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

[samantha543.livejournal.com]

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

Yes, I think that's a given. All one has to do is look around... I know that my friends list is about 90% liberal instead of about 60% found in my friends in real life. People who like writing about gay people generally support gay rights. And people who support gay rights are generally liberals...

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

I'm a conservative. Yeah, I feel like the minority. No, I don't find it difficult to express my views. I support gay rights, though, so that most likely makes things easier. However, I know someone on my friends list who a while back posted about how she was a Republican and supported gay rights, and she got called a hypocritical bigot by at least one person. Some people are just idiots who need to learn how to respect other people's beliefs.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I'm never sure if my f-list is a good sample of slashers or not, you know? My fic is occasionally political, and always NC-17, so it could be that people who are significantly more morally conservative than me wouldn't have friended me in the first place.

You say above that you're a conservative who supports gay rights. I'm assuming that your onservative bent must be economic, or something? Could you tell me more about what it's like to be a pro-gay rights conservative?

(I'm not being facetious; I'm really curious because I don't know anyone like that.)

[samantha543.livejournal.com]

I'm assuming that your conservative bent must be economic, or something? Could you tell me more about what it's like to be a pro-gay rights conservative?

Yeah, my conservative bent has a lot to do with economics, but I also agree with some of the social issues as well. Gun control, abortion, and foreign policy are some examples of issues with which I lean to the right. It's just that I happen to not be flush with them on everything, and gay rights is one of the big issues where I go leftwards. And then there are times where I take the libertarian path, such as with laws about minors accessing pornography (although I'm quite biased when it comes to that area).

Being a pro-gay rights conservative can be frustrating sometimes, because both the liberals and the conservatives seem to take issue with it, but it's all right. I've learned that keeping an open-mind and explaining my stance as calmly and rationally as possible really helps, as long as people are willing to listen.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

BTW, I edited this post to reflect the fact that the terms "liberal" and "conservative" aren't very well-defined, and I've made no overt attempt to define them for purposes of this discussion.

Thanks for responding! I'm always curious about people's reasons for choosing a path that's not mainstream, such as anti-abortion/pro-gun rights/pro-gay rights. Those issues have little to do with each other, of course, but for most people, they're part of a package.

One more question: have your views on gay rights been influenced by participation in slash communities, or were they fairly cemented before you found slash?

[shezan.livejournal.com]

As explaoined elsewhere on your journal, I'm a conservative & a slasher. I always was pretty liberal on private issues, but being a slasher certainly has increased my interest and cemented my views supporting gay rights and gay marriage.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I still need to reply to your other comments! *is drowning* If the responses here are representative in any way, it seems that there are quite a few folks like you in fandom.