A post-script on the non-con issue

[emmagrant01]

In my last post, I asked people to give their opinions on non-con in fanfic, and the results surprised me. I knew that the label meant different things to different people, but some of the perspectives that were expressed in comments really caught me off guard.

1. Some people think all non-con is about sexual gratification. That surprised me. While I do get that people have rape fantasies and fic fulfills that particular kink, I don't think it's fair to assume that all or even most non-con in fic is there to be sexually arousing. There are other reasons for inserting non-con scenarios into stories, and many of them have much more more to do with power and providing a catalyst for character development than they do with getting the reader off. Just because it's about sex doesn't mean it's a PWP.

2. Some people think there is only one kind of non-con, and it's all violent rape. I don't want to get into a huge discussion about what rape is and isn't. I have some personal experience with the issue that I don't want to get into, and besides -- that's not the point. The point is that this is about people (mostly women) exploring fears and fantasies or dealing with their own particular traumas through writing fiction. To put all of those fics into a category of "evil bad stuff I don't read cause who wants to get off on that" seems strange to me, considering how much kink there is in the fandom. We're usually all quite open-minded about people's motivations for writing a particular kink in a live-and-let-live sort of way, so why do we make assumptions about people's motivations in this case? I'm not saying people shouldn't read what they want, of course. I just find it interesting that people feel that way.

3. The label "non-con" means different things to different people. Yes, duh. But still, it's made me question how useful that label even is. Depending on who you ask, I have either never written non-con, or I've written a ton of it. At this point, I'm leaning toward the first, because I haven't ever written a sex act that would classify as rape according to my own definition. Even in situations where there was dubious consent at best, it always was worked out between the characters before they got to any actual sex. Either that, or in the cases when consent wasn't given, the "victim" was able to fight back and turn the tables. For me, writing those stories is about empowerment, not stripping people of power. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with flat-out rape in fic, because that is something many people clearly want to read and write. But should all of those fics be classified in the same way? I just don't think so.

Anyway, those are some thoughts I had as I was reading over comments on that post last night. And now, off to a meeting...

Comments

[gmth.livejournal.com]

We're usually all quite open-minded about people's motivations for writing a particular kink in a live-and-let-live sort of way, so why do we make assumptions about people's motivations in this case?

This is a question I've been asking myself for years. In fact, I almost posted a lengthy rant on it myself a while back, but decided it wasn't worth the bother and the high blood pressure I was sure to get as people commented.

Anyway, the biggest issue I have with people's attitudes toward non-con is not that it's a squick for a lot of people; I already know that. Everyone's entitled to their squicks, and that's why I label my non-con fics appropriately. But what bugs me about this whole thing is that having an interest in non-con seems to instantly set you up for a LOT of personal attacks. If you write it, or confess to enjoying it/being aroused by it, you are automatically a "sick fuck" who makes other people "weep for humanity" or should be "locked away for the good of society" (and yes, those are actual quotes I've seen around in a bunch of different discussions on non-con fic). WTF?

Every few months or so, meta discussion on LJ seems to come around to the issue of fluff/light fic vs. darkfic. And every time it does, the fluff/light fic writers complain that their fics are not taken as seriously as darkfic is, and that people seem to think fluff fics are like cotton candy: a moment on the tongue, and then it's gone. But you know what? I would MUCH prefer to have my fics looked down or dismissed than to have my character -- i.e., me, as a person -- judged negatively simply because of my interest in a particular genre of fan fic. That? Just sucks.

Sorry. Hot button.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Heh, that is an issue with posting something like this. The odds of people you don't know coming in and trolling are a bit high for my liking. :-P

I would MUCH prefer to have my fics looked down or dismissed than to have my character -- i.e., me, as a person -- judged negatively simply because of my interest in a particular genre of fan fic.

Yes, that really bothers me too. It's ironic, because people outside of fandom do exactly that to anyone who writes any kind of fanfic at all. So why would people who ought to know better use that same tactic to shut down fellow fen? I despise that sort of hypocrisy.

[cleverthylacine]

Because of the disgusting and time-honoured human inclination to measure ourselves against other people and say, "Well, I may be freaky, but X is even freakier so I'm okay."

[gmth.livejournal.com]

I do, too. That was one of the things that bothered me most about the Guardian article post-Lumos. I expected the reporter to be an idiot; I didn't expect other fans to be idiots and call slash fen "freaks."

[cleverthylacine]

I really wish people would stop using "darkfic" as a synonym for "non-con" because I don't like non-con and I love dark stories--stories of Creeping Horror, stories of fascism, stories of what happens when the bad guys win...and I'm sorry, there ought to be more interesting stories about what happens if the DE's win that are about something more than "Gryffindor X is forced to be Slytherin X's sex slave." That's a kink, and kinks are OK, but darkness doesn't have to be sexual in nature.

Now I do love dub-con, or what I call "fantasy rape"--the kind where the victim sekritly wants it and the aggressor is someone they want. I know how you feel about the character-bashing. I've had someone tell me that people like me were responsible for the fact that some men think women want to be raped. And I like chan, and incest, and I've been called a paedophile, and people have asked me in public forums if my father raped me, which is behind the loathing that I have for a lot of the canonwhores who think they own fandom, because while I'm well aware MS SCRIBE goaded me and Arabella into that fight for her own amusement the people who commented from the Quill still said what they said and until they apologise I'm not going to be huggy with 'em.

I agree with you, being dismissed as a person because of what you like is hurtful. But it's a characteristic of HP fandom, or didn't you know that all Slytherin lovers secretly are racists and hate the poor? I'm sorry, there's a reason I left the fandom. It's the meanest fandom I've ever been in, and I'm 42 and have been in fandom one way or another since I was 13.

[gmth.livejournal.com]

I really wish people would stop using "darkfic" as a synonym for "non-con"...

You're right, I should have worded that more carefully.

But it's a characteristic of HP fandom, or didn't you know that all Slytherin lovers secretly are racists and hate the poor?

No actually, I didn't know that. I'm a Lucius, Snape, and Voldemort fan and have never been called either of those things. Or perhaps I don't take things to heart as much as some other Slytherfen do.

[cleverthylacine]

There are in fact people who go out of their way to be jerks about this.

[auctasinistra.livejournal.com]

Hey, don't drag us fluffernutters into it! ;-) I would never say darkficcers need to be locked up or assume they practice what they write!

People like that need to get a grip on the difference between imagination and reality.

[gmth.livejournal.com]

No no, I never said that fluff/lightfic writers are the ones saying darkfic/non-con writers are sickies. I don't know what kind of writers the people who say those things are. I agree they need to get a grip on the difference but I doubt they ever will.

[auctasinistra.livejournal.com]

I was teasin' ya, honest! But yes, I too have seen people dip one toe into fandom (or, really, any slightly obscure hobby) and run screaming as if they suddenly have this deep understanding of it and find it all too sick to contemplate. They're the same type of people who think those who dress up at Ren Faires by definition are mentally ill and have no life outside of the Faires. Me - I think they have no inner life, no imagination at all, hence they can have no comprehension of what it means to be creative in any way.