OT: Offense Taken vs Offense Given - Gay.

[Steve]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, "joxy" <joxy at ...> wrote:
>
> I've no idea what meaning the word "ship" has for some people around
> here, but as a gay man in the UK I need to make it clear that the
> stuff about gay stereotypes and about seeing a gay relationship
> between Black and Lupin is offensive. I hope there won't be any more
> comments about the subjects.
>


bboyminn:

Ships-

As someone else already pointed out, 'ship' is shorthand for
relationSHIPS. General hetro ships are usually just referred to as
'ships'. Where as gay relationship, especially with regard to fan
fiction, is usually referred to as 'slash', as in Sirius/Remus, where
the '/' is pronounced 'slash' - so Sirius slash Remus.

Gay Stereo Types-

Sorry, but I didn't see any comments that would be taken seriously or
offensively. Any 'stereotype' comments were stated in a humorous and
benevolent way. If offense was taken then I'm sure everyone is sorry
for the way you felt, but I'm equally sure the no offense was
intentionally given.

You may also be offended (somewhat implied by your comments) that your
favorite not-gay characters are being portrayed as gay. Again, if you
took offense...sorry (sincerely), but I can't imagine that any offense
was truly given.

"I hope there won't be any more comments about the subjects."

Well, that is just not going to happen. You are certainly well within
your rights to express legitimate feeling about the subject, and you
can be sure that those expressions of feels will be heard and
considered. I'm sure in the future, it will remind everyone to give
due consideration to what they say, and try to express it in a
non-offensive way. But the subject is far too big a part of HP fandom
to every go away. 

SLASH-

As Kchuplis already pointed out, Slash (gay relationships) are
primarily the fantasies of the fans. It reflect whata some fan /want/
to see, rather than what actually is. It is extremely unlikely that
Harry and Ron, or Harry and Draco, or Ron and Draco, or Seamus and
Dean, or Percy and Oliver are gay, but that hasn't stopped
!!MILLIONS!! of Slash stories being written and published (on the
internet) with those pairings and more.

In a way, that is part of the beauty of JKR's writing. Her characters
don't just live on the pages of her books or in the movies, they
spring to life in the minds of readers and live on in lives that far
transcend the books/movies. 

On www.fanfiction.net, the number TWO most often written about genre
is 'Lord of the Rings' with about 40,000 stories. Harry Potter has
232,000 stories written at just that one site. That tells me that
there is a lot of room for imagination in these characters, and a
certain percentage of that imagination is going to go in a gay
direction. In fact, I would speculate that more than half of all HP
fan fiction is of a Slash nature, in other words - gay.

That's just part of life, and it's not going away. If people feel that
they sense a gay undercurrent in the movies then they are certainly
free to discuss that undercurrent here. But as you point out, it
should be done in a tasteful and non-offensive way.

Just trying to lend some perspective.

Steve/bboyminn