Somebody stop me!

[emmagrant01]

Before I hurt myself.

But seriously, I have a question. It appears that most people who participate in slash fandoms are politically liberal (or left-wing, if you prefer that term). I realize that means many different things in different countries, of course, but when I cruise my f-list, I see lots of people who support gay marriage, who oppose the war in Iraq, who oppose the Bush administration in the US, and so on. It could just be a product of who happens to be on my f-list, but I'm not sure.

So are slashers, in general, more liberal than the average person on the street? Why or why not?

If you're not liberal and are a slasher, do you feel like a minority? Do you find it difficult to express your views?

ETA: The terms "liberal" and "conservative" mean different things to different people and aren't even opposites -- it's possible to be a liberal conservative, for example. I would love to hear what the word "liberal" means to you if you're applying it to yourself, or even if you don't.

I'm also curious to hear from people who don't support gay rights and believe homosexuality is immoral, yet who read and/or write slash. I know you're out there! I'd love to hear what you think!

Comments

[versinae.livejournal.com]

I think they probably are, in general. Of course, one could be pro-gay rights but anti-abortion and in favour of the Republican economic theory (which they don't seem to be paying much attention to nowadays), vote Republican but not be 100% happy with them, and still be a nonhypocritical slasher, at least in my opinion. But I'm not sure that you'll find a whole ton of people like that.

Then again, I'm born and bred as one of those crazy "Massachusetts liberals". I moved to one of the only other places in the country that has/had for a while gay marriage (Portland, OR). (See icon!) The college I go to has the official unofficial slogan "Communism, Atheism, Free Love" stamped on all their stuff. The most conservative person my age votes Democratic barely, mostly because of the war. I don't think I'd recognize a conservative if I saw one.

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

::waves from another local::

what college, reed?

[norah.livejournal.com]

Heh, another Reedie, checking in.

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

I'm not a Reedie but I took a wild guess! :)

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

Just waving hello to you and your brilliant icon. Get your war on!

[versinae.livejournal.com]

Yupyup :)

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

::waves from Thrillsboro::

[versinae.livejournal.com]

*has no idea where that is, so spins and waves at the same time in order to wave in all directions*

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

lol washington county, Hillsboro - look West!

[versinae.livejournal.com]

*peeks out of the Bubble suspiciously*

[helens78]

Hillsboro OR? I have a couple of friends there. :) Redmond, WA. :)

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

wow you do? Small world!

[norah.livejournal.com]

Replying here because, yeah, Reed alum.

Not only is the slash community socially liberal on this issue (for the most part - there are those who get off on the idea of men fucking each other and still oppose it morally, but we won't even go there) but the Internet community in general skews more liberal. The Internet demographic is younger and more economically flush, and a bit more urban because of early high-bandwidth access issues, I think. While there's now a large conservative presence on the 'net, they're still outnumbered, and when you combine slash and internet fandom, you get a hell of a lot of pinko commie leftists.

I do suspect that if you moved away from the social issues (gay marriage, war) and into the fiscal realms (taxation, military funding, etc.) you'd start finding a lot more libertarians and conservatives.

All just guesses, though!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

the Internet community in general skews more liberal.

That's interesting, and I wouldn't have thought it would lean one way or the other, but it makes sense.

when you combine slash and internet fandom, you get a hell of a lot of pinko commie leftists.

*grins* Yay for the pinko commie leftists! :-D

I do suspect that if you moved away from the social issues ... you'd start finding a lot more libertarians and conservatives.

I'm sure that's true. But libertarians are socially liberal, generally speaking, right?

[helens78]

But libertarians are socially liberal, generally speaking, right?

That depends on how you define "socially liberal". :) Do we support gay rights? Absolutely. Social security and the welfare system? Not so much. Libertarians believe in civil liberties and the Bill of Rights (although you'll always find people of any party who don't support Thing X for whatever reason), but social programs not so much. So I feel perfectly comfortable ranting about gay rights and gay marriage, but you won't hear me talking about my feelings on Medicare or the health care industry here.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

*grins* I was hoping you'd be the one to answer that question! Thanks for the info. I'm really learning a lot from these discussions, including areas in which I'm closed-minded and need to think a bit more carefully.

[norah.livejournal.com]

Precisely...which is where they diverge from us tax-n-spend big-government bleeding-heart liberals. :)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

*boggles* I can't even fathom living in such a liberal utopia! *sighs*

[versinae.livejournal.com]

Such is life in the fine land of Portland, OR! Come visit!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I have several LJ friends nearby Portland! One of the great things about being part of fandom is that I have friends everywhere now!

[corinnethewise.livejournal.com]

I love your icon