree, and since one can't edit polls I may not be able to entirely fix it, and it's bad practice to edit a survey instrument mid-survey anyway.) The purpose of this poll is curiosity, and to find out whether slash fandom is as straight as many people assume it is. Hello, non-slashy portions of my internet association! This is possibly not relevant to your interests, though you're welcome to poke at it if you feel like it.


Gender categories:

(Primarily) Female (includes transgendered women)
(Primarily) Male (includes transgendered men)
Other/fluid (your binary gender paradigm cannot handle me!)
Decline to specify

For the purposes of this survey, Slash is defined as fandom-based romantic and/or erotic narratives (fanfiction, podfic, vid, static art) about or heavily involving male/male, female/female, and pairings that otherwise do not fit the heterosexual gender binary, although these narratives do not have to be explicit. Since many fandoms now have canonically non-heterosexual characters (not something that existed in the early K/S days), whether the character is heterosexual or of undefined sexuality in canon is of no consequence. You can count popslash/bandslash/RPS here if you want, though there's a big enough section of "celebrity fantasies" at Literotica and other places that makes it clear that there are people who read and write what I would call fannish slash and het that aren't engaged with the fannish community.

Since this survey is about your involvement, whether something is slash or not is up to you. If you are not the author, you can let authorial intent go hang: do you think this is a slash piece? Then it is. If you are the creator, do you see it as slashy? (Whether you intended it as slashy, or came to see that it was slashy after you created it.) (Also, if your adoring fans say something you created is slashy but you don't see it that way, you can merrily disregard that for the purposes of this survey.)

Works that contain LGBTQ characters and relationships (particularly as a background feature, but occasionally as the protagonist but doing things that are in no way related to their sexuality) are not necessarily slash unless you declare that they are so. (For example, fic about Dumbledore working up lesson plans is more likely to be classed as gen rather than slash; fic about Adam Lambert writing a song that mentions a boyfriend, entirely possibly also gen.) Go with however it reads to you when you're thinking about it. Nor does heterosexual-gender-binary romantic and erotic content disqualify something from being slashy, if you're noticing the slash.


Slash community involvement
I am a fan of slash, whether or not I engage heavily in this fandom, and whether or not I read/watch/listen to same-sex romantic and erotic material that is outside of the slash paradigm.
I read/watch/listen to slash at least occasionally (more than once, or if once, would not be opposed to trying it again), although I would hesitate to call myself a slash fan for one or more reasons.
I read/watch/listen to same-sex and/or other non-het-gender-binary romantic and/or erotic narratives that are not slash, but do not expose myself to slash. (Including: I have never encountered slash / That must have been slash but I found it in context of non-fannish same-sex romance/erotica / I have met slash in the past but I would avoid it.)
I avoid same-sex and other non-het-gender-binary romantic and/or erotic narratives, even if I do not object to (or skim over) same-sex and/or other non-het-gender-binary romantic and even erotic content in works that I am consuming for other reasons.

[sara]

I am actually trained in putting together human research surveys, and while I have therefore got a lot of skepticism about surveys of self-selected populations, if you get your draft completed and want another set of eyes on it, I can probably do that for you.

[azurelunatic]

Ooo! Thank you very much for the offer. I may well take you up on it. I plan to be doing a bunch of the drafting in here, unless melannen kicks me out, for accountability since I start too many more projects than I finish.

[melannen]

I am not kicking anyone out! And I totally understand about needing the accountability, though I'm not too good at providing it.

[naraht]

It might be nice if this had a dedicated post, though, in part because it would be easier for other people to link to. I find this a very interesting discussion but it is a bit buried in here.

[melannen]

... I was considering putting up one that consisted of:

"There is a trope that most slashers are straight women. Let's test it! 1) do you identify as a slasher yes/no; 2) do you identify as straight yes/no; 3) do you identify as a woman (or multiple women) yes/no"

I think yours is going to be more rigorous. :D

[azurelunatic]

Aiiii, multiple. I had not considered multiple, and that is my own damn fault because I used to *be* multiple, though multiple women and not mixed.

[trobadora]

It might be interesting to do both polls, a more informal and a more rigorous one, and compare the results. (I assume you'd get more participants with the informal one ...)

