Poor Slashgirl

[talktooloose]

I came out swinging at a probably sweet and innocent teen girl who just wanted to write a bit of angsty X-Men slash. One of the odious Americanized practices in the fanfic world is the necessity (as defined by the mods) of attaching movie-style ratings to your stories. It appalls me that in the relative freedom of a self-publishing world like the 'Net anyone would ape foolish economic/ideological practices like this. I mean, for Gord's sake, the whole of fanfic is technically illegal anyway!

She wrote in her warning:

PG13 for swearing and the whole m/m thing.

And I had to respond:

TTL:	Rate the swearing as you will, but there is no need to make something PG13 just for mentioning same-sex love ("the whole m/m thing" as you call it). Same-sex love is no more something to hide from children than is hetero-love. Including the kiss.
Slashgirl:	I wouldn't have written that, except that in some places I've been, you get slated for not rating slash - even discrete slash - high. I'll try to remember that I don't need to here, especially in a slash community.
TTL:	Then aren't you lucky! You get to be an activist in those communities. Do not let others tell you what an acceptable rating is for your work. Yes, they might ask you to leave the community, but you can do so having made a point. And why would you want to be part of a community that perpetuates discrimination? I'm serious about this: one way to brand queer people as evil is to equate their whole lives with sex and, therefore, something that must be hidden from children. Queer people have fully rounded lives and there is no reason that a child should not know that they live with each other, love each other, care for each other and often raise children together. I was watching a bit of a new summer reality show--My Fabulous Gay Wedding--last night and amid the fluffy preparations for the ceremony was the very real drama of one of the brides' parents working actively to help keep their grandchildren from attending their own mother's wedding. To "protect" them, you see. This is called "family values" and it's translation is "dividing families up for your own ideological power games." Rating discrete slash "high"? Fuck them.

Comments

[mofic.livejournal.com]

As I said elsewhere, I didn't think you were particularly hard on her. OTOH, I'm shocked that you, of all people, repeated her error in writing "discrete" when you meant "discreet."

Trying out my new Pyro-and-Mystique icons today...

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

*whines*

arrrrghhhhhhhh!!!!

See, painglass? I ain't perfect by a long shot!

But wait, maybe I meant "non-cretinous..."

mmmm, Pyro at around 25, I'd say. In my arc he's already amused to find himself a bestselling romance writer at that age.

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

You weren't all that hard on her, except to the degree that people sometimes take the length of a discussion as a heavy thing.

Was she writing in a general fanfic (non-slash) community? Because what I'm wondering is, is there any slash that is G rated? What a silly thing to have to even contemplate: warning people that slash might be racy. That's the POINT.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

It was a mush ficlet which gets as far as mutual admissions of love and a chaste kiss between Cyclops and Wolverine, all of which I would definitely consider "G". Unlike this. (http://www.angelfire.com/comics/mo/1/iknowwhatyouare.htm)

[painglass.livejournal.com]

You tell her. I'm often ashamed that I don't speak out more often. I think a part of me fears reprisals despite my outter bravo. I hope this girl takes what you had to say to heart, as its important and truthful. If more people saw and heard and read about homosexuality, they'd be less scared and [hopefully] less discriminating as a result. Bravo to you!