Less normative Sex in Fic

[citrus_java]

You know, I learn so much from slash about sex, and related issues. It's really great. It seriously improved my life, and sent me exploring such wonderful and interesting places. I love it. It should be taken with a grain of salt, of course, but still, plenty of good information and ideas there.

But I wish there were more fic about people who have less normative bodies. Trans bodies, all sorts of crip bodies. Fat bodies, preferably not only as a "fat can be pretty too" message, though that's a good one as well, and I have written that sort of fic myself, too.

Wish there were fic out there, enough fic for me to feel I really did know what I was doing, about things like the way hormones influence sensitivity, prostates, the way people experience desire. Fic that touches on using your weight, if you have it, your crutches, if you have them, and so forth.

I'd like to think about that as run of the mill, the way I think about things that are more common in fic.

It just struck me how *much* I know about cis-able-thin bodies from fic, and how unbelievably little I got to learn about all the different sorts of bodies - the bodies of most people in my life I have and want sex with.

Kinda feel like starting a comment meme for that, but I've never done that, and I hardly know anybody in fandom. Does anybody else wanna host something like that?


As for why it's not more widely written - I know part of the reason it isn't there is that some people don't want to write about something they don't know themselves, and I agree, that's problematic. But it's not as if we don't research sex for fic, or only write about our own experiences. And part of it is because the bodies we get to see in canon are so very normative, almost all the time. But fandom has been changing that, in so many wonderful ways.

Comments

[balder12.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see more fic with non-normative bodies too, and non-normative sexuality that's not just the soft core porn version of BDSM (not that I'm complaining).

I doubt the main problem is that people don't want to write what they don't know. If that were the issue, most slash writers wouldn't be writing m/m in the first place. I think it's more that a lot of slash is porn or romantic fantasy, so the authors cast it with people they personally find sexually attractive, which for most slashers are cis-able-thin/fit-men. Which is fine--when it comes to sexual fantasy you're into what you're into.

But there's plenty fic, even sexually explicit fic, that's not intended as porn (e.g., the difference between the total smut I've written and the sex in These Clothes, which is there primarily for character reasons). And it would be cool if more people who wrote that kind of fic took it as an opportunity to explore diverse body types. I think part of the reason they don't is that it just doesn't occur to them, and part of it is that people tend to write fic at least in part to get comments, and there's a fear that no one would read it. A fic meme is a great idea because it would plant the idea in people's heads and it promises at least some readership. I'd host it, but I don't have enough followers to get it off the ground either. The only people who'd contribute would be you, me, and maybe Counteragent. You'd have to find someone with a ton of friends, and/or maybe the mod of a major comm.

[citrusjava.livejournal.com]

and non-normative sexuality

YES.
I want that comment meme, too!

I doubt the main problem is that people don't want to write what they don't know

Oh, I didn't say it was the main reason, just a reason. I partially agree with you, re romantic fantasy, but I seriously have a problem with the "it's fine" approach - it's more complicated than that. I'm not saying people should be beating themselves or each other up over that - but it's way more complicated than just ok, imo. Touchy subject. Regardless, I disagree that it's necessarily what slashers are attracted to. I'm attracted to a way larger variety of people than who's in slash, for sure. Had there been more of a variety to choose from, my reading habits may have been very different.

IMO it's more about what's on TV. Most everyone on TV has similar bodies, you know the drill. And if I want to read or write a character as interesting and complex as Dean, a character as deeply explored, which means a character I'm as emotionally attached to as him, I'm not gonna find any whose bodies are very different from his.


the sex in These Clothes, which is there primarily for character reasons

So lovely <3

I think part of the reason they don't is that it just doesn't occur to them

Agreed.

I'd host it, but I don't have enough followers to get it off the ground either

<3

Hey, aren't there communities that promote challenges and such things? I don't think I know any, but I's subscribe to that!

[winged-kame.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean about fic being really informative and enlightening sometimes. Sometimes they get a lot wrong, but even when they get it wrong it can expose you to a new idea still. I know reading and writing fics has really helped me realize what I am interested in sexually, and reassured me I'm not alone in these desires. It's really helped my confidence approaching relationships. Fandom does do some wonderful things indeed.

[citrusjava.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. Everything you said.