The Darker Side of Slash Fan Fiction

Academic Commentary
Title:	The Darker Side of Slash Fan Fiction: Essays on Power, Consent and the Body
Commentator:	Ashton Spacey (editor), Lýsa Westberg Gabriel, Ágnes Zsila, Zsolt Demetrovics, Divya Garg, Cait Coker, Rukmini Pande, Laura Campillo Arnaiz, Jesse Ashman, Samantha Close, Cynthia Wang, Charity A. Fowler, Milena Popova
Date(s):	2018
Medium:	book
Fandom:	media fandom, slash fandom
External Links:
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The Darker Side of Slash Fan Fiction: Essays on Power, Consent and the Body is a collection of essays on "darker" aspects of m/m slash. The authors discuss such topics as the treatment of consent, power dynamics, racism in fandom and heteronormativity in slash fanfiction.

Summary

"Like other forms of fan fiction, slash fiction--centered on same-sex relationships between two or more characters--is a powerful cultural dialogue. Though the genre can be socially transformative, particularly as an active feminist resistance to patriarchal ideologies, it is complex and continually evolving. This collection of new essays covers topics on real, "fringe" bodies and identities; the inscription and transgression of bodily boundaries; and the exploration of power, autonomy and personal agency. Considering the darker side of the genre, these essays discuss how systems of authority are both challenged and reiterated by the erotic imagination, and how the voices of marginalized groups are both raised and ignored within slash fiction and fan communities."

Excerpts

From the preface by Ashton Spacey:

There has been a significant and arguably disproportionate degree of interest in slash fiction, particularly in the transformative potential of the genre. While still considered a fairly taboo undertaking in and of itself, the reading and writing of slash fiction is becoming increasingly celebrated as an active feminist resistance to harmful patriarchal ideologies and power structures. However, it is not a fully utopian genre. Within slash fiction and the interpretive communities around it, there has always been conflict, contradiction and confusion. Where fans have been exploring the deeper elements of slash fiction for years, fan studies as a discipline — which is still evolving and developing — is still only really looking at the surface.

Fan authors, community moderators and metacampaigners have worked for years to make fandom more intersectional, inclusive and kink-friendly. Their work has been instrumental in developing and moderating the safe interpretive spaces which fan communities aim to provide. However, fandom is comprised of members with vastly different cultural assumptions and individual reading positions, all co-existing within shared communities. Dissent, conflict, discussion and mediation are always ongoing, ensuring that an involvement with slash fiction and fandom in general has always been a learning process; one which results in constantly evolving discourses about the nature of slash and some of its more problematic elements. In organizing this book and learning about elements of slash fiction which i’d never even considered before, i’ve had my limited perspectives broadened. I have been introduced to debates about the ideological and interpretive conflicts within fan communities, and about the ways in which discrimination and power operate within and shape fandom’s safe spaces. With this collection, we hope to be able to contribute to ongoing conversations about slash fiction and supplement them with some new discussions about some of its less celebrated elements.

From the introduction by Ashton Spacey:

In reality, there is no such thing as a “darker side” to slash fiction; merely another side to this complex, multifaceted genre. Talking about this allegedly darker side, though, means talking about more than just the function and effect of raunchy stories. It means following metacritics in investigating the incredibly complex interplay between eroticism, representation, visibility and the structures of power. It means addressing how the erotic imaginary is constrained, how voices are silenced and how safe spaces can be shattered — and how shame and fear are weaponized to repeat restrictions and control on social and sexual expression. It means exploring how slash fiction is capable of both addressing and dismissing both real and fictional identities, sexualities and cultural behaviors. It’s about trying to understand how human needs are being gratified or unmet by engagements with fan texts, source texts, and the discussions happening within fan communities. More than anything, it is contributing to ongoing conversations which acknowledge that slash fiction as a wider genre has both progressive and regressive elements. All of these elements contribute to the incredible impact slash has, both as a form of popular literature and on our perceptions of fan communities as safe spaces to articulate our desires and our identities.

Contents

• Preface (1)
• Introduction by Ashton Spacey (5)
• Section I — Aberrant Realities: Fringe Bodies and Marginalized Identities
  • Slashing the Invisible: Bodily Autonomy in Asexual Fan Fiction by Lýsa Westberg Gabriel (25)
  • Icons of Self-Destruction: The Portrayal of Aggression and Abusive behaviors in Band Slash Fiction by Ágnes Zsila and Zsolt Demetrovics (50)
  • (Un)Sanctioned Bodies: The State-Sexuality-Disability Nexus in Captain America Slash Fan Fiction by Divya Garg (76)
  • Not So Star-Spangled: Examining Race, Privilege and Problems in MCU’s Captain America Fandom by Cait Coker and Rukmini Pande (97)
• Section II — Sexual Inscription and Bodily Boundaries
  • When the Omega Empath Met the Alpha Doctor: An Analysis of the Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics in the Hannibal Fandom by Laura Campillo Arnaiz (116)
  • Pregnancy as Bondage: Impregnating the Cisgender Man in Works of Sherlock and Merlin Slash Fiction by Jesse Ashman (140)
  • Erotic Imaginaries of Power in Fan Fiction Tropes by Samantha Close and Cynthia Wang (157)
• Section III — Power, Desire and the Erotics of Consent
  • A Bad Bromance: Betrayal, Violence and Dark Delight In Subverting the Romance Narrative by Charity A. Fowler (177)
  • Dubious Consent: The Revival of Ravishment by Ashton Spacey (200)
  • “Happy Consensual Gangbangs”: Deconstructions of Sports Cultures and Hegemonic Masculinity in Football RPF by Milena Popova (224)
• About the Contributors (245)
• Index (247)