[azurelunatic]

I might repeat the slash community involvement section four times, one for each gender category (I identify as ___ as defined up above and...), with a bonus "This question does not apply to me (no need to tick this going through, but if you accidentally voted in the wrong place, you can unvote by editing your results and voting here)" question. This would also allow for accounts that span multiple gender identities, such as a single individual who identifies as both male and female (at once or at separate times), a shared account belonging to a man and a woman in separate bodies, or a shared account belonging to a body with more than one personality.


To the disclosures: Risks: Answering this discloses personal information to me, and while you have my assurance that I won't share, it's still up to you to choose whether to trust me. Participating in the comments, which are not screened, discloses whatever you share in those comments to current and future readers of those comments. Participating in the comments runs the risk of other people mouthing off to you, though I will endeavor to moderate the discussion should it get out of hand (I am not anticipating it will but you never know).


Performance art is probably also worth a mention.


Slash community involvement: creation. (It is not necessary to have shared these creative works with the public or with anyone else.)

I create or have created slash and consider myself a slasher (regardless of whether I also create heterosexual-gender-binary and general works, and/or other same-sex and/or other non-heterosexual-gender-binary works that are not slash).
I occasionally create or have in the past created slash, but would hesitate to describe myself as a slasher.
I create or have created same-sex and/or other non-heterosexual-gender-binary romantic/erotic works, but I would not describe any of them as slash.
None of my creative works contain slash or same-sex/other non-heterosexual-gender-binary-romantic/erotic content, or it is so very minor that I do not consider it to count.
I do not generate creative works.


The sexuality portion of this survey is influenced in structure by the Klein Grid, which I took one look at and fell in love with, because I'd been independently trying to develop something like that.

I'm of two minds about the sexuality portion of the survey. On the one hand, this is aimed at female consumers and creators of slash. On the other hand, it would be Very Interesting to see data from male/other/decline to say portions. The question here is the screen space to devote to it (maybe an aux survey?) rather than do-we-want-to-avoid-knowing-this.

So, from whatever group we're asking about sexuality:


The number-scale questions seem like the thing here, using Kinsey's numbers (0 = exclusively opposite-sex, 6 = exclusively same-sex), and a bonus question for "this does not apply to me" - hmm, maybe radio buttons? I would so very like a nice numerical-grading scale with a "WAIT NO THIS IS NOT ME" built in.

I am a $GENDERCATEGORY and I identify (overall) as:

0, heterosexual only
1, heterosexual mostly
2, heterosexual more than homosexual
3, equally heterosexual and homosexual
4, homosexual more than heterosexual
5, homosexual mostly
6, homosexual only
*, Pansexual, sapiosexual, and other sexual attractions without regard to gender (Kinsey "YES")
X, asexual, nonsexual, and other forms of Kinsey "NO"
?, none of these options come close
_, decline to answer


I am a $GENDERCATEGORY and I am/have been attracted to:
0, opposite sex only
1, opposite sex mostly
2, opposite sex more than same sex
3, same and opposite sex equally
4, same sex more than opposite sex
5, same sex mostly
6, same sex only
*, Pansexual, sapiosexual, and other sexual attractions without regard to gender (Kinsey "YES")
X, asexual, nonsexual, and other forms of Kinsey "NO"
?, none of these options come close
_, decline to answer


For romantic groupings involving more than one person, consider the internal one-to-one relationships between the parties and take an average. A MFM triad with internal F/M and F/M pairings would be composed of opposite-sex pairings; if it also contained an M/M pairing it would be mixed opposite and same sex pairings.


I am a $GENDERCATEGORY and I have had consensual sexual contact with:

(Technicalities: if you think it counts as sex, it counts as sex.
If you were assaulted, it grieves me to hear that, and answer as best you see fit; you need not count it unless you want to.
If your side of the sex was consensual but the other party's side was not, please seek counseling soonest if you have not already.)

0, opposite sex only
1, opposite sex mostly
2, opposite sex more than same sex
3, same and opposite sex equally
4, same sex more than opposite sex
5, same sex mostly
6, same sex only
*, Only or mostly people who do not fit neatly into the gender binary in relation to me
X, No one or only myself (various forms of chastity, masturbation, and/or visits from time-traveling future versions of yourself)
?, none of these options come close
_, decline to answer


I am a $GENDERCATEGORY and I fantasize about personally having sex with:
0, opposite sex only
1, opposite sex mostly
2, opposite sex more than same sex
3, same and opposite sex equally
4, same sex more than opposite sex
5, same sex mostly
6, same sex only
*, Only or mostly people who do not fit neatly into the gender binary in relation to me
X, No one or only myself (various forms of chastity, masturbation, and/or visits from time-traveling future versions of yourself)
?, none of these options come close
_, decline to answer


...and here's where it gets into the fanfic. Finally.

