Draco's fandom sexuality/relation to canon

[Aja]

No: HPFGUIDX 33313


Cassie just asked how so many fanfic writers have come to the conclusion
that Draco is homosexual.

I'll take a stab at that and answer that it's purely wishful thinking on
the part of slashers who want to see Harry paired with someone as strong
and intelligent as they see him being.  Since most of the Draco slash
fic is written with Harry as his potential love interest it's safe to say
that fandom!Draco reinforces the image of the sexy seductive
villain archtype by playing off Harry's nobility and strength as his
equal.  

I'll even venture to say that if JKR *hadn't* made the majority of the
female students in the series flighty and/or underdeveloped, the
Draco/Harry pairing wouldn't be as popular as it is.  Hermione is a strong
choice as a potential romantic interest for Harry, but as it stands now,
no other female student has her intellect, wit, conviction, or importance
as a major upcoming player in the series.  Then there's Malfoy, who has
all of those qualities, plus the romantic mystery attached to the role of
the bad guy.  If Malfoy happened to be female, the problem of where all
the strong female students went would be much less of an issue--and
undoubtedly there would be massive SHIP speculation over the prospect of
he and Harry, just as there is now with H/H, H/G, etc--and given the
popularity of love/hate relationships in our culture, from Jane Austen on
down, the speculation probably could be taken seriously.

As it is, Draco happens to be a male. A fanfic writer who tires of
Hermione's bossiness (or maybe even her *goodness*) and wants to pair
Harry with someone a little more interesting, has no further to look than
Malfoy.  It helps that he is small, thin, and pale, and possesses no
overtly masculine traits, so it's an easy step to take to make the final
leap.

Is Canon Draco gay?  Eh...it's possible. But it's safe to say his
sexuality will have little to do with the plot of future books.  I
honestly *wish* JKR would put a gay couple in her story, but I also
respect that it's not the role of the books to be political earth-shakers
in any way.  The scandals over HP slashfic will in all likelihood remain
confined to fanfic.  Ah, well. It's fun *imagining* JKR defending her
choice of couplings--"I decided Sirius was too dead sexy not to wind up
with Remus!"-- but til that far-off day comes, I'll have to content myself
with reading/writing such pairings on the numerous sites devoted to HP
Slash.

Aja (who's planning a massive post on evidence of Draco's vulnerability in
the books in response to Mary's challenge--if she can find any, lol)

"You know you have a problem when you start saying things like Harry
Potter and coital in the same sentence." --Cathryn