As you know, some of my intial negative reaction to some m/m was a lot more intense than 'meh.' Or perhaps better put, as I kept reading m/m in more and more fandoms, seeking the powerful response so many fen described, rather than the 'meh' I was feeling, I turned to some of my oldest favorite stories, which are huge arenas of m/m fic - Hornblower and LOTR, and I got the powerful response. Only, to my utter shock and dismay - it was almost wholly negative.
It took me quite a while to work through all that.
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.
Oh yes - I very definitely have felt, and continue to feel this way. Thus, this post, for example. *g*
I also really like the colorblind metaphor, it really captures some of my first responses to the m/m squeeing I found, once I ventured outside LFN.
I've certainly trained myself to be open to the m/m slashy vibes, and I can see now in many of the canon sources, where the m/m writers/fen are coming from. I don't *feel* it - but I do see it.
Re: Wow. A lot to chew on.
It took me quite a while to work through all that.
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.
Oh yes - I very definitely have felt, and continue to feel this way. Thus, this post, for example. *g*
I also really like the colorblind metaphor, it really captures some of my first responses to the m/m squeeing I found, once I ventured outside LFN.
I've certainly trained myself to be open to the m/m slashy vibes, and I can see now in many of the canon sources, where the m/m writers/fen are coming from. I don't *feel* it - but I do see it.