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

[loony-moony.livejournal.com]

Well, I could give you only my non-US-resident opinion on that matter. I am everything you just said, yes, just in my own country. What I can say is that, as a devoted slasher, I am far more involved in the fight for gay rights than the average person. I think that fantasy makes you crave for making it true. When I constantly read about couples of various gay pairings deal with issues as marriage, kids and embedding legal rights in their relationships, the more I feel how bad the situations would be for them in our reality, and I am mostly speaking about the US, although not entirely.
Also, slash fandom is basically a big online community, and when prominent and popular members are constantly posting about liberal issues (gay rights being one of them), people tend to get influenced.

My two cents. :)

[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.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I've noticed it, too. But I was a liberal long before I became a slasher. I'm convinced the issues are linked, though. I live in a "red" (read: Republican) state, where the senator who originated the bill to ban gay marriage resides. And obviously, the "red" and the "ban" are connected, at least in the USA. Unfortunately.

[cheshyre]

Great. Now I'm starting to think of a story regarding the ethics of abortion if a wizard and witch discover in utero that their child will be a squib...

[nike-victory.livejournal.com]

I'm also from Colorado and not terribly pleased with Marilyn Musgrave - which I let her know in semi-polite terms.

I was raised among Republicans but nobody really shared political views with me aside from basic education of their existance until I started college and was surrounded by considerably more liberal people.

I don't really see myself aligning with either political party. Both have things I agree and disagree with and I tend to go with whoever I think would represent me best, no matter what party. At the moment, it's not Bush. I'm also unhappy we're losing Ben Nighthorse-Campbell. I may not have always agreed with his reasoning, but he did good and was the only one that didn't insult my intelligence when I wrote letters to my representatives about the marriage amendment.

I'm not a right-winger but I play one on tv....not.

[amberleewriter.livejournal.com]

I'm what I like to term a radical reactionary. When I bother to align myself with an actual political party, I do so with the Libertarians. I am VERY right conservative about fiscal issues and VERY left on social ones. I don't find it difficult to express my views to anyone – including my very bigoted republican family members – because I'm a loud mouth that believes that it is my responsibility to push for equality and freedom for all beings as part of my self actualization. I'm cool with people disagreeing with me as long as they do it because they've thought about the situation and have a reasoned opinion. Only people that blindly follow along with something like lemmings cause me to get my dander up and then I just spend my time trying to challenge whatever they believe so they think for themselves – not because I want them to think like me. In fact, you'll often see me take BOTH sides of a issue in an argument (or the one I don't personally believe in) just to make sure that equal time gets given to all sides.

But I'm odd.

While I am socially "liberal" I do know a few people in slash/yaoi fandoms that are "conservative" in the social sense. I know people that are very religious and say that they don't support homosexuality yet roleplay homosexual characters and draw depictions of homosexual sex. These individuals, when they do express that they think homosexuality is wrong and that homosexuals shouldn't be allowed to marry, get flamed mercilessly on every board and group I'm on. It's very difficult for them to express any form of political views and they are often at odd with LJ and online friends. They have expressed to me that they feel beaten down and ridiculed for having "moral standards." They say that drawing depictions of homosexual activity between fictional characters, writing slash of fictional characters, and role playing characters that are not real has nothing to do with REAL people and REAL homosexuals. They insist that their support of erotica and slash is not in conflict with their religious beliefs that homosexuality is a sin.

I, personally, don't quite understand the logic used. I often engage these individuals in conversation to try and understand how they can reconcile their beliefs with their actions. I am still unsure how they manage it. However, I do know several people of this sort and they stalwartly stick by their art, their writing, and their insistence that homosexuality is immoral and gay marriage is wrong and against the laws of God and nature.

So, while I'm not one of these people, I can answer question two with yes, they feel like a minority online and yes they find it difficult to express their views.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

*lol* you seem to be desperately looking for a good argument?

i also can't believe you don't get it on lj. i guess you just have the right sort of friends (here)!

always was what might be called a liberal without needing a label.

[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! :)

[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!

[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]

So *that's* why the Malfoys only have one child...

[versinae.livejournal.com]

*peeks out of the Bubble suspiciously*

[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.

[kat99999.livejournal.com]

Fore warning - I probably will stop making sense about a quarter of the way through this, and I may not actually have a point. *giggle* But I was just drawn to this question <3

I think what it is, with slashers being more liberal, is not so much that slashers become liberal people, but liberal people become slashers. I don't think anybody who wasn't in support of gay rights would really deeply emerge themselves in the slash fandom, and really the people who have Livejournals are quite involved with this community, or are hoping to be. So it sort of follows that you would see that sort of support driven towards homosexuality, and therefore I think it extends to most minority groups and the support of those also.

I think people in the slash fandom are very much on the side of Free Choice and the right to make your own decisions, and that falls in with being anti-war and, really, anti-Bush. Because from what I've heard about George Bush (being English I don't know as much as I might otherwise, heh), he is so anti-choice, with regard to abortion and war and marriage rights, that he is really not the appealing choice to a liberal person. At least, that's why I dislike him so much, along with his complete one sidedness. I think this fandom tries to be very much about taking on different views and opinions, and people here want to learn. Which is ironic, because alot of the arguments that seem to happen derive from not accepting different views and opinions, and so it all gets a bit confusing.

*smirk* Man, I'm so itching to write some sort of essay. Roll on, uni, before I start analysing QAF or the HP fandom on my journal! *giggle* I don't suppose any of that made sense ;) ;) ;)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I don't know where you live, but my impression is that the average American is much more conservative than the average European. Do you think the international community of fandoms like HP has an impact on that slant to the left?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

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

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Do you think that's because of the Republican-religious right connection?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Both have things I agree and disagree with and I tend to go with whoever I think would represent me best, no matter what party.

That's a great reason to vote either way, honestly! Any thoughts on the liberal-slasher thing?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Now that would be interesting to read!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

LOL!