POLL: Spot the homophobia!

[apple_pathways]

Once again, it's time to play: "What Would YOU Do?", the fantastic play-at-home webgame wherein I ask you, dear flist, to make my life choices for me.

No, I'm kidding! But I do want opinions.

I just discovered the "legacy story stats" feature at fanfiction.net, because I am WAY on top of things. (Seriously, I don't know who designed their user interface and whether or not they have a deep-seated hatred for humanity, but DAMN is it hard to navigate when you want to post a story!) This feature lets you see which communities and collections your works have been added to.

Two of my Sherlock stories have been added to a community called "Non-Slashers Unite!" which is described thusly: (copy and pasted from the comm's description)

For those of you who don't like to read slash stories then I have a place for you! NSU is your place to find all stories that a) aren't slash, b) don't have really strong/prolific language, c) any sort of explicit sex scenes—m/m, f/f, m/f—, and d) some pretty awesome Sherlock fics! If any of a-c start to appear then it will be taken off and if you awesome readers find something we missed please let us know! If you don't want your stories put into NSU then please let us know and we will remove them! Thanks!

I have thoughts:

a. I do not remember being solicited to "unite" with anyone, and am disturbed to discover I have been "united" with this community for about five months. (They added my stories back in February.)

b. I am rather offended and also discouraged to find my stories are considered to be devoid of "prolific language". Hey buddy: my stories contain hundreds, if not thousands of words! Some of them three syllables even...

c. Is this homophobia at work?

Now, before I ask for your opinions, I would mention:

I don't find the idea of excluding slash (and only slash) from an archive to be necessarily homophobic, in and of itself. For me, it has more to do with the reason slash is excluded and the attitude that accompanies the exclusion.

I can also sympathize with the comm's desire for PG fare without explicit sex or language. (Though Mrs. Hudson does call Moriarty a "son of a bitch" in one of my stories.)

As far as I can see, this comm has not made any explicit judgment of slash, LGBTQ persons or relationships--they've simply stated "this is an archive for all that is not-slash". HOWEVER, if they are operating under the pretense that slash is "gross" or "wrong" or are projecting any implications other than "it's just not my personal preference", I do not want any part of it.

With all that in mind, what do you think?

[Poll #1762536]

Any issues you want to raise, feel free to bring them up in comments. I'm especially interested to hear what people make of the general tone of this comm.

I tend to write mostly gen in the Sherlock fandom, with the odd bit of Molly/Moriarty thrown in. My stories are generally appreciated, but then I do also get a few Weirdos who think that because I write Sherlock and John as platonic friends I'm somehow morally opposed to the idea of them fucking. I'm not: I'm just not particuarly interested in reading or writing about it. I don't consider myself a Non-Slasher, but rather someone who tends to prefer other types of fic ahead of most slash fics. (The balance is rapidly shifting as regards Eleven/Rory though. But that's a whole 'nother fandom...)

Comments

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I don't know specifically if they allow het stories that aren't explicit. (You'd be hard-pressed to find any in the Sherlock fandom, anyway!) But their wording is such that they ban all slash, regardless of rating, and any type of story that contains explicit sex. That's definitely a problem.

So, should it be labeled a "Gen" community?

Most likely! Though I don't even know what to call that "Sherlock and John become the parents of twins after Sherlock drunkenly knocks up a stranger" fic...

I think they should be able to create their own space for the things they like and govern it however they choose.

I agree with you there: they can do what they like. But I don't think that excludes them from accountability. If they are intentionally excluding slash on the basis that it's icky and wrong, I think people have a right to be angry about it.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

"Sherlock and John become the parents of twins after Sherlock drunkenly knocks up a stranger" fic - i... don't know how to respond to that o_O

People absolutely have the right to be upset. But getting upset about things in fandom (and life in general) never solves anything. Talking to them and explaining why this could be perceived a certain way, and giving them the benefit of the doubt and a chance to rectify it is the best thing I can think of.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Oh definitely: when I wrote the maintainer a PM asking my stories to be removed (I discovered a third story she'd archived!) I did my best to be polite and not make assumptions about her intentions. I explained why I found it problematic and want my stories removed, and didn't make any demands about any other actions she should take.

I don't agree with her, but there's no cause to be mean!