slash is not really about male homosexuality at all; rather, it is about a female fantasy of heterosexual sex acted out via ostensibly male bodies.
My basic reaction to this is, if this is so why have two men together at all? Why not read the rather abundant romance literature out there about m/f sex? The question should be rather, what is it about two men together that intrigues/titillates/turns some women on. And btw, it's apparently a LOT of women. When the LOTR rage was full on, I had people from all over the world writing to me and people translated my stories into Japanese, German, Russian, and Chinese (and btw some of these folks were men). The yaoi phenomenon has a long history in Japan.
Now, when women write about two men having sex do we interject our own experiences, thoughts, desires about it? Sure. Some writers do this more than others I think. I've read m/m slash in which you might as well have made one character male and one female because all the traditional gender roles are there. I personally don't enjoy that and prefer to write my two male characters as definitely male enjoying each other as two men might (although granted I can never know for sure what that's like).
So again, the question is why would women do this? Why fantasize about relationships that we can never actually experience due to our differing plumbing? I think the answers vary with the individuals involved and the kind of slash story we're talking about, but I do think that if we're reading a hot sexy m/m story with enjoyment, at some level it's because it turns us on.
Here are some ideas I've come up with over the years: * I think that, in general, women credit men with a more powerful sex drive, unable to control themselves to a certain extent. I think that contributes to the “hotness” of many of the sex scenes I’ve read in m/m slash and to its appeal for women. In addition (except for mpreg), a man can’t get pregnant as a consequence of this impetuousness. Does that add to the sexiness? Perhaps.
* Two gorgeous men in bed together is hotter than one. Maybe it’s the counterpart of men having a fantasy about two women in bed together. However, I think in most cases the man usually imagines sex between the women merely as prelude for him to join the encounter. I don’t think the same is true for us fantasizing about two men. Nevertheless, I would venture that we strongly identify with one or both men in the story and enjoy their relationship as we would enjoy reading about a woman having sex with a man.
* Perhaps we enjoy it because it is different and exotic.
*Two men together can, in theory, have a relationship free of stereotypic gender bias and constraint.
* Women enjoy romance. The idea of two male buddies falling into that close relationship is appealing.
*It's removed from our actual experience and that makes it more comfortable in a way. It's not like one is having a fantasy about something that could actually happen. I think this is why f/f is less popular. It might be a little too close for comfort.
* I suspect for some fanfic readers, particularly RPS, having the object of worship (the movie idol du jour) paired with another women introduces an unwanted level of jealousy and competition. Having the relationship between two men removes it from that and enables the woman to vicariously experience a sexual relationship with one or both men. Witness the desire among some fanfic groups to denigrate Orlando Bloom’s RL girlfriend and you’ll get a drift of this response. I would say a Mary Sue, where the author is clearly identified as the object of the hero's affection is a corollary to this response, i.e. it’s my alter-ego with this man, and not some fictional woman rival. Now, this last response is not exactly flattering to women, but there it is.
Sorry about all the edits. Anyway, hope that was helpful.
no subject
My basic reaction to this is, if this is so why have two men together at all? Why not read the rather abundant romance literature out there about m/f sex? The question should be rather, what is it about two men together that intrigues/titillates/turns some women on. And btw, it's apparently a LOT of women. When the LOTR rage was full on, I had people from all over the world writing to me and people translated my stories into Japanese, German, Russian, and Chinese (and btw some of these folks were men). The yaoi phenomenon has a long history in Japan.
Now, when women write about two men having sex do we interject our own experiences, thoughts, desires about it? Sure. Some writers do this more than others I think. I've read m/m slash in which you might as well have made one character male and one female because all the traditional gender roles are there. I personally don't enjoy that and prefer to write my two male characters as definitely male enjoying each other as two men might (although granted I can never know for sure what that's like).
So again, the question is why would women do this? Why fantasize about relationships that we can never actually experience due to our differing plumbing? I think the answers vary with the individuals involved and the kind of slash story we're talking about, but I do think that if we're reading a hot sexy m/m story with enjoyment, at some level it's because it turns us on.
Here are some ideas I've come up with over the years:
* I think that, in general, women credit men with a more powerful sex drive, unable to control themselves to a certain extent. I think that contributes to the “hotness” of many of the sex scenes I’ve read in m/m slash and to its appeal for women. In addition (except for mpreg), a man can’t get pregnant as a consequence of this impetuousness. Does that add to the sexiness? Perhaps.
* Two gorgeous men in bed together is hotter than one. Maybe it’s the counterpart of men having a fantasy about two women in bed together. However, I think in most cases the man usually imagines sex between the women merely as prelude for him to join the encounter. I don’t think the same is true for us fantasizing about two men. Nevertheless, I would venture that we strongly identify with one or both men in the story and enjoy their relationship as we would enjoy reading about a woman having sex with a man.
* Perhaps we enjoy it because it is different and exotic.
*Two men together can, in theory, have a relationship free of stereotypic gender bias and constraint.
* Women enjoy romance. The idea of two male buddies falling into that close relationship is appealing.
*It's removed from our actual experience and that makes it more comfortable in a way. It's not like one is having a fantasy about something that could actually happen. I think this is why f/f is less popular. It might be a little too close for comfort.
* I suspect for some fanfic readers, particularly RPS, having the object of worship (the movie idol du jour) paired with another women introduces an unwanted level of jealousy and competition. Having the relationship between two men removes it from that and enables the woman to vicariously experience a sexual relationship with one or both men. Witness the desire among some fanfic groups to denigrate Orlando Bloom’s RL girlfriend and you’ll get a drift of this response. I would say a Mary Sue, where the author is clearly identified as the object of the hero's affection is a corollary to this response, i.e. it’s my alter-ego with this man, and not some fictional woman rival. Now, this last response is not exactly flattering to women, but there it is.
Sorry about all the edits. Anyway, hope that was helpful.