I am a $GENDERCATEGORY and I fantasize about:
0, opposite sex pairings only (F/M)
1, opposite sex pairings mostly
2, opposite sex pairings more than same sex pairings
3, same and opposite sex pairings equally
4, same sex pairings more than opposite sex pairings
5, same sex pairings mostly
6, same sex pairings only (F/F, M/M)
*, Only or mostly pairings that do not fit neatly into the gender binary in relation to each other
X, No pairings at all or only solo/self sexual activity (time-traveling future versions, clones, etc. -- finally, a question that this particular specification actually *fits*!)
?, none of these options come close
_, decline to answer


I am a $GENDERCATEGORY and I fantasize about (checkboxes):
Pairings involving someone of my own gender, that are the same as my own sexual orientation
Pairings that involve my own gender, but are opposite from my own sexual orientation (bisexuals, this just plain doesn't apply to you)
Pairings that involve my own gender, and are the same as my *other* own sexual orientation (bisexuals, here, this one's for you)
Pairings that do not involve anyone of my gender, but I would consider their gender as a sexual partner.
Pairings that do not involve anyone of my gender, and I would not consider their gender as a sexual partner.
pairings that do not fit neatly into the gender binary in relation to each other

X, No pairings at all or only solo/self sexual activity (time-traveling future versions, clones, etc.)
?, none of these options come close
_, decline to answer

[azurelunatic]

I am a $GENDERCATEGORY and I am/have been emotionally attracted to:
0, opposite sex only
1, opposite sex mostly
2, opposite sex more than same sex
3, same and opposite sex equally
4, same sex more than opposite sex
5, same sex mostly
6, same sex only
*, Pansexual, sapiosexual, and other sexual attractions without regard to gender (Kinsey "YES")
X, asexual, nonsexual, and other forms of Kinsey "NO"
?, none of these options come close
_, decline to answer



I am a $GENDERCATEGORY and I am/have had intimate emotional/romantic relationships with:
0, opposite sex only
1, opposite sex mostly
2, opposite sex more than same sex
3, same and opposite sex equally
4, same sex more than opposite sex
5, same sex mostly
6, same sex only
*, Pansexual, sapiosexual, and other sexual attractions without regard to gender (Kinsey "YES")
X, asexual, nonsexual, and other forms of Kinsey "NO"
?, none of these options come close
_, decline to answer



I am a $GENDERCATEGORY and I fantasize about personally emotionally/romantically connecting with:
0, opposite sex only
1, opposite sex mostly
2, opposite sex more than same sex
3, same and opposite sex equally
4, same sex more than opposite sex
5, same sex mostly
6, same sex only
*, Pansexual, sapiosexual, and other sexual attractions without regard to gender (Kinsey "YES")
X, asexual, nonsexual, and other forms of Kinsey "NO"
?, none of these options come close
_, decline to answer



I am a $GENDERCATEGORY and I fantasize about emotional/romantic connections between (checkboxes):
Pairings involving someone of my own gender, that are the same as my own romantic preference
Pairings that involve my own gender, but are opposite from my own romantic preference (bisexuals, this just plain doesn't apply to you)
Pairings that involve my own gender, and are the same as my *other* own romantic preference (bisexuals, here, this one's for you)
Pairings that do not involve anyone of my gender, but I would consider their gender as a romantic partner.
Pairings that do not involve anyone of my gender, and I would not consider their gender as a romantic partner.
pairings that do not fit neatly into the gender binary in relation to each other
X, No romantic pairings at all (can you even have solo romance?)
?, none of these options come close
_, decline to answer




I am a $GENDERCATEGORY and I fantasize about emotional/romantic connections between (checkboxes):
men and women
women and women
men and men
people who do not fit neatly into either of those categories
anybody without regard to gender

[carmarthen]

For romantic groupings involving more than one person, consider the internal one-to-one relationships between the parties and take an average. A MFM triad with internal F/M and F/M pairings would be composed of opposite-sex pairings; if it also contained an M/M pairing it would be mixed opposite and same sex pairings.

