I read that guy's little ditty on explaining what is msm. He sounds like a political activist or something, and those are circles I and friends I have (who are gay) do not run in, so we might not be aware of the term msm. I don't run in any activist circles because I don't like to be told how to live by others. Some political activists are the worst for that. I hate: "You're not being a good and proper gay person unless you..." kinds of talk. I think you point this out when you mention writing by Susie Bright (whom I have never read.) I don't label myself as gay and that gets people really mad at me since I've been with the same woman for almost 30 years. Believe me, I have been called homophobic for it, and so I mostly just stay to myself because, well, how can I ever make stupid humans understand my personal experiences that I literally cannot label?
About writing in the real world: I have to say, I don't understand this msm guy's "context" points, either. I have read gay fic by gay men, and novels with gay characters in them in every genre written by gay or straight males or females. I don't ever remember these contexts of being a blood donor or dealing with aids being in those stories unless it is imperative to the plot or imperative to the character himself. Maybe these people do these contextual "gay world" things in their spare time inbetween scenes in the novels, but it's certainly never a requirement that they must be dealt with IN the novel.
Maybe a better example of his complaint would be how slash guys appear not too often to use condoms. But sometimes the sex isn't explicit, so if you write "they made love" is that wrong? Should it be "they made love and were good boys and used condoms"? Well, hell, that's just not good writing. If this guy is accusing slash writers of creating stereotypes, I would argue he's creating stereotypes by making rules as to how a gay man "should" be including in slash, as if all humans are the same, and all gay experiences are the same. In fact, I find his arguments laughable at best...slash contains the least gay stereotypes of any "gay" fictions I've ever read.
About writing in the real world: I have to say, I don't understand this msm guy's "context" points, either. I have read gay fic by gay men, and novels with gay characters in them in every genre written by gay or straight males or females. I don't ever remember these contexts of being a blood donor or dealing with aids being in those stories unless it is imperative to the plot or imperative to the character himself. Maybe these people do these contextual "gay world" things in their spare time inbetween scenes in the novels, but it's certainly never a requirement that they must be dealt with IN the novel.
Maybe a better example of his complaint would be how slash guys appear not too often to use condoms. But sometimes the sex isn't explicit, so if you write "they made love" is that wrong? Should it be "they made love and were good boys and used condoms"? Well, hell, that's just not good writing. If this guy is accusing slash writers of creating stereotypes, I would argue he's creating stereotypes by making rules as to how a gay man "should" be including in slash, as if all humans are the same, and all gay experiences are the same. In fact, I find his arguments laughable at best...slash contains the least gay stereotypes of any "gay" fictions I've ever read.
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