Reactions and Reviews

This collection of essays by professional academics explores the darker sides of fanfiction. Topics addressed include the Omegaverse, the popularity of dubious consent, and “happy, consensual gangbangs.” In addition to these dark topics, other essays discuss fanfiction’s unfortunate race problem and surprising heteronormativity. The essays in this collection are rather dry, and end with pages of citations. It is definitely not light reading, but is informative if you want to learn about some of the seamier things people post on the internet. Since this is a collection of essays, I’ll only address the two that were my favorites.

Not So Star-Spangled

By Cait Coker & Rukmini Pande

Fandom has a race problem. There’s no ambiguity about it. This essay discusses the race problem in Captain America ships. Unsurprisingly, both Steve/Bucky and Steve/Tony are very popular. What’s strange is that there are so few Steve/Sam ships—even fewer than the Steve/Loki ships. Sam Wilson has attributes that are generally appealing to shippers: he is a veteran, so he has a shared background with Steve; he has war PTSD; and he and Steve have a meet-cute where they instantly bond with each other. One would expect Sam to be a fairly popular character. And yet, not only are many MCU fans uninterested in him, some outright loathe him. They even go so far as to argue that it’s obvious Sam is a secret agent of Hydra (or should be). Hydra is a white supremacist organization. Sam is not white. The authors argue that fandom’s attitude towards Sam is largely the byproduct of his race. White people are not interested in black bodies or black/mixed relationships. Most of the time, when Sam is included in stories, he’s a helper to the white characters, not someone with his own motivations. While the essay focuses on Sam Wilson, we can see this sort of attitude towards black people in other fandoms. There was a lot of anger directed at Uhura in the Star Trek reboot. Apparently, fans regarded her as a threat to their Kirk/Spock ship. And there’s what’s going on presently with John Boyega. Rey/Kylo Ren shippers are vitriolic in their attitudes towards Finn, saying that he’s a liar and doesn’t respect Rey’s bodily autonomy. They even try to argue that John Boyega has narcissistic personality disorder, and is creepy towards the actress portraying Rey. All this because Finn’s black body threatens the Rey/Kylo relationship, somehow? And why, given Finn’s interesting backstory, is the Rey/Finn ship so uncommon?

Erotic Imaginaries of Power in Fan Fiction Tropes

By Samantha Close & Cynthia Wang

There are some facts which most people know about fanfiction. First, most authors and readers are women. Second, most of the slash relationships depicted are of two men. Female fans argue that by writing M/M fiction, they are fighting against heteronormativity. But are they really? The unfortunate fact is that, despite the fans’ protestations, the queer romance they write is extremely heteronormative. For example, fan writers typically depict one man as the “dominant,” and the other man as the “submissive,” participant. This, as many gay critics have pointed out, is not an accurate representation of most gay relationships. Gay men are more like each other’s partners, sharing power and protection equally. However, the heteronormative straight relationship is of one dominant partner (the man) and one submissive partner (the woman). Fan writers are essentially forcing a template of heteronormativity on a gay relationship. And if fans are really interested in standing up to the powers that be, why are there so few femslash works? Why are there so few interracial or nonwhite relationships? The authors go into detail about a category of fanfiction known as “futanari.” In these works, one partner is a woman, and the other is a woman with a penis. To be clear, the penis-haver is not a trans woman. She is a cisgender woman who has, through magic or some other means, spontaneously grown a penis. Unsurprisingly, in the majority of futanari works, the penis-possessor is the dominant partner, and the penis-lacker is the submissive partner. Even in lesbian relationships is the phallus unavoidable as a metaphor for power. And why don’t people just write about trans women?

To make myself clear: don’t take this review, or this book, as an indictment of slash fanfiction. Slash gives people the ability to explore their sexualities and possibly socially unacceptable kinks through fiction. The problems listed above—fear of black bodies and heteronormativity—aren’t so much problems of fanfiction as they are problems of (American) society as a whole. If we want more inclusive fanfiction, people need to address their own personal prejudices before they start typing their stories.