I'm gonna have to think a bit more about this but I really, really loved a gaze which sees woman as its object from a position within a community of women, which I think actually might work equally for slash if you substitute man. [And I really don't think the sexual orientation of the reader/writer is all that relevant here, b/c straight women have long been pushed into the position of the male gaze, so I think it makes sense to suggest that we all can see objects of desire beyond our default sexual orientation, b/c ultimately they're *textual objects* (or visual at best)...I might even go so far as to say that no real penises ever show up in slash fic...phalluses at best, b/c they're bearers of symbolic power much more than actual RL men... {my spellcheck doesn't like phalluses, but it's a u declination right? not phalli??? *bg*}]
Anyway, to get back on track...I love the fact that you rebut Grace's question as to the writer's actual sex with the community argument. And frankly, at that point, it doesn't even matter if the majority of writers were 15 year old boys...the very fact that we've created this *as* a female community and the way discourses about gender circulate, makes this the relevant subject position for the gaze (unlike Nifty, which very clearly defines itself differently!)
And the fact that we're dealing within the context of a community is important for so many reasons (all of which I tried to lay out in my last essay :), but I'm just thinking of the way we look at chan, for example, and very much regard the fact that it's women writing for women, for example, to make a difference. I mean, it's like we're bringing intent in through the backdoor in contextual analysis (i.e., we're clearly not middle aged pedophiles but possible abuse survivors, etc...)
Not sure where I'm going wit this, but yes, the community is a really great way to approach this (like you didn't know i'd say that :)
no subject
Anyway, to get back on track...I love the fact that you rebut Grace's question as to the writer's actual sex with the community argument. And frankly, at that point, it doesn't even matter if the majority of writers were 15 year old boys...the very fact that we've created this *as* a female community and the way discourses about gender circulate, makes this the relevant subject position for the gaze (unlike Nifty, which very clearly defines itself differently!)
And the fact that we're dealing within the context of a community is important for so many reasons (all of which I tried to lay out in my last essay :), but I'm just thinking of the way we look at chan, for example, and very much regard the fact that it's women writing for women, for example, to make a difference. I mean, it's like we're bringing intent in through the backdoor in contextual analysis (i.e., we're clearly not middle aged pedophiles but possible abuse survivors, etc...)
Not sure where I'm going wit this, but yes, the community is a really great way to approach this (like you didn't know i'd say that :)