Have I ever told you my Unified Theory of Slash? I do have one. So, further to my tardy tribute to International Fetish Day, and my lovely kink picspams that no one gave an arse about...
Not for me... I can get into the head of any character I can identify with, and it's just rare that authors write female characters whose head I can get into. There's probably some bias in the sense that I hold female characters to a higher standard, because crappy ones annoy me more than crappy male characters.
I thought it was very interesting that Anne Rice admitted she'd never really identified with female characters in literature, because most of them were so silly or badly-written. I have very much the same problem, which is also probably why I haven't done any acting in forever either.
Ditto the crappy female characted annoyance factor, too...I'm having major issues with this one trying to get through the first season of Being Human.
For me there much more intimacy with slash than het, at least on televison. When it's not done for lulz, there is something about two men snogging that seems much more intimate than two women (usually done for the pron/hetero male audience) or a man and a woman (commonplace). There is a taboo, especially in America about men kissing, so when I see two male characters who are in love, their kisses seem much more genuine.
And most of the female characters in fanfics are Really annoying.
Interesting point...I don't think it's gender specific, as you say, but just the possibility that when you remove the male gaze, it becomes a very different creature.
Most het male-oriented eroticism does tend to be very quick and dirty, without much emotional content. Hetslash and femslash are still overwhelmingly aimed at a straight male audience, whereas male slash abundantly isn't...and it seems that when you're not selling sexuality for the sake of itself, some actual love and tenderness has a chance to sneak in.
I subscribe to both your theory and antikythera's. For me, at least, it is a mix of how doubling the guy quota leads to doubling the hotness and how the emotional aspect of the pairing is often well-developed. There may simply be more fully-fleshed out male characters. *shakes fist at this
( ... )
And it is very provoking that there aren't more well-rounded female characters, either in canon or in fic. I'm trying to think of any who existed simply for the sake of themselves and not as an extention of their husband-son-boyfriend-father-brother, and the only examples I can come up with are Xena and Cabrielle. :/
Hmm, that's part of what's going on in my brain when I slash, I guess. Also I don't like the gendered power dynamics that come into play in m/f relationships - not something I want to have to negotiate in fantasy. And I find the transgressive aspect of two men together very appealing.
And I definitely gave an arse about the picspams! All kinds of arse. An arseload of arse. It felt too stalkery of me to comment on all of them at once, but I did enjoy them all and appreciated the late-night effort!
And I definitely gave an arse about the picspams! All kinds of arse. An arseload of arse.
*SNURK*!
*giggles like a sleep-deprived loon*
Ah...many thanks for that; I feel much better now. That plus a nap should have me back in the game in no time. *just has to get Saturday errands out of the way first*
That's an extremely interesting theory. It fits right in with the commonplace fannish seething envy of the leading lady, and the frequent dismissal of OFCs as Mary Sues.
One thing I find terribly hot about slash is the whole "forbidden love" thing, which increases the romance factor by about 1000000%. There is nothing more heart-meltingly romantic than a gay wedding in the face of all that disapproval and hate. But this also applies to homosocial relationships: Sam can't as much as touch Gene without copping "Get off, I'm not a fairy!", so their luff must remain unsaid. Teh swoon!
There is nothing more heart-meltingly romantic than a gay wedding in the face of all that disapproval and hate.
Yeah, that's an element of m/m slash that I hadn't thought about before: with the addition of social discrimination, it becomes more about love and less about sex, which would thematically appeal much more to women.
I reckon the 'competition' thing holds true for both men and women, though -straight ones at least. Would be fascinated to know if the same is true of gay men/women watching het slash vs gay slash. (Then of course there's us mixed-up bi folks, who can't make up our minds about anything so no one asks us anyway.) ;)
*thinking cap* If competition is the problem, then het pr0n wouldn't appeal to gay viewers. No, wait, you mean (for example) there isn't another man getting in between the gay male viewer and his objet de lust, yes?
Speaking of bisexuality: Lucy Leimann. I'm just sayin'. Screencaps to follow.
No, wait, you mean (for example) there isn't another man getting in between the gay male viewer and his objet de lust, yes?
Yeah, that. Good point, though...I suppose both men AND women are competition for a gay man if you look at it like that. Le gloom. That's certainly the only thing I can think of to explain the near-sociopathic hatred of Janet in the Rocky Horror Picture Show audience participation script: 'OMG, that bitch/whore/slut/regional variant of choice!!! She turned a gay man straight and stole Rocky from our self-ident character! HOT FIERY DEATH TO THE NOT-WE!!!'
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I thought it was very interesting that Anne Rice admitted she'd never really identified with female characters in literature, because most of them were so silly or badly-written. I have very much the same problem, which is also probably why I haven't done any acting in forever either.
Ditto the crappy female characted annoyance factor, too...I'm having major issues with this one trying to get through the first season of Being Human.
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And most of the female characters in fanfics are Really annoying.
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Most het male-oriented eroticism does tend to be very quick and dirty, without much emotional content. Hetslash and femslash are still overwhelmingly aimed at a straight male audience, whereas male slash abundantly isn't...and it seems that when you're not selling sexuality for the sake of itself, some actual love and tenderness has a chance to sneak in.
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And it is very provoking that there aren't more well-rounded female characters, either in canon or in fic. I'm trying to think of any who existed simply for the sake of themselves and not as an extention of their husband-son-boyfriend-father-brother, and the only examples I can come up with are Xena and Cabrielle. :/
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And I definitely gave an arse about the picspams! All kinds of arse. An arseload of arse. It felt too stalkery of me to comment on all of them at once, but I did enjoy them all and appreciated the late-night effort!
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*SNURK*!
*giggles like a sleep-deprived loon*
Ah...many thanks for that; I feel much better now. That plus a nap should have me back in the game in no time. *just has to get Saturday errands out of the way first*
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One thing I find terribly hot about slash is the whole "forbidden love" thing, which increases the romance factor by about 1000000%. There is nothing more heart-meltingly romantic than a gay wedding in the face of all that disapproval and hate. But this also applies to homosocial relationships: Sam can't as much as touch Gene without copping "Get off, I'm not a fairy!", so their luff must remain unsaid. Teh swoon!
Of course, I just imagine I'm Ianto.
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Yeah, that's an element of m/m slash that I hadn't thought about before: with the addition of social discrimination, it becomes more about love and less about sex, which would thematically appeal much more to women.
I reckon the 'competition' thing holds true for both men and women, though -straight ones at least. Would be fascinated to know if the same is true of gay men/women watching het slash vs gay slash. (Then of course there's us mixed-up bi folks, who can't make up our minds about anything so no one asks us anyway.) ;)
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Speaking of bisexuality: Lucy Leimann. I'm just sayin'. Screencaps to follow.
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Yeah, that. Good point, though...I suppose both men AND women are competition for a gay man if you look at it like that. Le gloom. That's certainly the only thing I can think of to explain the near-sociopathic hatred of Janet in the Rocky Horror Picture Show audience participation script: 'OMG, that bitch/whore/slut/regional variant of choice!!! She turned a gay man straight and stole Rocky from our self-ident character! HOT FIERY DEATH TO THE NOT-WE!!!'
Lucy Leimann? *interested*
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