For some questions this would work, but I would consider asking some questions related to polyamory, since that is a huge part of some people's sexual orientation (and there's a related question that may touch on a different question of appropriation--is polyamorous fic mostly being written by polyamorous people? I personally doubt it).

Anyway, there's a HUGE difference for me conceptually as a reader and a poly person between a triad and two F/M couples or whatever.

[edenfalling]

When you say,

"I am a $GENDERCATEGORY and I am/have been attracted to:
0, opposite sex only
1, opposite sex mostly
2, opposite sex more than same sex
3, same and opposite sex equally
4, same sex more than opposite sex
5, same sex mostly
6, same sex only
*, Pansexual, sapiosexual, and other sexual attractions without regard to gender (Kinsey "YES")
X, asexual, nonsexual, and other forms of Kinsey "NO"
?, none of these options come close
_, decline to answer"

how are you defining attraction? Sexual attraction, romantic attraction, or non-romantic-non-sexual-yet-on-the-same-level-of-intimacy attraction? Because all three exist, and they are not the same thing (though they may often overlap).

[acrimonyastraea]

Your definition would include yaoi in the definition of slash, and yet one of the frustrations I've experienced in this whole discussion is that yaoi has pretty much either been not considered, or has been dismissed as those silly little fangirls are the real homophobes, don't look at us slashers.

I think it's worth considering how you want to deal with yaoi, whether you want it to be included or you want to look at it separately.

[azurelunatic]

Note: it is not necessary for you to have had sex in order to hold an orientation identity. I knew I was bisexual a good few years before I had sex, and you don't have to abandon your sexual orientation if you happen to be monogamous.

[scrollgirl]

Slash community involvement: creation. (It is not necessary to have shared these creative works with the public or with anyone else.)

Hmm. I may have misread your comment above, but it seems you're defining slash community as only those who have created fan works (whether public or in drawer-fic/art)? I'm hesitant to define slash fandom (or fandom at large) to only those who create fan works when plenty of us get involved in fandom in other ways.

[sqbr]

I'm not sure I'd conflate m/m and f/f, since the first is assumed to be written by straight women and the latter by queer women, and thus combined results are ambiguous with regards to either assumption.

Also I'd be curious to know how many gen and het fans are queer, if only as a control, but that's just me ^_^

[azurelunatic]

So separate out male slash, femslash, and stuff that's incredibly slashy on account of it not being het but doesn't fit neatly into male or female slash? Sounds like a good idea to me.

The deeper I write this thing, the more it looks like it's being designed for me to shove the answers in an easily machine-readable form of file, replace all the usernames with arbitrary numbers that are not their user number, and periodically release it to the wild.

Also to save a copy of the uncompiled poll code for future instances (like, close this one after a year).

Also go suggest that Dreamwidth be persuaded to spit up the uncompiled code of any poll that's been posted so you don't have to bust your ass once you have a good one, just take it and go.

[carmarthen]

Also I'd be curious to know how many gen and het fans are queer, if only as a control, but that's just me ^_^

Actually, I think that it would be really interesting to split out m/m, f/f, m/f, poly, and gen fic. Part of the stereotype is not just that slashers are all straight women, but that slashers prefer m/m slash exclusively, or consider it to be "more interesting" than other forms of fiction.

As someone who identifies as a slasher but enjoys fiction of all stripes, this makes me grumpy. And I've love to see some numbers.

[naraht]

Slash is defined as fandom-based romantic and/or erotic narratives...

Do you mean "romantic" as in "like a romance" or "romantic" as in "has sex or sexual attraction or relationships as a significant theme"? Because I think that makes a big difference.

[azurelunatic]

The latter; I think the Romance Novel narrative is a part of the latter, but hardly the only form.

[kennahijja]

There's also slash darkfic that doesn't focus on romance and relationships (the same goes for het, of course).

[cadenzamuse]

*pokepoke* Hey, Azz, are you still working on this or did it fall by the wayside? Just curious...

[azurelunatic]

It fell by the wayside, alas, and it doesn't appear to have long-term active interest. If anyone wants to pick it up, they are welcome to with my total blessing.