A brief musing on slash

[curtana]

I had a thought this morning, which is probably not original to me, as I observed a male* reaction of discomfort regarding some (relatively mild) slashy innuendo. I wondered how much of such discomfort is due to homophobia, how much to purism ("It is not explicitly in the canon, therefore it cannot possibly exist, and you are WRONG for seeing it there!") and how much to the uncomfortable surprise of seeing male characters sexualized in ways that women are accustomed to being sexualized - e.g. touching and embraces read as implicitly sexual rather than friendly, anger and frustration interpreted as repressed sexual tension, close emotional bonds being suggestive of "something more going on there," etc. I expect that part of the disconnect is in seeing these patterns applied to homosexual rather than heterosexual pairings - behaviour that would be interpreted by most of the audience as at least slightly sexual in a M/F couple becomes de-sexualized in a same-sex couple, and for some viewers/readers to insist on preserving (or re-inserting?) that sexual dynamic is, I suppose, potentially disconcerting. But I suspect that at least part of it is a discomfort with female appropriation of a traditionally male gaze/stance - the privilege of sexualizing the subject.

*I presume, but on the internet there is always some room for doubt.