Treksmut (glossary term)

Synonyms:	Trekfan, Trekfic
See also:	porn, smut, explicit
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Treksmut is a term that began in roughly 1997.

The term "Treksmut," "TrekSmut," and "treksmut" should be taken in context, as some fans use it to refer to explicit sexual Trek fanworks, and some fans use it as shorthand for TrekSmut University.

Some Discussion

I will jump in cold and defend fan fiction any time. I would laugh too, and then laud the virtues of treksmut through some brilliant statement of cultural theory, perhaps along the lines of: (Marxism) Treksmut turns the capitalist power structures that control the production of cultural artifacts on their head! (queer theory) Treksmut refigures the dominant sexual norms to celebrate transgressive possibilities! (semiotics) Treksmut creates entirely new ways of structuring text and meaning! In short, fan fiction is one of the last bastions of genuine resistance to the dastardly forces of global econo-social conformity and control, whereas pro-fic is just whoring yourself out to the Man!

The word, that is. Does anyone recall who/when we started calling our stuff "Treksmut"? My brain thinks the term was coined by Ruth Gifford, but my brain may be wrong. Was there a "porn or erotica?" discussion on ASCEM or one of its predecessors that led to the use of "smut" instead? Was the term "smut" favored in some other fandom or group, and leaked into here, or did it more or less start here and leak out?

The term "Treksmut" was coined by Ruth during the discussion for the creation of ASCE, when the name alt.startrek.creative.treksmut was put forward by her as a potential way to avoid the spam problem. While the name was decided against, the term caught on to the point where the mailing list was name "Better Living through Treksmut" or BLTs.