Why the Femslash Gap?

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Title:	Why the Femslash Gap?
Creator:	Rachel Aparicio
Date(s):	October 18, 2015
Medium:	online
Fandom:
Topic:	Fanfiction, Femslash
External Links:	Why the Femslash Gap?, Archived version
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Why the Femslash Gap? is an article by Rachel Aparicio on the much discussed topic of Why Isn't There More Femslash.

Excerpts

The question of why m/m slash holds such a predominating and prolific place in fandom relative to f/f slash is one that has been circulating in fandom for decades, and understandably so. The disparity is quite significant, and although the gap has been decreasing a bit in recent years, “dudeslash” definitely still reigns supreme in fandom OTP rankings. So really, what gives?

This article is a tentative effort to lay out, and think through some of the potential reasons why this gap persists with such fervor. My aim is most definitely not to come to a single unilateral explanation because I do not believe there is one. Rather I am going to suggest that the femslash gap is a product of many overlapping, interlocking forces, some of them likely related to questionable fandom biases (internalized misogyny, queer female phobia), but many of them also likely about subverting and excising patriarchal cultural constructions of gender and of sexuality.

Working Theories on the Femslash Gap

1. Not as many interesting, multifaceted female characters, and fewer substantial female/female relationships to draw from in pop-culture. Fanworks are by definition derivative works, and fans are somewhat limited by the offerings of mainstream culture. Granted, fans sometimes create huge, substantial fanworks and communities around very minor characters and pairings with very little canon to work from (*cough*ClintCoulson*cough*) Therefore this cannot be a singularly definitive explanation. Nevertheless, most of the ‘top-tier’ dudeslash pairings are about main characters who typically have a lot of canon text underlying them. So women’s continuing marginalization in mainstream media probably remains a factor here.

Nancy Hartsock once suggested that feminism is “a method of approaching politics, a way of asking questions and searching for answers, rather than a set of political conclusions about the oppression of women.” I often return to this quote when I think about the question of dudeslash versus femslash and how we ought to understand gender disparities in various fandom practices. None of this is simple, or easily understood, and although the patriarchy is operational in all domains of public life, the preference for dudeslash cannot simply be reduced to the power of The Patriarchy™ given how intensely rebuked and reviled it is often is by hetero-men and mainstream culture.

We should ask questions about fandom biases of all kinds, and we should try to understand how things like sexism, misogyny, racism, certain brands of homophobia and biphobia, and ableism manifest in our subculture. We have an obligation to ask such question and to seriously consider all possible explanations. The femslash gap needs further discussion and address, unequivocally. But in pursuing this aim, I would argue it is particularly imperative to approach the question with every ounce of nuance and complexity of which we are capable, and to avidly resist the impulse to fall back on reductive, pat answers like it’s just internalized misogyny, or most women in fandom are straight and primarily attracted to men. To do that is to fail to engage with the current (and longtime) messiness of both fandom, and gendered reality. Which it to say, it is to not take the question seriously.

Comments

[MysteriousSqueakyToy]: I usually dislike having this conversation because even within progressive fandoms, it turns into accusations and finger pointing too easily. There really are multiple reasons, and this article does a surprisingly solid job at breaking them down.

I kind of fall under 4, 6 and 7, myself. I don't like writing out-of-canon het romance (and I don't find in-canon het romance all that interesting) mostly because that's the only plot female characters are often afforded. Not to mention, even in fiction there's this expectation that all women need to be social and interconnected into their group and have lots of friends whereas guys are allowed to be loners and. Yeah. It's very basic "flipping the roles" kind of shit.

6 was a new one, but yeah, it's reflective of my personal experience too. In a way, we are conditioned to try to find depth from male characters where there necessarily isn't any, because men are so, soooooo repressed. Not to mention giving men such affordances is safer in fiction -- giving men the benefit of the doubt and assuming they have depth will just lead to accusations of friendzoning and shit because most guys are fucking thirsty for someone to meet their emotional needs.

Number 1, however, is something I personally find really grating to hear. I mean, no doubt it happens, because no. 2 is (unfortunately) in effect, but.... seriously, we give so much love and put so much effort into deconstructing and reconstructing side male characters, and people who argue that we don't/can't do that to female characters with equally poorly designed stories is.... ugh. I will admit that the sheer quantity of male characters definitely plays a part in how things get shipped -- something like Supernatural is a good example of this. Shippers gon' ship, after all.

[letzan]: It surprises me to go through that whole list and not get the obvious one: If a good deal of fic revolves around sexual fantasy, then the whole enterprise is going to be biased towards characters or actors that fic writers find attractive. Although it's true that fic writers are disproportionately queer compared to the general population, there's still plenty of heterosexual women too. With dudeslash they might find both participants hot, while with femslash neither might be (subjectively) hot.

Also, honestly, the more femslash I read the more I think #1 is at play. If you do the opposite test -- take a look at canons with multiple interesting female characters with a lot of screen time, and see what their fandoms are doing with it -- lo and behold, femslash appears. Take a look at Orphan Black, Lost Girl, OUAT, Xena (seriously, how is Xena being held up as an example against femslash? Like it didn't pull its own weight?), Frozen, LoK. Or for a baby fandom in development, look at what's going on with Jessica Jones: although the titular character has relationships with two of lead male characters, who's got a plurality in fic? JJ and her super-close female BFF/adoptive sister. If there's canon gay, more's the better, which is why I don't understand the logic of #11 at all.

Yes, it's true that slashers sometimes get obsessed with minor pairings -- but that's generally after they get obsessed with the male-dominated canon in the first place. Are there really many casual MCU viewers who went, "Clint & Coulsen are amazing, let me go online and painstakingly find fic for them and them only!" More likely people get invested in the universe first, and then notice the nitty-gritty like two charismatic characters who share 5 minutes of screen time. Which brings me to a statistical addendum to #1, that there's a selection bias in terms of what canons people find appealing. People who like watching hot men do stuff are naturally going to consume media that features hot men doing stuff, while people with a love of vital female characters are going to latch on to those media as well. Some of the unconscious biases mentioned in the article (#2, #3, #8) just reinforce this tendency of people to group themselves in canons of their own choosing.

For example, let's say there's some alternative universe in which Kripke pulled his head out of his ass long enough to notice that women can repress themselves too, and Supernatural goes on the air starring two ridiculously good-looking sisters who are erotically codependent on each other, have all the mommy and daddy issues, kick monster ass every week, have all relationships outside their siblinghood -- especially the men -- go tragically wrong, are constantly being put in morally and emotionally wrenching situations, and eventually gain an equally hot sidekick who's also a woman. Such a show would be filled to the gills with femslash. It might not become a megafandom (as, again, people who are more attracted to things lead by goodlooking men fail to latch onto the show), it probably wouldn't last 11+ years (because does anyone think biases #2 and #3 and absurd sexist assumptions like #6 don't directly contribute to #1 in terms of viewership and programming?), but by God it would give Xena a run for its femslashy money.