I’m not gonna lie: I’m a fanfiction junkie and I would love to expand on our fanfiction conversation.
So first off, here’s a link to a scan from a fanzine from 1974 that claims to be the first Kirk/Spock slash fanfiction to ever be printed (1) (2). I think the history of fandom is interesting and I wanted to share this tidbit.
Second, a common theme in slash or yaoi fanfiction is the idea of a top and a bottom character (aka the dom/sub, alpha/omega, seme/uke, or however you want to call it). Within this dynamic in the stories is the masculinization of the top and the feminization of the bottom. How do you feel about this? Is it problematic? How does this feed stereotypes of queer communities?
Finally, I think I read somewhere that fanfiction communities are something like 80% female identified. Does this affect how the fanfiction community is treated in mainstream media? How does fanfiction affect how the members of the community are exploring their sexuality?
WGS 170: Queer Studies 
I think it is another way for people who see and know about fandoms to discuss and think about their sexuality. Most often it can be a way to see how other people view characters you know. It can see what people think about different sexualities when they read about how characters are interpreted as queer, straight, gay, lesbian, transgender, pansexual, asexual, etc. (I’m not forgetting any identities intentionally, I just wanted to state some that are written in fanfiction and want to prove my point.) Whenever a story becomes mainstream like a book, play/musical, movie, television show, or radio show; characters in there are open to people interpreting them when they see, read, or hear them in action. Many of these characters become favorites to people. Whenever a person is asked what their favorite part of one of these mediums is, people can state literary devices and visual elements. But a character will often make the deepest impact. They are the direct human empathetic relatability for the audience. With this relatability, people ask why the character did this action, or what motive they have. Along with their choices in action, we observe and catalogue what kind of character they are so we can understand them. Questioning about a character leads to thinking about what kind of identity they have and how this can explain who they are. This is usually assignments in English classes, and whenever we read or see a favorite story of ours we can talk or think about it. Why? Because it effects us and prompts our minds to question and understand new concepts. Also we may just like the product and want to think and talk about it with other like minded people.
I think this is what drives many to read and look at fanfiction. It is a way to interpret and understand stories and characters. (Including myself, I also read fanfiction)
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Also I remember in our lectures that female sexuality was not taken as seriously as male sexuality when people started to look at it medically. So if fanfiction communities are 80% identified, maybe this is a way that female identified people can think and look at sexuality
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I find it interesting that a largely female audience is mostly interested in the portrayal of relationships between men. I wrote a bit about this in a previous class and found that the article Beautiful, Borrowed, and Bent: “Boys’ Love” as Girls’ Love in Shôjo Manga by James Welker gave me a lot to think about. Welker talks about manga in his article but I think some of his points apply to slash fanfiction as well.
In his article James Welker discuses the versatility of the “beautiful boy”, a character that audiences can insert themselves into who can be appropriately feminine or masculine, and male or female. A character outside of both gender and sex binaries that allows readers to explore such versatility themselves. Boys love managa allows women and girls to explore their own sexuality while distancing themselves from this actuality, and thereby works as a step towards liberation from the confines of heteronormativity. I want to say that a similar phenomenon can occur with slash fanfiction (especially when so many in the slash fanfiction community consume boys love comics).
I think that for a lot of people, expression through fanfiction can allow them to work through conflicting feelings about their own sexuality. In addition to lots of fanfiction exploring gay relationships there is a large amount of writing about BDSM. Especially with dominant and submissive partners in a relationship. Most slash is written from the perspective of straight women and in our culture that equates femininity with submission I think this is what makes dom/sub relationships in slash so alluring. Slash fanfiction is a safe way, one that does not directly challenge your own identity, for girls and women to explore living outside of the norm. Allowing such concepts as desirability to be turned on its head albeit indirectly. The emphasis on relationships between men in slash fanfiction allows this largely female community to explore the male identity and challenge normative behavior. I believe that observing men being desired and experiencing desire is an example of how women in slash fanfiction communities wish for more versatility for themselves.
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