The first line of today's Torchwood radio play was Ianto's and he said:
"All right Jack, I'm in position".
My mind immedeatly went to "hehe, sex positions".

Not only do I have Slash goggles, I have Slash earphones.

I haven't written a fandom meta in a while, not just a review or a small comment. But full fledged talking about the affect of media has on us.

I mention my Slash love because yesterday there was a bit of bigotry in fandom: xtricks ( reports )

Now, homophobia is a bad thing. And really, fandom for me, is an escape from that. But of course that isn't really so. Fandom, like everything else, cannot be culturally removed.
I link to her a lot, but she's really brilliant; rm wrote an entry about this little bout of bigotry regarding the fact that Gay people are real, Slash is a genre... the two are connected: ( Quote )

Quite a bit if discussion are in those posts, but I have my own thoughts about.
Personal preference for me is Slash(1) of the male/male kind.
My current fandom favourite has a male homosexual couple as part of the canon.
I prefer to read stories in which sex and violence are explicit.

I've often tried to think about why I, a feminist, a queer woman; I prefer to read stories, get turned on by stories, share sexy man-on-man stories with my dyke GF who also enjoys 'em (I only send her the really good ones!) in which my subjectivity has to be shifted into that of a man.

What's the difference between that and girl-on-girl porn written by men? Or a "Mills and Boon" bodice ripper written by women?

Personally speaking, it just feels difference. That's gut feeling.

There are plenty of PWP (Plot? What Plot?/Porn Without Plot) stories out there, in which the only thing written is sex, explicit and very fun.

The gut feeling difference is that good stories, even PWP, is that the people written still feel like People.
Jack and Ianto remain them even when they're just fucking. They remain who they are, whether they are comforting each other, dominating one another or are hating each other to their marrows and the consent in dubious.

Mainstream porn (both written and visual) is about objectification and fetishism.

Slash... well, good slash, subverts that.
The fucking that we love to read is done by characters who are people. It's what I love about fandom, it uses a world that more often than not is pretty hole-filled and manages to construct an alternative narrative which manages to make a world that actually feels more real than the one originally created... even if it's just a bedroom.

Of course, the main thing I love about Slash is the fact that it is not Straight(2). Through fanfic and Slash in particular, this confused 13 year old girl learned what it is that people of the same sex can do together, because honestly, look around, we are only now seeing characters with desires that match our own that aren't accessories, comical tropes or tragic figures(3).
I like reading characters who revel in their sexuality without the mind numbing crushing shame - or actually see them deal with the shame that may or may not be thrust upon them and not die - or see that sexuality explored without apology.

As a queer woman who reads fiction that is more often than not written by other women (queer and not) about men who are sexual with each other... in a society that tells me that that is not so legitimate, I feel stronger.
It brings me comfort.
It enables me to consider sides of characters (humanity) I did not think about, because slash is a literary Meta on the world and characters written about.

And that's awesome.

However, as stated in the above quotes, queer people are real, homophobia touches us. The stories we read and write are not in a vacuum. The internet is a hot bed of hate and vitriol that surpasses the "real" world.
That some in fandom consider it disconnected from the very real power dynamics that affect us is at best silly and at worst exclusionary and violent.

And that, friends, is awful.

Yeah, I know, I ended it on a bit of a low note. Whatcha' gonna do...

Notes
(1) I love Het, Gen and Femmslash as well. But Slash is what I look for more than any other genre.
(2) Good Het or Gen isn't Straight either, imo.
(3) I hated "Brokeback Mountain".

I'm listening to the very awesome band Pollyana Frank and I decided I'd share my three fave songs with y'all.
These songs were written and first sung in the mid-nineties.
It's amazing that nothing has really changed since.
I suggest you download said songs.
They're really good.

Two of the songs are in Hebrew, so the origional lyrics are here, with my own translations.
Enjoy the ( songs )