I should probably go to my own LJ and sum up my own thoughts in a more systematic way, but because I love tangents (*g*), I'll tackle one or two here.
This particular meta topic certainly seems to fascinate fandom. Including me, I confess. In part, it's because while I live in a society almost utterly saturated in sexuality, I almost never discuss it with people in real life. It took fandom to present me with a huge cross-section of women being unusually open about what interests them sexually. My reaction has beem something along the lines of, "Wow! Where the hell do I fit in here, and where am I similar to and different from everyone else?" So yeah. Posts like this are wonderful, because they're thoughtful attempts to "find one's place" as opposed to bashing someone for having different preferences.
I am, for the most part, a Gen person, in the sense that you defined "Gen" above (that is, I prefer stories that are not relationship-focused, even if they do contain romance or even explicit sex as a natural part of whatever plot is unfolding). But when it comes to relationship-fic, I, too lean toward het and f/f.
Second, when it comes to porn, I may be sufficiently unimaginative (though I don't really believe this, I just think it's the way I'm wired), but - in general - if there are not girl parts getting all wet and sticky *in the fic* generally mine don't either, metaphorically speaking, of course. ;-) There are certainly some exceptions, but as a general thing, this holds up over and over again. The identical, average, vaguely OOC BDSM situation, for example, leaves me unmoved when it features m/m, but when it's f/f has me squirming in my chair. That just is - it's not a defense or a rationale, just an observation about my preferences.
I'm still squeamish about being frank about such things, but...yes. There is a wiring issue at play, which reduces my reaction to this: m/f = hot; f/f = hot; m/m = *yawn*. I don't find m/m squicky, just completely non-erotic. I read m/m slash and can enjoy it for many reasons (the writing, the dialogue, the interactions between characters, etc.), but I have never found (and I suspect will never find) it hot. I don't know why. It's not from any lack of appreciating good-looking men, because I certainly do. I don't know what it's from -- and I confess to having been really very surprised and quite taken aback to find out just how many women (judging by fandom) *do* find it erotic. It's like suddenly finding out I'm colorblind and have spent my entire life unknowingly being unable to see the color green. I can't necessarily stop being colorblind, but it's very enlightening and quite fascinating to discover that others don't see the world the way I do.
There are other tangents I can seize on, but I'll come back later.
Wow. A lot to chew on.
This particular meta topic certainly seems to fascinate fandom. Including me, I confess. In part, it's because while I live in a society almost utterly saturated in sexuality, I almost never discuss it with people in real life. It took fandom to present me with a huge cross-section of women being unusually open about what interests them sexually. My reaction has beem something along the lines of, "Wow! Where the hell do I fit in here, and where am I similar to and different from everyone else?" So yeah. Posts like this are wonderful, because they're thoughtful attempts to "find one's place" as opposed to bashing someone for having different preferences.
I am, for the most part, a Gen person, in the sense that you defined "Gen" above (that is, I prefer stories that are not relationship-focused, even if they do contain romance or even explicit sex as a natural part of whatever plot is unfolding). But when it comes to relationship-fic, I, too lean toward het and f/f.
Second, when it comes to porn, I may be sufficiently unimaginative (though I don't really believe this, I just think it's the way I'm wired), but - in general - if there are not girl parts getting all wet and sticky *in the fic* generally mine don't either, metaphorically speaking, of course. ;-) There are certainly some exceptions, but as a general thing, this holds up over and over again. The identical, average, vaguely OOC BDSM situation, for example, leaves me unmoved when it features m/m, but when it's f/f has me squirming in my chair. That just is - it's not a defense or a rationale, just an observation about my preferences.
I'm still squeamish about being frank about such things, but...yes. There is a wiring issue at play, which reduces my reaction to this: m/f = hot; f/f = hot; m/m = *yawn*. I don't find m/m squicky, just completely non-erotic. I read m/m slash and can enjoy it for many reasons (the writing, the dialogue, the interactions between characters, etc.), but I have never found (and I suspect will never find) it hot. I don't know why. It's not from any lack of appreciating good-looking men, because I certainly do. I don't know what it's from -- and I confess to having been really very surprised and quite taken aback to find out just how many women (judging by fandom) *do* find it erotic. It's like suddenly finding out I'm colorblind and have spent my entire life unknowingly being unable to see the color green. I can't necessarily stop being colorblind, but it's very enlightening and quite fascinating to discover that others don't see the world the way I do.
There are other tangents I can seize on, but I'll come back later.