THINGS THAT COMPLETELY SHIT ME, part I in a series.
Specifically, today's edition is "Things That Completely Shit Me About Slash Fandom". Don't misunderstand me. I am not against slash. I like the stuff myself. I like to read it, when it is good. Sometimes, I even write it, but you can't see it yet.
1.) Slash is not everybody's thing. Disliking it does not automatically make someone a horrible, evil, intolerant, narrow-minded homophobe. Some people are willing to be converted. Others are not. We should respect other people's tastes.
2.) It's okay to like het too. Liking het does not make you less of a slash fan. If you genuinely don't like het, that's fine--but just don't fall into the mindset of "Slash, no matter how crappily written...good. Het, no matter how well written...bad." I'd rather read good het than bad slash.
3.) Gay men are not automatically more interesting by default. I'm referring here to gamers who refuse to play any but gay male characters. Number one, you really can't grow as a gamer if you're not willing to branch out a little; I've found that it's boring to play the same character, or variations on the same character, over and over and over again. And it's a bit dull to have to play opposite somebody who plays variations on a theme over and over and over again. SLs get predictable that way. I understand the desire to get as far away from yourself as possible (given that many, if not most, slash fans are straight women), but it takes more than a character's sexual orientation to make him interesting.
4.) Men are men. Being gay means that a man is attracted to other men. It doesn't mean that he ceases to be a man. Some gay men are effeminate. Many are not. Men are men, with all the complexity that that entails--and all the annoying behavior. I'm sure there's some guy somewhere who's really appalled that his boyfriend continues to drink straight from the milk carton, despite repeated admonishments not to. (Or, depending on the kind of guy he is, he may just shrug, use his undershirt to wipe it off, and take a swig himself.) My point being, there's no one-size-fits all mode of gay male behavior, any more than there is of straight male behavior.
5.) It's just fandom. Self-explanatory. There are way more important things to get up in arms about.
1.) Slash is not everybody's thing. Disliking it does not automatically make someone a horrible, evil, intolerant, narrow-minded homophobe. Some people are willing to be converted. Others are not. We should respect other people's tastes.
2.) It's okay to like het too. Liking het does not make you less of a slash fan. If you genuinely don't like het, that's fine--but just don't fall into the mindset of "Slash, no matter how crappily written...good. Het, no matter how well written...bad." I'd rather read good het than bad slash.
3.) Gay men are not automatically more interesting by default. I'm referring here to gamers who refuse to play any but gay male characters. Number one, you really can't grow as a gamer if you're not willing to branch out a little; I've found that it's boring to play the same character, or variations on the same character, over and over and over again. And it's a bit dull to have to play opposite somebody who plays variations on a theme over and over and over again. SLs get predictable that way. I understand the desire to get as far away from yourself as possible (given that many, if not most, slash fans are straight women), but it takes more than a character's sexual orientation to make him interesting.
4.) Men are men. Being gay means that a man is attracted to other men. It doesn't mean that he ceases to be a man. Some gay men are effeminate. Many are not. Men are men, with all the complexity that that entails--and all the annoying behavior. I'm sure there's some guy somewhere who's really appalled that his boyfriend continues to drink straight from the milk carton, despite repeated admonishments not to. (Or, depending on the kind of guy he is, he may just shrug, use his undershirt to wipe it off, and take a swig himself.) My point being, there's no one-size-fits all mode of gay male behavior, any more than there is of straight male behavior.
5.) It's just fandom. Self-explanatory. There are way more important things to get up in arms about.