Icky Slash

[erda_3]

I keep seeing posts where people complain about, or outright sneer at, slash that falls into heteronormative tropes, where one of the guys is feminized and treated exactly like we object to women being treated.

Comments

unnecessarily lengthy post boiling down to 'ita'

[zelempa]

Yes. Definitely. I myself have made the complaint that a guy in a story is acting 'too girly,' by which I usually mean he seems to be experiencing feelings in a way that I think is more common to women than men (although "traditionally feminine" sensitivity/romanticness/insecurity/what have you is totally canonical for certain characters). But when it comes to specific external activities such as liking to be dominated or taking a keen interest in fashion or whatever, I actually prefer to read about male characters enjoying that than female. For a girl it's stereotypical, and for a guy it's unexpected and interesting and clearly something he's interested in for itself and not just because he's supposed to be.

(This is actually something I've thought on and off about and reacted to since I was a teenager--I've always been into nontraditional gender expression in myself and other people. Since I can only really choose my own actions and since I've only got this female body to work with, that means I end up weighting the subset of stuff that I like which is considered "guy stuff" (computers, girls). But there is a lot of good "girl stuff" (mascara, boys). Sometimes I envy men because they can wear mascara and date boys and resist society's prescriptive gender roles at the same time. When I wear mascara and date boys I just seem normal!)

Part of the appeal of slash (for me) has to do with putting powerful characters, not just men, but action heroes, ultra-men, in vulnerable positions. Giving them traditionally feminine interests or activities is a valid way to do that. In a way isn't that a sort of superset of making them attracted to other men, the definition and essence of slash? (Not to say that male homosexuality is equivalent to feminization, because I don't think it's actually inherently feminine to be attracted to men, but I mean, it's not INHERENTLY feminine to wear skirts or like baking cupcakes, either. It's just an association most people in our scoeity have. Caveat caveat caveat.)

Re: unnecessarily lengthy post boiling down to 'ita'

[erda_3]

Yes, I know EXACTLY what you mean. I hate the feeling that I am allowing myself to be oppressed when I want to do typical woman stuff, as well as the assumption that guy stuff is innately superior.

I've always been attracted to people who defy gender expectations.