You make some interesting points, but I think that our perspectives are different, because in many of my fandoms, bisexual characters seem to be more common than heterosexual or homosexual ones.
Out of curiosity, what fandoms do you write for? I have noticed that fandoms tend to vary as to whether slash is accepted or if it even exists (GI Joe fandom, last I'd looked into it, had next to no slash whereas A-Team fandom has slash in metric Huttloads).
I would be confused by this label. I interpret "slash" and "het" as describing the relationship that the story is focused on, rather than describing the characters' sexualities.
That's what several other folks have said too and on the one hand, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with the idea that a relationship between a bisexual and a monosexual of the opposite gender is 'het' while one between a bisexual and a monosexual of the same gender is 'slash' because that could be read as saying that the bisexual is straight or gay depending on who they're with...
On the other hand, a relationship between people of opposite genders is technically heterosexual even if one of the people involved is bisexual. My girlfriend and I are a homosexual pair, even though both of us are bisexual. I think part of the problem is just how damned slippery the language can be.
I disagree with this. It would be nice for bisexual characters to sometimes show that they are attracted to both genders, but I think seeing it as a requirement marks bisexuality out as something that has to be supported; it makes homosexual the default assumption in slash stories.
I'm not sure what you mean by 'supported' in this statement -- could you clarify? Because I have a response in mind but it might be complete and utter BS since I'm not sure how well I understand what you're saying.
As for the idea that homosexuality is the default assumption in slash stories, that is kind of the original premise that started the article that led to the responses that eventually led to this. Most of the time, or so it seems, when someone talks about 'slash' it is used as being synonymous with 'gay'. I read an article someone wrote about five fanfiction terms they'd like to see die and they mentioned something to the effect that slash was increasingly coming to mean 'gay' -- but how much of that was their opinion and how much of it is an accurate assessment, I don't know (and of course I can't find the damn article now).
Re: (here via metafandom)
Date: 2009-04-17 03:08 am (UTC)Out of curiosity, what fandoms do you write for? I have noticed that fandoms tend to vary as to whether slash is accepted or if it even exists (GI Joe fandom, last I'd looked into it, had next to no slash whereas A-Team fandom has slash in metric Huttloads).
I would be confused by this label. I interpret "slash" and "het" as describing the relationship that the story is focused on, rather than describing the characters' sexualities.
That's what several other folks have said too and on the one hand, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with the idea that a relationship between a bisexual and a monosexual of the opposite gender is 'het' while one between a bisexual and a monosexual of the same gender is 'slash' because that could be read as saying that the bisexual is straight or gay depending on who they're with...
On the other hand, a relationship between people of opposite genders is technically heterosexual even if one of the people involved is bisexual. My girlfriend and I are a homosexual pair, even though both of us are bisexual. I think part of the problem is just how damned slippery the language can be.
I disagree with this. It would be nice for bisexual characters to sometimes show that they are attracted to both genders, but I think seeing it as a requirement marks bisexuality out as something that has to be supported; it makes homosexual the default assumption in slash stories.
I'm not sure what you mean by 'supported' in this statement -- could you clarify? Because I have a response in mind but it might be complete and utter BS since I'm not sure how well I understand what you're saying.
As for the idea that homosexuality is the default assumption in slash stories, that is kind of the original premise that started the article that led to the responses that eventually led to this. Most of the time, or so it seems, when someone talks about 'slash' it is used as being synonymous with 'gay'. I read an article someone wrote about five fanfiction terms they'd like to see die and they mentioned something to the effect that slash was increasingly coming to mean 'gay' -- but how much of that was their opinion and how much of it is an accurate assessment, I don't know (and of course I can't find the damn article now).