Explicitness, Fics, and Generations

[Dina Lerret]

Some may think this post not worksafe, even though I'm typing this at
work, but I'd feel comfortable discussing this with a mature twelve
year old.

First off, apologies to MsTattersall since, at the time of posting, I
did not feel the post to be explicit.  As I stated before, I found the
snippet to be a parody of stereotyping erotica.  This is also not
meant as a slam against the writer of the fic, which is why I did not
supply a link to the fic.  The writer is competent and she has a
fairly good grasp on English and/or her beta reader has done well.

My qualm is that the writer had managed to de-sexualize the intimacy
between two characters by disassociating their sexual body parts.  I
included the phrasing to look at it from an analytical standpoint of
personal and sexual identity.  How I perceived the scene was... as if
their genitalia were separate entities and I know this to be a
critical aspect in writing: when folks--I'm among the guilty--try to
avoid overusing pronouns/proper names and end up with 'floating' body
parts.  I know it's especially problematic for folks describing
characters of the same gender in a single scene.  The ironic thing was
the writer used pronouns but it had the same effect of disassociation
from the 'main body'.

The level of sexual content in "Little Miss Mary" did earn the NC-17
rating but there are moments where the writer doesn't have *Harry*
exploring his sexuality and that included snippet in a previous email
was one instance.

Now, I've been exposed to open thinking via the public because my own
family is religious and can be downright racist and homophobic (e.g.
sometimes, my mom doesn't want me touching her in public because she's
worried folks will think she's a lesbian or my dad rarely talks about
his family background because it might have a Jewish spin, something
he's embarrassed of), but there was a post not too long ago where the
person was asking about opinions on generational preferences in
reading.

I'm in my mid-twenties and I had Sex Education the first year of
junior high (12-13 years old).  As much as US public education has
gone downhill (thanks in part to poor funding), there's another group
that believes the younger generation is capable of more
'sophisticated' thinking.  Recently, Jon Stewart interviewed a guy who
wrote _Everything That's Bad for You is Good_ and how much kids are
actually processing because the complexity of technology has grown,
and as a result, communication and our daily lives require new
knowledge.

>From the Time Machine's (HGW) movie sequence of dresses getting
shorter to Huxley's "Brave New World" theme of children younger than
ten years old exploring their sexuality and it being the embraced
norm, each generation seems aware the subsequent one will probably be
more open to sexuality based on current trends.

Anyway, I felt "Little Miss Mary" was heavily based on Harry exploring
his sexuality and finding his 'identity' but how can he find it via
thinking of sexual organs in separate terms.  Again, I found the
snippet to be... almost clinical in detachment if you *really* think
about it and look past the sensationalism.

Some have theorized the popularity of m/m slash is the manifestation
of repressing female sexuality--offhand, there was even a panel on
misogyny at a slash convention--and with statistics showing more m/m
slash writers are heterosexual females, it's a theory that does give
momentary pause.

Dina