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Jul. 28th, 2012
Warning for Slash: the Conversation
Jul. 28th, 2012 04:52 pmThe notes: Warning for f-bombs, violence, some minor man-on-man stuff, and general [CHARACTER] being [CHARACTER].
My initial comment: I liked your story, but I felt it really off-putting that the fact that it was a same-sex pairing got warned for. As a queer person,em I have to deal with the fact that society considers my sexuality threatening; I don't want to have to face that in fandom as well.
The author's reply: Okay. I just scoured through my author's notes to see what I could have possibly said to insult you.
All I could find was the mention of "man-on-man stuff" in this chapter. I would have put that kind of warning for any quasi-sexual situation, especially one with little build-up to warn the readers, *especially* for a non-canon pairing, regardless of the sexes involved.
I got a flood of angry messages the first time I posted this story for *not* warning.
My response: Warning for "man-on-man stuff" is precisely the problem.
If you're going to warn for sex, say "this is the chapter with sexually explicit material" or something like that. Specifying that it's male/male material being warned for has some serious Unfortunate Implications, whether or not you intend it to.
The author's response: I was trying to be more specific, and the "man-on-man" was meant with a nudge and a wink, like a guy would say "girl-on-girl" action, as in "this is the fun part, but I know some of you guys aren't into that". It has nothing to do with whether being gay is "evil" or whatever, but is just a heads-up to those for whom slash isn't their cup of tea, so that they could skip that chapter if you wanted. Just because you're interested in *reading* slash does not mean you're a homophobe.
And I'm sorry you were offended, but this is fairly standard in fanfiction. Look, it sounds to me like you're reading meanings into my writing that aren't there because of whatever you might be going through in your life. I'm sorry you've had a crappy time of it and that people have treated you horribly for being gay, but that's not my fault.
I'm just trying to tell a story.I was trying to be more specific, and the "man-on-man" was meant with a nudge and a wink, like a guy would say "girl-on-girl" action, as in "this is the fun part, but I know some of you guys aren't into that". It has nothing to do with whether being gay is "evil" or whatever, but is just a heads-up to those for whom slash isn't their cup of tea, so that they could skip that chapter if you wanted. Just because you're interested in *reading* slash does not mean you're a homophobe.
And I'm sorry you were offended, but this is fairly standard in fanfiction. Look, it sounds to me like you're reading meanings into my writing that aren't there because of whatever you might be going through in your life. I'm sorry you've had a crappy time of it and that people have treated you horribly for being gay, but that's not my fault.
I'm just trying to tell a story.
My response: You may be just trying to tell a story, but when you warn for same-sex content, you are contributing to an atmosphere of homophobia.
And no, it's not standard to warn for slash. It used to be, but it is becoming less and less common as more and more people are standing up to the homophobes.
You made the decision to put that warning on your story. Whether or not you intended it to be hurtful to LGBT people, it is. Now that you've been told it's offensive, you have the choice whether to change it, or to continue to cater to homophobes.
It's up to you which side you want to be on.
My initial comment: I liked your story, but I felt it really off-putting that the fact that it was a same-sex pairing got warned for. As a queer person,em I have to deal with the fact that society considers my sexuality threatening; I don't want to have to face that in fandom as well.
The author's reply: Okay. I just scoured through my author's notes to see what I could have possibly said to insult you.
All I could find was the mention of "man-on-man stuff" in this chapter. I would have put that kind of warning for any quasi-sexual situation, especially one with little build-up to warn the readers, *especially* for a non-canon pairing, regardless of the sexes involved.
I got a flood of angry messages the first time I posted this story for *not* warning.
My response: Warning for "man-on-man stuff" is precisely the problem.
If you're going to warn for sex, say "this is the chapter with sexually explicit material" or something like that. Specifying that it's male/male material being warned for has some serious Unfortunate Implications, whether or not you intend it to.
The author's response: I was trying to be more specific, and the "man-on-man" was meant with a nudge and a wink, like a guy would say "girl-on-girl" action, as in "this is the fun part, but I know some of you guys aren't into that". It has nothing to do with whether being gay is "evil" or whatever, but is just a heads-up to those for whom slash isn't their cup of tea, so that they could skip that chapter if you wanted. Just because you're interested in *reading* slash does not mean you're a homophobe.
And I'm sorry you were offended, but this is fairly standard in fanfiction. Look, it sounds to me like you're reading meanings into my writing that aren't there because of whatever you might be going through in your life. I'm sorry you've had a crappy time of it and that people have treated you horribly for being gay, but that's not my fault.
I'm just trying to tell a story.I was trying to be more specific, and the "man-on-man" was meant with a nudge and a wink, like a guy would say "girl-on-girl" action, as in "this is the fun part, but I know some of you guys aren't into that". It has nothing to do with whether being gay is "evil" or whatever, but is just a heads-up to those for whom slash isn't their cup of tea, so that they could skip that chapter if you wanted. Just because you're interested in *reading* slash does not mean you're a homophobe.
And I'm sorry you were offended, but this is fairly standard in fanfiction. Look, it sounds to me like you're reading meanings into my writing that aren't there because of whatever you might be going through in your life. I'm sorry you've had a crappy time of it and that people have treated you horribly for being gay, but that's not my fault.
I'm just trying to tell a story.
My response: You may be just trying to tell a story, but when you warn for same-sex content, you are contributing to an atmosphere of homophobia.
And no, it's not standard to warn for slash. It used to be, but it is becoming less and less common as more and more people are standing up to the homophobes.
You made the decision to put that warning on your story. Whether or not you intended it to be hurtful to LGBT people, it is. Now that you've been told it's offensive, you have the choice whether to change it, or to continue to cater to homophobes.
It's up to you which side you want to be on.