K/S: Freedom of the Press?
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| Title: | K/S: Freedom of the Press? |
| Creator: | Alexis Fegan Black |
| Date(s): | August 1986 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
K/S: Freedom of the Press? is a 1986 essay by Alexis Fegan Black.
It was printed in Naked Times #11, and is a response to an article about K/S fanworks that had recently appeared in a mainstream press article.
Some Topics Discussed
- fandom and visibility
- Star Trek: TOS
- fanworks
- slash
- fandom and the underground
- the article Sigh-Fi
- "think of the children"
The Essay
The article [ Sigh-Fi ] appeared in the August 22-28, 1986 issue of L.A. WEEKLY — a weekly "entertainment" magazine published in Los Angeles and read by several thousand people, maybe several hundred thousand.
It is the opinion of the NAKED TIMES editorial staff (and the editor in particular!) that K/S is not necessarily a "freedom" of the press. Essentially, K/S editors and readers make every effort to be as discreet as possible, and to avoid unnecessarily shocking the neighbors, the priest, and (ghods forbid), "The Children". Obviously, the publishers of L.A. Weekly gave little or no consideration to that discretion when they published this article with the accompanying illustration. While the article itself is as inoffensive as it can be, I am wondering if you feel as offended by its publication as I do?
The article, as you will see, attempts to "explain" the K/S phenomena while obviously trying not to offend anyone. In the end, I think it offends everyone — and I fear, we can look forward to lots of "bad press" in the future. My question is this: What can be done to insure that K/S remains in the hands of the readers — those who understand it, appreciate it and have the good sense not to flash it about in front of The Children? How long will it be before Phil Donahue or David Letterman hosts a special on us? And, if this type of thing starts appearing widely in the press, how long will it be before Paramount tries to take some type of action?
If you feel as I do, I hope you will take the time to drop a letter to the publisher of L.A. WEEKLY, giving them your views on the matter of "freedom of the press", and how far it should extend. Keep in mind that this publication appears in Los Angeles — where it is certainly seen by Paramount executives and STAR TREK personalities alike. In essence, we have been "wronged" here — for it is certainly the K/S editors, publishers and readers who will take the brunt of criti ism while the major publications such as L.A. WEEKLY sit back and laugh. We are the ones who will inevitably suffer because of the blatant indiscretion of others. I, for one, would like to try to do something before it's too late. So... if you see an unscrupulous dealer at a convention displaying a K/S zine openly (as we have seen many times at recent cons), you might try to nicely (or not so nicely...) bring up the matter of Discretion And The Children. There are apparently a lot of indiscreet individuals out there who find great pleasure in "exposing" K/S. I don't need to name them. And it is apparently up to us to do whatever we can to maintain discretion. A.F.B.