Two mainstream articles about slash
Aug. 19th, 2007 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
emmagrant01My husband, sitting next to me on the couch, emailed these two links to me a few minutes ago. He could have just told about them, you know? But still, both are articles in mainstream newpapers that mention slash.
The first is from The Daily Californian last July and probably not new to many of you. It's actually pretty fair to slash, though I have to say I object to her exclusion of fen from "normal people with real jobs". Oh, please. But still, I think the fact that it was written by the paper's regular sex columnist says a lot about its fairness.
Edit: I've been told this is actually the campus newspaper of UC-Berkeley. I was confusing it with something else, heh.
CHRISTINE BORDEN
The Slash That Lives
Monday, July, 23rd, 2007
While normal people unlike myself and people with real jobs still trundle through the seventh Harry Potter book, hundreds of hungry shippers will find new ways to disrobe, arouse and utterly debauch Harry and Co. Trust me, this started way before Daniel Radcliffe revealed his hunky hunk of burning love to the eager audience of “Equus.”
No, for years Harry has been more than platonic friends with Hermione, has fooled around with Draco and even has found himself in the arms of Snape. And that’s not even considering his orgy of friends.
Missing out on all this sex? Harry Potter fan fiction, if you know where to find it, thrives with a strong fan base and numerous contributions and yes, plenty of raunch. Hedwig, I don’t think we’re in the canon anymore.
FictionAlley.org is the largest realm of Potter fan fiction, and here you’ll find all the Potterotica you could crave (along the other pretty normal, not-so-dirty spinoffs). Ship—that is, the pairing off of characters into relationships—rules supreme on this site. Not everything is sexually explicit, but the NC-17 and R stuff draws a crowd.
Many authors of fan fiction, especially slash (homosexual male pairing), are female. They write themselves out of their smut, but that’s not to say that a fangirl won’t go all wibbly for the next Harry/Draco drama. For women, slash doesn’t exclude them or eliminate their arousal. Instead, much like a heterosexual male obsession with girl-on-girl, slash gives double the muscles, double the longing looks and double the quivering … wands.
Slash writers transfigure their male characters to be more feminized in their behavior and feelings. Rather than being exclusively male, slash characters embody both genders and act unlike their heterosexual counterparts in the canon. In a nutshell, they’re the best of both fantasy worlds. Slash, however, is not exclusively male. Femmeslash features girl-on-girl action, but again much of the fanbase is female. The genre originally thrived within a lesbian audience, like the fans of “Xena: Warrior Princess.”
But femmeslash didn’t catch on during the infant years of Potter fan fiction. Slash originally reigned supreme, but now femmeslash holds some sway. Most writers focus on some combination of Hermione, Ginny and Luna, but many take dramatic license with minor characters whose lesser development works to the fiction writer’s advantage.
The sexy side of fan fiction can be troublesome, especially when a sense of reality clashes with the fantasy of it all. Besides the legal aspect of using J.K. Rowling’s characters and plots, writers also face the legality of sex. Many of the popular ship characters are minors or pursue and maintain a relationship that would qualify as statutory rape. Does fantasy cover and protect these non-canonical sex lives?
BDSM and nonconsensual activity dominate a number of NC-17 slash works, especially those with darker characters. These pairings may involve rape, slavery, violence, mind- control, blood-play, mutilation, suicide, torture and bestiality. Some slash relies on the taboo draw of incest, often singling out the Weasley clan for its greatest possible pairings. Not all fans go that dark and twisted, but occasionally you’ll see even ultimate villain Voldemort apparating in slash.
Pushing these characters past the limits of normative sexual activity and gender roles emphasizes the fantasy of the fiction, the great divide between canon and fanon. Potter’s fantasy genre and Rowling’s original magical world lend themselves so well to the extremes of fan fiction. These writers use the children’s series to push the boundaries of acceptance and to explore the darkness both in Harry’s own world and in that of sex.
Potterotica may take the characters in far too deep and dark a place, but it adds an important layer of human life that Rowling must leave out in her novels: sex. At its best, fan fiction surpasses the talent of the original author herself. It can render a world entwining sex, power and magic beautifully and tragically, highlighting the artfulness of sex and its portrayal.
In this fantasy, everything—including sex—is made possible, regardless of whether the boy lives or dies.
Celebrate Harry’s coming of age with Christine at sex@dailycal.org.
The second article is from today's Scotland on Sunday and is a heck of lot less sympathetic. I'll put the relevant part of the article here.
MURDO MACLEOD (mmacleod@scotlandonsunday.com)
Slash porn
LAWYERS for the promoter of the Harry Potter films are clamping down on so-called 'slash porn' featuring the world-famous boy wizard.
