None of us have. And to some extent I think it is unproductive worrying about it, because it's not a nut we're going to crack. Still, it's an interesting topic to those of us whom... it... interests. (Hm. Tautologies ftw.)
And maybe I'm wrong and there isn't any unity. In the vast collection of one-woman's-squick-is-another-woman's-kink Venn diagram circles we call slash, maybe there is no central point of overlap.
The point about women's sexuality being evil in mainstream culture is interesting. Developing an aversion to women in my (at least fanfic) reading kind of makes me feel complicit in the stigmatization, but I can't help what I like!
My feelings about power dynamics are odd. I like equals, and I like relationships where they are not necessarily equals but where they are better than each other in different arenas (e.g. Rodney's smarter but John is stronger, etc.) I also like it when the presumed weaker partner dominates the stronger (Blair topping Jim, for example), so you'd think I'd like strong women with weak men. And I do, to the extent that I like het at all. But I require such a strong woman and such a weak man before I'll even go near it, that it's just easier to find stuff I like in slash. Besides, something which I like in slash is that the strength/weakness of the characters is NOT inherent in their gender; you have to get to know the characters as people before you figure out the dynamic.
I'll let you in on a secret: I didn't really see John/Rodney in the first few seasons of SGA either. I was into the fandom before I saw any real evidence of it on the show. That's why I like TS--the zomg eternal love is all right there on the surface; you don't have to go grasping at straws. With John and Rodney, I feel less that their relationship IS adorable, but that it would be if they had one.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2008-01-14 08:14 pm (UTC)And maybe I'm wrong and there isn't any unity. In the vast collection of one-woman's-squick-is-another-woman's-kink Venn diagram circles we call slash, maybe there is no central point of overlap.
The point about women's sexuality being evil in mainstream culture is interesting. Developing an aversion to women in my (at least fanfic) reading kind of makes me feel complicit in the stigmatization, but I can't help what I like!
My feelings about power dynamics are odd. I like equals, and I like relationships where they are not necessarily equals but where they are better than each other in different arenas (e.g. Rodney's smarter but John is stronger, etc.) I also like it when the presumed weaker partner dominates the stronger (Blair topping Jim, for example), so you'd think I'd like strong women with weak men. And I do, to the extent that I like het at all. But I require such a strong woman and such a weak man before I'll even go near it, that it's just easier to find stuff I like in slash. Besides, something which I like in slash is that the strength/weakness of the characters is NOT inherent in their gender; you have to get to know the characters as people before you figure out the dynamic.
I'll let you in on a secret: I didn't really see John/Rodney in the first few seasons of SGA either. I was into the fandom before I saw any real evidence of it on the show. That's why I like TS--the zomg eternal love is all right there on the surface; you don't have to go grasping at straws. With John and Rodney, I feel less that their relationship IS adorable, but that it would be if they had one.