This writer argues that writing erotic slash fic is not only personally fulfilling, but also an important political statement:
As a fanfic writer and feminist, I do not agree at all. Certainly not about the notion that it’s wrong to read out especially egregious slash and laugh at it.
I struggle with this. I feel like people are just looking for reasons to be hurt. Maybe I’m speaking from a position of privilege, and I acknowledge that. But this is clearly not a women who struggles with her sexual identity, nor being any other minority than “female,” which, if you’re white and live in the United States, is not as much a problem anymore.
I know that I know nothing about this woman. I draw certain conclusions by assuming she owns a television and has time and energy to produce prolific amounts of fiction. So, moving forward.
Disclaimer: I have no problem with erotica, fanfic, slash, or any of the other topics involved. I have a problem with the argument.
Even though she elevates what she writes to the level of Fighting the Man (the hetero-normality portrayed in mainstream media…: So slash, and its “legitimate” relatives, can be a correction or an expansion on the beloved text. But I also see slash as subversion, a way to fight the relentless heteronormativity of the culture that permeates its art…
…she then goes on to confess that it’s still basically just wish fulfillment:
When I write story upon story that allows Dean and Castiel to express their implicit love for each other, I’m fighting back against an official record that refuses. I’m aware that I’m not writing “authentic” male/male sex — I can’t, as a woman — but the audience I write for is also mostly women, and we know what we like.
Her point about people laughing at women’s sexual desire: Taken. But, we laugh at other people’s sexual desires, too. It’s pretty much a given that every man in the world (as portrayed by the media) has a fantasy about random lesbian sex–but we still chuckle about it. We will always chuckle about sex, because…it’s funny. It makes us ridiculous. We’re still confused about it. And, why shouldn’t women have the same fantasy about their preferred gender? Men are beautiful. Women are beautiful. Let all the beautiful get together and go at it.
She said she also writes her favorite ships in other worlds and gives the characters other professions . . . I mean, why not just do what E.L. James did and spin it into a whole new novel and make lots of money? She likes to write erotica and she has a strong, admiring fan base. Go for it.
But let’s not make erotica bigger than it is… a genre meant to explore, support healthy sexual urges, titillate and fulfill whatever “naughty” thoughts you have. Other people don’t have to like it and no… I’m sorry, they don’t have to take it seriously. Just like people don’t have to take my talking gryfons seriously, or Star Wars (gasp) or anything else.
I say pick up your healthy fan base, keep writing, hold your head high, and move on.