(SHIP FF SLASH) Slash discussions

[Jen Faulkner]

No: HPFGUIDX 11687

On Sun, 4 Feb 2001, Neil Ward wrote:

> Something related more toward the predominance of women among HP slash
> writers could be explored here.  It has been touched on before.  Is it just
> that women in general are more inclined to write HP fanfic or fanfic in
> general, or is there some other reason for the bias?  How many of these
> writers are straight women and what *is* the fascination?  Are there many
> f/f HP slash fanfics out there?

*delurks and waves to all the hpslashers*

Actually, I'd say that the chief reason for the predominance of
women in HP slash is that slash in general tends overwhelmingly (in some
fandoms, exclusively) to be written by/for women.  I'd say that HP slash
actually has a larger number of men involved (reading, at least) than
many other fandoms.  Aren't there something like six or seven men on the
hpslash list now?  In my experience, that's a lot.

The traditional wisdom is that slash is written primarily by/for
straight women.  Explanations then (most of which I find partly or
wholly unsatisfactory) focus on slash as a feminist project (lack of
societally ascribed gender roles; equality of power dynamics
(potentially, anyway) between the characters; the author's own
expression of power over two men, figured through the act of writing;
and so on).  Slash has also been viewed as an expression of women's
fantasy that men be emotional and romantic (a stereotype of both genders
if ever I saw one).  Other explanations draw comparison between slash
and straight men's fascination with "lesbian" sex (which has already
been mentioned here) or point to the lack of strong female chracters to
pair the Hero with -- with no female in the pairing, there's no one
character that the author/reader is supposed to identify with on the
basis of gender.

But since slash has traditionally been viewed as a "straight" endeavor,
I've not seen too many explanations that see slash as any sort of
'queering the text'.  Which is partially for good reason -- most slash
fics should *not* be considered as a form of gay/queer writing.  HP
slashdom is, however, particularly interesting in this regard, since
there are both a fairly large number of explicitly gay renderings of
characters, rather than the 'this is the only time I've ever been in a
same-sex relationship' trope so common in slash, and plots that deal
with gay issues (there are quite a few HP slash fics that deal with, for
instance, coming out in various forms), as well as the fact that there
are many more (self-identified) bi or lesbian women involved than at
least have traditionally been vocal about that identification in slash
fandoms.

We've discussed the demographics several times now on hpslash, and the
general consensus has been, I think, that there is an unusually large
number of HP slashers who identify as queer (bi, lesbian, gay, or some
form of transgendered).  Two factors have been advanced repeatedly as
explanation -- the fact that the average age of HP slashers tends to be
younger than in other slash fandoms; and the fact that there are so many
fen who have come to HP not from the 'traditional' slash fandoms (with
which I'm familiar) but from anime/yaoi.  

I actually think there's another regard in which HP slash is
particularly unusual: the extent to which the fic is *not*
text-based.  By that I mean there are very few 'missing scenes' fics or
any other type of fic that make explicit reference to events in
canon.  Although there are things in the texts that can be read as
homoerotic (Harry's reactions to Cedric, particularly when asking Cho to
the Yule Ball; the bit with Ron being placed in the lake; Ron's 'crush'
on Viktor), they are not, generally, the basis for fic.  

There also doesn't seem to be any place for an OTP (that's 'one true
pairing') polarization; although many people have a preference,
disagreements over Ha/D or Ha/R haven't yet driven us apart.  But beyond
those two pairings, there's support for Sirius/Remus,
James/Sirius(/Remus)(/Snape)(/Lucius), Snape/just about anyone *g*, D/R,
Fred/George(/Lee)(/Harry), Seamus/Dean, even (impossibile intellectu)
Percy/Neville.  The plethora of pairings (with several fics, at least,
about each) is a situation that I, frankly, can't think I've ever seen a
parallel for.

And then there's the f/f slash.  Perhaps related to the increase in (the
vocality of) queer women involved in slash, there has been a veritable
explosion of interest in f/f.  Pre-Xena, there was almost no f/f
available, but f/f slash, though in some sense it's still the overlooked
stepsister of m/m, is now available, discussed, and in some instances
even well-written.  HP is no exception, and again, as in the case of m/m
slash, a wide variety of types (and qualities) of f/f HP slash is out
there.  I do think the demographics of HP slashdom in general (average
age, previous involvement with yaoi/yuri, number of bi/lesbian women)
contribute to the relatively large amount of f/f fic.  And as in its m/m
counterpart, the variety of pairings is astonishing -- I've seen (or
written myself *g*) He/Ginny, He/Cho, He/Minerva, Lily/Minerva,
Lily/Narcissa, Minerva/Molly Weasley, Alicia/Katie(/Angelina).

But no matter how much the increase in (the visibility of) f/f warms my
heart as a lesbian, it must be acknowledged that many of the
readers/writers of f/f are straight women as well.  (There are too,
though not that I've noticed in HP, many male authors and readers of
f/f.)  Writing or reading f/f slash isn't necessarily a queer project
any more than m/m, though I do believe there is a greater lesbian
sensibility in (female-authored) f/f.  m/m slash, on the other hand, is
only in very small part about gay men; the traditional wisdom that it's
by and for women has basis in reality.  Despite the stated gender/sex of
the main characters, m/m slash is often really about women.  In extreme
clases, the result is the complete feminization of one of the
characters, but most (if not all) m/m slash displays this tendency to
some degree.  'Realistic' m/m is of little interest to most of the
audience.

Well, enough rambling from me! I just can't resist a good discussion
about slash. :)  *slips back to sunning on the sandy shores of Slash
Lagoon, watching the various ships sail by*

--jen :)

* * * * * * 
Jen's HP fics:
http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~jfaulkne/hp.html
Snapeslash listmom: http://www.egroups.com/group/snapeslash/
Yes, I *am* the Deictrix.