The Other Side: Writing Alternative Xena Fan Fiction from a Male Point of View
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| Title: | The Other Side: Writing Alternative Xena Fan Fiction from a Male Point of View |
| Creator: | Rooks |
| Date(s): | July 2000 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | Xena: Warrior Princess |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | The Other Side: Writing Alternative Xena Fan Fiction from a Male Point of View, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Other Side: Writing Alternative Xena Fan Fiction from a Male Point of View is an essay by Rooks.
It was posted to Whoosh! #46 in 2000.
Topics
- Dude Looks Like A Lady
- "I Heard That There Were Lesbians Here"
- The Erotic Eye
- Where The Girls Are
- "You Write Like A Girl"
- Sexual Mechanics
- It Is All About Love
- Biography
Excerpts
I have done it myself. When I have read pieces of fan fiction, whether they be alternative, general, or uber, I have drawn conclusions about the author. It is hard not to. Writing fiction can be a deeply personal venture and most authors have a tendency to put much of their own values, philosophies, and attitudes into their writing. Some stories contain events that speak to the author. Others contain characters that may be drawn from people the author has met. I like to think that during the reading of a piece of fiction the reader connects, in some small way, with the writer.
When it comes to stories involving two female characters, characters who are often portrayed as confident lesbians, then perhaps the most understandable assumption to make is that the author of the story is female. Indeed, it would seem that this is not an unreasonable assumption, considering the demographics of Xena: Warrior Princess' fan base. But there are fan fiction writers out there, bards as they are called, who are male, and who write the gamut of genres, ranging from "safe" general stories to outright, and explicit, alternative stories.
I have no idea how many men are writing Xena fan fiction. I can make a guess based on names, but these days there are many more bards than there were three or four years ago when Xena stories started appearing. There are too many for one person to track easily. More importantly, most of those bards use pen names when posting their stories, and often these pen names give no indication of that person's gender. It is a relatively simple matter to determine the gender of Melissa Good or Tim Wellman. When the bard's name is Scout, it gets a tad more difficult. Even Jamie Boughen is not crystal clear. This difficulty is compounded by the possibility that a bard may choose a generally gender-specific name that does not correspond with his or her own sex. One can only know that Melissa Good is indeed female through having seen her in person or having seen an authenticated picture.
However, the purpose of this article is not to name names. As a man who loves alternative fan fiction, I am most interested in how men fit into the fan fiction culture. There is little doubt in my mind there are more women than there are men who both read and write fan fiction, but what of those men? What is it about fan fiction, including alternative fan fiction, that those men find so appealing? Why do they write fan fiction? Why erotic fan fiction? Given that these are female characters, how, if at all, can they carry it off convincingly?
These are all questions that continually lead me to deep soul-searching. I have chatted with male bards before, gleaned their insights about writing, but I certainly cannot claim to have spoken with every man who has ever written about Xena and Gabrielle. In the end, all I have is my own experience to go on. Whether I am an unusual or typical male, I hope I will be enough to do my gender justice.
It is hard for an author to know exactly how his or her stories touch others. A man who writes alternative fan fiction can never be sure if his story is "empowering" to lesbian women who read it, or if his story has the same impact as an erotic story written by a woman. But no writer can be certain of these things, can they? At a very base level, I do not believe either men or women write for others anyway. Sex is something that every human being, regardless of preference, understands. It is something that can take two characters into areas of intimacy that they would not be otherwise able to attain. If you believe, or want to believe, that Xena and Gabrielle are in love with each other, the question of, "Why would you want to write an erotic story about these two women?" is academic.
My experience with the world of fan fiction has been unique and rewarding. I have made new friends and have definitely become a better writer, but there is more. I am gradually learning how to write erotica and what my own limits are in doing so. The first story I ever wrote contained a declaration of love, a kiss, and a fade to black. The most recent story I have written contains a fairly explicit sex scene, and the stories in between those two have sex scenes that fall somewhere in the middle. In writing two lesbian characters from a male perspective, I have challenged myself to see things from a different point of view. I have grown to understand that a piece of writing can be erotic because it is written that way, regardless of the gender of the characters. Most importantly, I have learned new things about my attitudes and myself.
I wish there were more men writing fan fiction. Not only have I seen stories written by male bards that I have found genuinely inspiring, but I believe that trying to learn and write female characters can be a very healthy way to dispel stereotypes and attitudes about "appropriate" male behavior. Is not bringing new perspectives of love and romance to the Xena/Gabrielle relationship the whole idea of fan fiction? Why not male perspectives? On the inside, Xena and Gabrielle are not so different from us, really. In any event, men can definitely understand and appreciate beautiful erotica. They can be touched by it. I hope more men choose to take up the quill along with those who already have, and join them in creating romantic stories of uncompromising wit and heart.