I laughed when I saw that she'd quoted me. Granted most of what she attributed to me was paraphrased. I mean, I absolutely said that I wrote slash (and had to explain to her what slash was - she was rather... shocked), joked about the porn, and I wasn't embarrassed or ashamed of it either. (Hell, I tell my friends at home when they ask what I've been up to since 'retiring' from my former hobby, volleyball)
But in her paraphrasing, she misquoted a couple of things and got a bit of it wrong - especially the parts about people "thinking" the characters were straight, and the tendency of slashers to view characters as bi-sexual, and the biggest one - which is that Hally said the most popular slash ship was Harry/Draco but that she herself shipped Harry/Snape.
I wasn't angered or upset by the article at all¹. I was disappointed. I didn't expect her to suddenly embrace us or fandom or anything, and objectively there were a lot of things about the Con (and fandom itself) that would (and should, to be honest) raise eyebrows. Of course we know this. Or we should.
I've been to a Star Trek convention, and I've been to a sort of Con-cum-vacation/meet-up for my Trixie fandom (and we called it Trixie "Camp" since it wasn't an academic or any kind of symposium - it was fans getting together - in St. Louis when I went - to visit places the characters visited in the books), and I've organized two fannish 'meet-ups' for another fandom, both in Vegas. The term "Fandom Convention" encompasses so many different types of gatherings as it is. I've seen fans dressed up for the Trek Con, walking around NYC dressed as crew members, Klingons, Cardassians, Borg. In some ways I suppose it's no different from those who dress in their favorite sports team's colors when they go to the games, or the ones who paint their bodies and faces, or tailgate in the stadium parking lots, or plaster their bedroom walls with posters and pennants and other memorabilia that they collect.
Not that they likely see it that way, but it's absolutely the same type of human behavior - just a different medium. Only sports fanaticism is a more socially accepted form of fannish behavior from the perspective of society at large. So far.
But that attitude is changing, and the reason is because of us. Us 'middle-aged' (*cough*) women - and in other arenas such a comic cons and Doctor Who cons, and even Trek cons, men. Us run-of-the-mill, 'seemingly-normal' everyday, college educated professionals, mothers, fathers, singles, daughters, sons - people. Just the fact that more and more people attend and/or organize these conventions each year is evidence in itself. And the fact that the Observer actually paid to send someone to attend, regardless of the article is even more proof. We'll probably never be mainstream, and to be honest, I think it's better this way.
What disappointed me about her article was not so much that she condescended to our little sub-culture, but that even in her description of me and Hally:
They just seem like perfectly nice, educated, middle-class women. Who write homoerotic fiction about wizards.
there's an implication that I should be embarrassed by my fannish pursuits. That I should have been standing there, turning my head every which way, checking to make sure nobody was around before leaning forward to whisper in her ear and divulge this deep dark secret that I both write and enjoy slash. And then giggle nervously. That even the teacher she spoke to regarding the programming should have been embarrassed because JKR isn't Shakespeare or Hemingway.
Um. No. I'm not embarrassed by it. I'm not about to take out a full page ad in the local paper to announce it, but I'm not ashamed of it. This is who I am. If our culture can use sex to sell shampoo on television, I can certainly admit to being a sexual being and enjoying it. I'm not ashamed to be associated with other who do, either, nor am I embarrassed by my fannish love of the books themselves.
¹ except where she disclosed the full name of someone who specifically asked her not to.
no subject
But in her paraphrasing, she misquoted a couple of things and got a bit of it wrong - especially the parts about people "thinking" the characters were straight, and the tendency of slashers to view characters as bi-sexual, and the biggest one - which is that Hally said the most popular slash ship was Harry/Draco but that she herself shipped Harry/Snape.
I wasn't angered or upset by the article at all¹. I was disappointed. I didn't expect her to suddenly embrace us or fandom or anything, and objectively there were a lot of things about the Con (and fandom itself) that would (and should, to be honest) raise eyebrows. Of course we know this. Or we should.
I've been to a Star Trek convention, and I've been to a sort of Con-cum-vacation/meet-up for my Trixie fandom (and we called it Trixie "Camp" since it wasn't an academic or any kind of symposium - it was fans getting together - in St. Louis when I went - to visit places the characters visited in the books), and I've organized two fannish 'meet-ups' for another fandom, both in Vegas. The term "Fandom Convention" encompasses so many different types of gatherings as it is. I've seen fans dressed up for the Trek Con, walking around NYC dressed as crew members, Klingons, Cardassians, Borg. In some ways I suppose it's no different from those who dress in their favorite sports team's colors when they go to the games, or the ones who paint their bodies and faces, or tailgate in the stadium parking lots, or plaster their bedroom walls with posters and pennants and other memorabilia that they collect.
Not that they likely see it that way, but it's absolutely the same type of human behavior - just a different medium. Only sports fanaticism is a more socially accepted form of fannish behavior from the perspective of society at large. So far.
But that attitude is changing, and the reason is because of us. Us 'middle-aged' (*cough*) women - and in other arenas such a comic cons and Doctor Who cons, and even Trek cons, men. Us run-of-the-mill, 'seemingly-normal' everyday, college educated professionals, mothers, fathers, singles, daughters, sons - people. Just the fact that more and more people attend and/or organize these conventions each year is evidence in itself. And the fact that the Observer actually paid to send someone to attend, regardless of the article is even more proof. We'll probably never be mainstream, and to be honest, I think it's better this way.
What disappointed me about her article was not so much that she condescended to our little sub-culture, but that even in her description of me and Hally:
They just seem like perfectly nice, educated, middle-class women. Who write homoerotic fiction about wizards.
there's an implication that I should be embarrassed by my fannish pursuits. That I should have been standing there, turning my head every which way, checking to make sure nobody was around before leaning forward to whisper in her ear and divulge this deep dark secret that I both write and enjoy slash. And then giggle nervously. That even the teacher she spoke to regarding the programming should have been embarrassed because JKR isn't Shakespeare or Hemingway.
Um. No. I'm not embarrassed by it. I'm not about to take out a full page ad in the local paper to announce it, but I'm not ashamed of it. This is who I am. If our culture can use sex to sell shampoo on television, I can certainly admit to being a sexual being and enjoying it. I'm not ashamed to be associated with other who do, either, nor am I embarrassed by my fannish love of the books themselves.
¹ except where she disclosed the full name of someone who specifically asked her not to.