A Response to Some Thoughts on Femslash

I happened to stumble across this mini-essay regarding why femslash remains to be so unpopular in fandoms, and among fandom writers, and it hasn’t left my mind ever since I read it. For days (it has since taken me MONTHS to complete this article, as I kept stepping away from it) since, I’ve been turning it over in my mind, ruminating over why so many of the arguments seemed repetitive.

I realised it’s because I’ve heard it all before.

What’s striking about the aforementioned essay is how the language and fandoms referenced date it to a certain period of pop culture history—and yet the arguments, the excuses, the defensiveness… that’s timeless.

So much of this rhetoric still permeates fandom discussions when it comes to the evergreen discourse of “why no women?” Whether it be fandom or original fiction, hobbyist writers or famous, well-acclaimed authors:

Female writers seem to have an entrenched resistance to interrogating why they gravitate towards male characters at their own counterpart’s expense. One can say:

“Well, it’s a free world and people can write what they want.”

And certainly, I am not arguing against that!

Nor am I expecting this “rebuttal” of sorts to alter any minds—I am far too jaded and weary for such idealistic fancies. It’s more that I wanted to put down my thoughts on why these arguments hold very little ground with me, and I wanted to share my dissections with the few people who consider my opinions to hold any worth.

So without further delay, let’s get into it.