It is estimated that there are more than 700 websites worldwide publishing lurid homosexual tales about the lead character in the best-selling books by JK Rowling.
Mainly penned by women, the genre has seen Harry Potter caught in flagrante with a variety of other males featured in the series.
The authors steadfastly refuse to accept that their work is pornography, claiming instead it is an art form.
But now websites used by the 'slash porn' writers are being closed down after legal warnings.
The bizarre craze started about five years ago in the United States but it has now become such a huge global problem that a decision has been made to act.
But the move to shut down the sites has not been universally welcomed.
One online contributor recently wrote: "Some Harry Potter fans have had, for a long time, those kind of fantasies about the characters.
"Slash fans are not new nor rare. I understand that it goes against some policies to publish this kind of stuff but, again, people are allowed to have their own fantasies.
"If they can't put them on this website they'll just start one of their own."
A spokesman for AOL Time Warner, which owns the film rights to Harry Potter and which has been instrumental in cracking down on 'slash porn', said they were determined to maintain their character's image.
He added that it was their "moral obligation" to act: "This is especially true in the case of indecent infringement of any icon whose target audience is children."
Okay, so first of all, "slash porn"? WTF? They've taken a page out of 6A's book, I think. And don't get me started on the homophobic and sexist tone of this article. It's so obvious that I'm just going to leave that one alone. And slash is five years old? Don't make me laugh. People have been writing slash for a long, long time.
The line about AOL Time Warner getting involved seems to jive with what people have been saying about what's going on here on LJ. This guy gets so many of the facts wrong about slash here that I'm disinclined to believe that's more than rumor, but still.
The main thing I'd like to say about this, though, is that FANDOM IS NOT MAINSTREAM. Anyone who thinks we would get a lick of sympathy from the mundane world for our shit getting TOS'd is wrong and naive -- and is also putting the rest of us in danger when doing things like writing to AGs. THIS is what people think of us, and this guy actually put it pretty mildly. Imagine if it was in a big paper in the southern US?
I'm all for being out within the fandom, because people who are just as geeky about the fandom as me really have no place to judge my ways of participating. But outside of fandom, we are freaks, people. And in the eyes of many, we are dangerous freaks. I'm not happy about it, but I'm content to stay underground and quiet if it means I can keep practicing my favorite hobby.
The first is from The Daily Californian last July and probably not new to many of you. It's actually pretty fair to slash, though I have to say I object to her exclusion of fen from "normal people with real jobs". Oh, please. But still, I think the fact that it was written by the paper's regular sex columnist says a lot about its fairness.
Edit: I've been told this is actually the campus newspaper of UC-Berkeley. I was confusing it with something else, heh.
CHRISTINE BORDEN
The Slash That Lives
Monday, July, 23rd, 2007
While normal people unlike myself and people with real jobs still trundle through the seventh Harry Potter book, hundreds of hungry shippers will find new ways to disrobe, arouse and utterly debauch Harry and Co. Trust me, this started way before Daniel Radcliffe revealed his hunky hunk of burning love to the eager audience of “Equus.”
No, for years Harry has been more than platonic friends with Hermione, has fooled around with Draco and even has found himself in the arms of Snape. And that’s not even considering his orgy of friends.
Missing out on all this sex? Harry Potter fan fiction, if you know where to find it, thrives with a strong fan base and numerous contributions and yes, plenty of raunch. Hedwig, I don’t think we’re in the canon anymore.
FictionAlley.org is the largest realm of Potter fan fiction, and here you’ll find all the Potterotica you could crave (along the other pretty normal, not-so-dirty spinoffs). Ship—that is, the pairing off of characters into relationships—rules supreme on this site. Not everything is sexually explicit, but the NC-17 and R stuff draws a crowd.
Many authors of fan fiction, especially slash (homosexual male pairing), are female. They write themselves out of their smut, but that’s not to say that a fangirl won’t go all wibbly for the next Harry/Draco drama. For women, slash doesn’t exclude them or eliminate their arousal. Instead, much like a heterosexual male obsession with girl-on-girl, slash gives double the muscles, double the longing looks and double the quivering … wands.
Slash writers transfigure their male characters to be more feminized in their behavior and feelings. Rather than being exclusively male, slash characters embody both genders and act unlike their heterosexual counterparts in the canon. In a nutshell, they’re the best of both fantasy worlds. Slash, however, is not exclusively male. Femmeslash features girl-on-girl action, but again much of the fanbase is female. The genre originally thrived within a lesbian audience, like the fans of “Xena: Warrior Princess.”
