Why "just don't read it" doesn't always work
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|---|---|
| Title: | Why "just don't read it" doesn't always work |
| Creator: | Eshva |
| Date(s): | |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | not fandom specific |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | online here |
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Why "just don't read it" doesn't always work is a 2001-ish essay by Eshva.
The Essay
During discussions about readers finding particular types of stories offensive, it is often suggested that the solution is "just don't read it". This is sound advice, and I am a great fan of warnings on stories so that I can avoid the things that offend or squick me (which covers a lot of ground since I'm rather vanilla and find most BDSM pretty squicky).
However, I find the "Just don't read it" advice harder to put into practice than it sounds. Maybe I just have no willpower :) but I often seem to find myself reading stories that squick me.
I got to thinking about why this happened and came up with the following reasons:
1) The story is by an author who has written other things that I've liked a lot. So I read the story, despite the BDSM (or whatever) warning, in the hope that it won't be too extreme and I'll like it anyway. This has very occasionally happened - I stumbled across a spanking story that I actually liked this way - which encourages me to keep doing it.
2) It's a story that a lot of people recommend and rave about, or is widely discussed on a mailing list. I have great difficulty *not* reading a story that is widely regarded as a 'classic' of the fandom. In the end curiosity wins out and I read it despite the warnings, even though I know perfectly well that it'll make me miserable. Nothing much to be done about this one, I just have to work on my willpower :)
3) The list is slow on vanilla smut at the time and I'm desperate for something to read. I know I should go back and reread some of the huge pile of stories that I have saved, but I tend to slip and read whatever shows up in my mailbox.
4) It isn't clear from the warnings exactly what to expect in the story, so I start reading it thinking that it will be milder than it turns out to be. It's been my experience that it takes a while and a fair bit of reading to be able to tell from a combination of the warnings, categories, summary, title and writer just what a story is going to be like. Ratings are very little help, since nearly *all* slashy smut is NC-17.
I've occasionally found warnings which, after I've read the story, I felt were much too mild (for me, anyway). I guess the problem is that the warnings are written by authors who clearly have a very high squick threshold, but are needed and heeded by readers who are much more easily squicked.
I prefer good clear warnings about exactly what is in a story and how 'heavy' it is. I know this can act as a spoiler (which writers would rather avoid), but this can be avoided by 0/1 parts or by putting the information at the end of the story, so that those readers who want to know about the warnings can scroll down, but others won't have the story spoiled.
5) The aspect that is making me hate the story isn't something that gets a warning. For instance, I do read rape stories, so I will tend to read them despite a rape warning. But I have a serious squick reaction to a story where the rape is presented as appropriate and justifiable and this doesn't tend to get a separate warning, so there's no sure way of spotting it in advance.
Which leaves the question - why do I *continue* reading a story that I've discovered squicks me. Basically I find it difficult to stop reading something half way through. I think this is because I'm wanting some sort of resolution that allows me to cope with what was in the story - I *need* some sort of resolution. If the story provides that resolution, I may end up liking it. More often it doesn't, and I'm left wishing I'd never read it.
So that's how I've ended up reading quite a lot of stories that I hate passionately :)