Why Slash? (essay by kira-nerys)

Meta
Title:	Why Slash?
Creator:	kira-nerys
Date(s):	2000
Medium:	online
Fandom:	slash
Topic:	why write and read slash? Homophobia against slash fans
External Links:	Why Slash?
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Why Slash? is a 2000 essay by kira-nerys. It was posted to kira-nerys' website Lady Kardasi's Domain.

It is accompanied by a single piece of fanart.

from the essay page, the artist may by the essay's author

The essay may have inspired its author to post 2000 Slash Questionnaire.

For some context, see Timeline of Slash Meta.

The Essay

In my opinioin, love is love, in any way it manifests itself.
And so long as nobody else gets hurt, why can't we accept it?
Why can't we embrace it?

One can wonder at the use of putting up a page with this heading on a site to which obviously only slash fen would go, but something happened to me recently that made me stop and pause. And I wanted to sort of give my take on this. Whether you agree or not is up to you, and I hope that if you aren't a slasher and read this, you'll want to discuss the subject with me. I can stand another POV than my own.

What happened to me was that a person rather close to me found out about slash, not from me, and this person probably doesn't know that I'm writing slash. This person had a rather violent and very disgusted reaction to the mere idea of slash.

I'm not really surprised by this. People in the 'real world' do tend to have negative feelings toward homosexuality in general. I suppose I can understand that people who have seen these characters in a specific way can be disturbed by the idea that they would be romantically and sexually involved in a relationship.

What bothers me isn't really that they can't see it or approve of a specific relationship between characters they know and love. To each their own. What bothered me was the instant disgust this person felt at the mere notion of homosexuality, or even the mere idea that the Star Trek characters have a libido. To me - love is love, in any way shape or form it manifests itself, and as long as it isn't hurting anyone else. I'm completely okay with it. Good luck, good riddance etc.

So, okay, they don't like slash - fine.

They don't approve of homosexuality... that's what bugs me. They're disgusted by it. But it's love. What's wrong with love between same-sex partners? Why should they even care who anyone else makes love to? Bigotry and prejudice are as dangerous as fear and suspicion. Why can't people be more open-minded about sex and love?

God, I'm as straight as they come, but Kirk's and Spock's relationship seems so right to me. More so than any other relationship, het or gay. It seems more right than any other slash couple I've 'fallen for'. More right than Garak and Bashir who were my first loves. More right than Picard and Q. More right than Jim and Blair of the Sentinel... More right than anything. Why? I don't know.

So why do I read and write slash? Someone said something very interesting somewhere. It might have been on a list I'm on, it might have been some survey I read recently or one of the articles about slash that I've run across on the internet lately. Whoever it was said something to the effect of:

"If you're straight and like one man in a sexual relationship - seeing two guys loving each other would be twice as good, right?"

This is to a tee how I feel about it. Two guys having a loving, sexual relationship is a true turn-on, that's for sure. I love men, and the dynamics between Kirk and Spock are as powerful as between any other of the great historical lovers, like Romeo and Juliet, Rhett and Scarlet - or Tristan and Isolde or whoever.

There's genuine loyalty, friendship, trust, tenderness and love between them. I have no trouble seeing sexual desire as well, which makes them the absolutely perfect couple. Everything required in a loving relationship to fulfill mind, soul and body is there. For some reason - to me, reading about two men in this situation is a whole lot more fulfilling than reading about a man and a woman.

Why?

I've tried to answer that, but the truth is, I don't know. It just does. It fulfills me in a way that no other literature can do. It makes me laugh and cry sometimes. It is a whole lot more erotic to read slash, than anything else I've ever read. My life has changed with fanfiction, and I wouldn't want to give it up for the world.

Fan Comments

Love your comments on 'Why slash?' Couldn't agree more. I just wanted to share one of my favorite answers to that question (although I don't know who said this): 'If you like ice cream, you're gonna LOVE ice cream on top of ice cream.' Yum!

Love the color and the essay on Why Slash is brilliant and insightful. Good work and keep it up.