This is again interesting and even more so than your first post. I hope her diss is available online at some point because it sounds like a very worthwhile read.
It seems to me that one of the problems with recognizing queer slashers is the way slash fans and their sexuality are being associated. I think many people have the idea that slash is written and read for the titillation of it, that it is solely a form of pornography.
In my experience people who identify as slashers share a lot of similarities in their fannish behavior as those who don't. What drives people into fandom, het, gen, or slash, is often a search for something that isn't present in the text. While there will always be a portion of any group that is solely looking for a smuttier angle on their favorite source, I believe that portion is much smaller than many people imagine.
The point is, many people who don't necessarily get off on two men having sex identify as slashers because they're looking for an alternative source of queerness that isn't present in the text. Much of Western media is preoccupied with hetero-normative white male leads surrounded by other hetero-normative white males. When the vast majority of main characters we are given to relate to are straight white men often with few women in the background (especially in older sources), is it any surprise that queer women of all shades turned to pairing them up? Isn't that just another way of supplementing their needs that aren't getting met by the source?
no subject
It seems to me that one of the problems with recognizing queer slashers is the way slash fans and their sexuality are being associated. I think many people have the idea that slash is written and read for the titillation of it, that it is solely a form of pornography.
In my experience people who identify as slashers share a lot of similarities in their fannish behavior as those who don't. What drives people into fandom, het, gen, or slash, is often a search for something that isn't present in the text. While there will always be a portion of any group that is solely looking for a smuttier angle on their favorite source, I believe that portion is much smaller than many people imagine.
The point is, many people who don't necessarily get off on two men having sex identify as slashers because they're looking for an alternative source of queerness that isn't present in the text. Much of Western media is preoccupied with hetero-normative white male leads surrounded by other hetero-normative white males. When the vast majority of main characters we are given to relate to are straight white men often with few women in the background (especially in older sources), is it any surprise that queer women of all shades turned to pairing them up? Isn't that just another way of supplementing their needs that aren't getting met by the source?