Sex Ed

[risingtides]

I recently wrote a fic which covered the topic of sex ed, and I've had something I've long considered fact confirned.

There's kids who are getting their sex-ed through fanfic. I find this disturbing, although I will admit I definately learned quite a bit about sex through fanfic (though not as much as I did when I was 11 and found my dad's XXX

Comments

[svz_insanity]

Somehow, I suspect I'm probably someone who confirmed your suspicion. ^^;

[insert long ramble here and I'll probably get off topic and tell you more about my crazy childhood than you'd ever care to know]

Maybe it's just where I live, but I learned about sex ed in fourth grade from a former nurse who resembled Dr. Ruth sans the German accent, and I knew about the basics of "woman+man+thing I shouldn't know=woman with a baby" in third grade.

Goodness knows that I'm way too curious for my own good, and well... let's just say that the library can be very useful and it can also be a huge eye-opener for a ten year old. I was mentally scarred from anything having to do with sex for a while, and that's when I started reading fanfiction.

Most fics I read were fluff fics and gen, but as fics goes, some very good fanfiction in the Dragonball Z section led me to some fics with only a chapter related to sex, but I managed to get the jist of things, and thankfully, I wasn't as "... that goes WHERE?" by then. Odd to say, but it eventually sort of became a background detail and most authors had warnings so I would just skip the chapter or I'll be like "Mmhmm... R-rated warning... I'll just skim this chapter to see if there's anything important to the plot I'll missed".

I was appalled at the very idea of slash back then, although I had friends whose parents were gay, I couldn't comprehend why someone would pair ______ with _______. Eventually, my venture into the Gundam Wing and Harry Potter fandoms curbed that... and well, look at me today. ^^'

Sex in fanfiction doesn't really faze me, nor do I believe everything I read, because, well... slashfics are usually written by females, and I doubt most women can accurately write about male/male relationships, as gen relationships are hard enough to write as it is. Fanfiction and stories that involve sex and love are usually overromanticize and make things seem better than it isto start with, and I have a feeling many writers also fake things, with the help of other writers and the wonderful invention as the internet. There's usually some fact people base it on, but it must take a lot of effort to not stray from it.

And of course, I can safely say that teenagers today and even kids (judging from my sisters) know a lot more about sex than what most children's parents are comfortable with. I think this issue has always existed-- if I know my facts correctly, there used to be (and there still are!) smut novels and I'm willing to bet that quite a lot of people have snuck into a bookshop to secretly read them, or snuck into their mother's private stash. Same goes with porn magazines. Now, it's probably easier than ever for a curious teenager to gain access to that-- since a quick search on google can probably turn up a lot of things.

So, do I, as an author, have a duty to make sure my fic is as accurate as possible, since someone might take me too literally? Or... am I allowed to claim creative license? I don't think anyone can answer that except yourself, Aishuu. It's your writing and it's your choice on whether you think you should make everything factual or if you think that you should be allowed creative liberty. All I can say is that there's probably a lot of people out there who claim creative license to the extreme. ^^'

[/end long comment]

Whew. Hopefully some of that made sense.

[datenshi_blue]

Sex in fanfiction doesn't really faze me, nor do I believe everything I read, because, well... slashfics are usually written by females, and I doubt most women can accurately write about male/male relationships, as gen relationships are hard enough to write as it is. Fanfiction and stories that involve sex and love are usually overromanticize and make things seem better than it isto start with, and I have a feeling many writers also fake things, with the help of other writers and the wonderful invention as the internet. There's usually some fact people base it on, but it must take a lot of effort to not stray from it.

LOL. My gay friends have read some of my fanfics, and they went all cute and blushy and asking how the hell did I know so much about how it's done and how it works. Obviously I've never been in a man/man relationship, but don't underestimate what research and common sense can do for your fanfics.

[svz_insanity]

*facepalm*

One of my bi friends read a bit of a smutfic I'm working on please kill me now , and he said "Hmm... this is good and fairly accurate." Then he paused and asked me, in total seriousness, "... What kind of research did you do to get this information?"

I was at loss of words.