Meta: The Slash Closet: Are You In or Are You Out?

[catwalksalone]

The Slash Closet: Are You In or Are You Out?
By muskratjamboree panel moderators: bluebrocade, shoemaster, and lovelokest.

The Slash Closet: it's where you hide when you're not comfortable being open about your slash habit. Maybe your friends and family are ultra-conservative or -- ick! -- homophobic. Perhaps your slash habit could cause you some professional headaches if your boss or colleagues found out. Maybe it's not the slash you're reticent to reveal; it's the explicit sex or your involvement with fandom itself. Maybe you just think your hobbies are no one's business.

We invite you to think about your slash habit. Who knows about it? Who doesn't? Why? Why not? Take our poll; read through some of the 200+ comments; then answer any or all of these questions...

1.) What's been your experience either positive or negative in telling people outside of fandom -- or having them find out on their own -- about your slash hobby?

2.) In the comments to our poll, several respondents expressed the idea that it wasn't the slash that they kept quiet about, it was fandom in general. Do you agree or disagree? Do you tell people of your involvement in fandom? Do you try to hide *the degree* of your involvement? Would you rather eat your socks then admit you read or write fanfiction?

3.) Several respondents said it's not the *slash*, it's the *sex* that they're closeted about -- i.e. they wouldn't talk about how they read/write het fic either. Do you feel the same? Is there a way to bring up slash without giving the impression that it's all about the sex (not the relationships)?

4.) Do you think the portrayal of slash in the media and/or the behavior of the more obsessive/enthusiastic fans at cons, on message boards, etc. is a factor in whether or not you choose to tell about your slash hobby?

5.) Some respondents commented that they specifically didn't tell their gay male friends because it might seem to their friends that they were turning their lifestyles into entertainment and marginalizing the struggles they endure in today's homophoboc society. Are we? Does slash help or hinder the struggle for equal treatment for homosexual and bisexual people or is it irrelevant? Should we be more open about it in order to show our support for our gay/lesbian/bisexual friends, colleagues, relatives, etc?

6.) Several respondents commented that "of course" they wouldn't discuss it at work, because it's not appropriate. Why? Because there's "sex" involved? If you think of it as a hobby (reading & writing), how is it any different than other people's hobbies -- fishing, hiking, reading biographies, watching movies, scrapbooking -- which are commonly discussed at work? Is it impossible to bring up slash without bringing up sex? Why or why not?

7.) Do you think there's a generational component? Is the under-30 crowd more accepting? Are you more likely to be open about your slash hobby if you're under 30?

Discuss.

Comments

[icarion.livejournal.com]

I too come from a very geeky community of RL friends, many of whom are even more enthusiastic about slash than I am! In fact, I think almost all the girls I know are slash readers, and some are slash writers. Of the boys, some are more comfortable with it than others. One or two claim not to understand the appeal, but no-one actually has a problem with it. If they don't get it, they just humour us when we talk about it. No-one I know is homophobic.

I think attitudes are a lot more accepting among younger people, and I have never met a group of people more open about their own deviant or bizarre sexual practices than geeks! Everyone is incredibly open and accepting of pretty much anything.

However, I do notice that attitudes change with interest and age. In my experience, young non-geeks are very accepting of homosexuality but a little bemused by fandom and slash. Older people who are accepting of homosexuality might be a bit more vehement or hostile about the idea of slash, and then when you go older still, you run into the homophobes. This of course is a huge generalisation, but it is a trend I've noticed.

As for gay men, I don't think they should be any more offended by the idea of slash fiction than straight women should be offended by straight porn, or lesbians by lesbian porn. As a bisexual girl, I'm not offended by the idea that some guys like lesbian porn, so I don't think gay men should have a problem with slash.

It does occur to me though that if more men knew that girls enjoy gay porn just like guys enjoy lesbian porn, maybe they'd be more accepting of gay men. Just a theory.