But femmeslash didn’t catch on during the infant years of Potter fan fiction. Slash originally reigned supreme, but now femmeslash holds some sway. Most writers focus on some combination of Hermione, Ginny and Luna, but many take dramatic license with minor characters whose lesser development works to the fiction writer’s advantage.
The sexy side of fan fiction can be troublesome, especially when a sense of reality clashes with the fantasy of it all. Besides the legal aspect of using J.K. Rowling’s characters and plots, writers also face the legality of sex. Many of the popular ship characters are minors or pursue and maintain a relationship that would qualify as statutory rape. Does fantasy cover and protect these non-canonical sex lives?
BDSM and nonconsensual activity dominate a number of NC-17 slash works, especially those with darker characters. These pairings may involve rape, slavery, violence, mind- control, blood-play, mutilation, suicide, torture and bestiality. Some slash relies on the taboo draw of incest, often singling out the Weasley clan for its greatest possible pairings. Not all fans go that dark and twisted, but occasionally you’ll see even ultimate villain Voldemort apparating in slash.
Pushing these characters past the limits of normative sexual activity and gender roles emphasizes the fantasy of the fiction, the great divide between canon and fanon. Potter’s fantasy genre and Rowling’s original magical world lend themselves so well to the extremes of fan fiction. These writers use the children’s series to push the boundaries of acceptance and to explore the darkness both in Harry’s own world and in that of sex.
Potterotica may take the characters in far too deep and dark a place, but it adds an important layer of human life that Rowling must leave out in her novels: sex. At its best, fan fiction surpasses the talent of the original author herself. It can render a world entwining sex, power and magic beautifully and tragically, highlighting the artfulness of sex and its portrayal.
In this fantasy, everything—including sex—is made possible, regardless of whether the boy lives or dies.
Celebrate Harry’s coming of age with Christine at sex@dailycal.org.
The second article is from today's Scotland on Sunday and is a heck of lot less sympathetic. I'll put the relevant part of the article here.
MURDO MACLEOD (mmacleod@scotlandonsunday.com)
Slash porn
LAWYERS for the promoter of the Harry Potter films are clamping down on so-called 'slash porn' featuring the world-famous boy wizard.
It is estimated that there are more than 700 websites worldwide publishing lurid homosexual tales about the lead character in the best-selling books by JK Rowling.
Mainly penned by women, the genre has seen Harry Potter caught in flagrante with a variety of other males featured in the series.
The authors steadfastly refuse to accept that their work is pornography, claiming instead it is an art form.
But now websites used by the 'slash porn' writers are being closed down after legal warnings.
The bizarre craze started about five years ago in the United States but it has now become such a huge global problem that a decision has been made to act.
But the move to shut down the sites has not been universally welcomed.
One online contributor recently wrote: "Some Harry Potter fans have had, for a long time, those kind of fantasies about the characters.
"Slash fans are not new nor rare. I understand that it goes against some policies to publish this kind of stuff but, again, people are allowed to have their own fantasies.
"If they can't put them on this website they'll just start one of their own."
A spokesman for AOL Time Warner, which owns the film rights to Harry Potter and which has been instrumental in cracking down on 'slash porn', said they were determined to maintain their character's image.
He added that it was their "moral obligation" to act: "This is especially true in the case of indecent infringement of any icon whose target audience is children."
Okay, so first of all, "slash porn"? WTF? They've taken a page out of 6A's book, I think. And don't get me started on the homophobic and sexist tone of this article. It's so obvious that I'm just going to leave that one alone. And slash is five years old? Don't make me laugh. People have been writing slash for a long, long time.
The line about AOL Time Warner getting involved seems to jive with what people have been saying about what's going on here on LJ. This guy gets so many of the facts wrong about slash here that I'm disinclined to believe that's more than rumor, but still.
The main thing I'd like to say about this, though, is that FANDOM IS NOT MAINSTREAM. Anyone who thinks we would get a lick of sympathy from the mundane world for our shit getting TOS'd is wrong and naive -- and is also putting the rest of us in danger when doing things like writing to AGs. THIS is what people think of us, and this guy actually put it pretty mildly. Imagine if it was in a big paper in the southern US?
I'm all for being out within the fandom, because people who are just as geeky about the fandom as me really have no place to judge my ways of participating. But outside of fandom, we are freaks, people. And in the eyes of many, we are dangerous freaks. I'm not happy about it, but I'm content to stay underground and quiet if it means I can keep practicing my favorite hobby.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-08-20 03:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-21 05:12 am (UTC)yes I saw comments like this on FF.net in user profiles but the removing of NC-17 fics happened before I started reading things there (actually, before I even started reading fanfic at all).