How and Why does Slash Fanfiction alter the Depiction of Masculinity?

Table of contents

Introduction

1. Definition of Masculinity

2. Fanfiction
2.1 Slash Fanfiction
2.1.1 “A/B/O” and “Omegaverse”
2.1.2 “Mpreg”

3. Masculinity within the Omegaverse

4. Opinions about Slash Fanfiction

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Imagine, starting a new TV series, a new book or movie and getting to know new characters. Characters you either like, hate or cannot get enough of, no matter how frustrating and irritating they are. However, sometimes it does not matter how great or long a story is, you cannot help but feel unhappy as to how the story evolved and simply would like to change a few things here and there or switch things up. Be it different relationships, different settings or simply the ability to stop time and prevent the story from ending. This is where the world of fanfictions comes into play. Fanfiction writers often take one thing from a “fandom” (characters, settings or the storyline) and create their own universe, their own rules or their own story. While it may have started by sharing them in small circles between friends, who like the same things or simply for writing and reading them for yourself, several years ago, the internet has changed a lot by now. Nowadays, you can interact with many more people and interchange opinions and views, which is why fanfictions have become more powerful. So powerful, that fanfiction writers sometimes are even able to publish their stories as ‘real' books. Fifty Shades of Grey, which initially had been a fanfiction about the book series Twilight, is one prime example of such a phenomenon, which had not only been published as a book series but also as movies as well.

This term paper is set out to investigate the rise of fanfictions, the reasons as to why they became particularly popular among women (Cuntz-Leng 2015: 82) and what sort of circumstances and settings are used the most. However, considering these settings, this term paper will put its main focus on homosexual relationships/fanfictions, to investigate the way masculinity is depicted. Since there are many instances in which men resemble women, it raises the question if “[...] women just like writing about attractive men having sex with each other [...]” without “[...] projecting an objectifying gaze across it” (Fathallah 2017: 29). Do fanfiction writers change the image of masculinity in order to experiment and act out their sexual fantasies because it is easier and more enjoyable to write about partners, who are considered ‘equal' in terms of their sex?

In order to gather information and data, this research project will talk about the development of fanfictions, the reasons as to why they still fascinate so many people and how slash fanfiction established itself (2). Followed by that, popular fanfiction tropes like “Omegaverse” (2.1) and “Mpreg” (2.2) will be explained and the way they changed the perception of masculinity (3). Afterwards, this term paper will look at personal opinions of readers and writers about fanfiction (4), in particular slash fanfiction, in order to examine how they are perceived among a larger group of people.

1. Definition of masculinity

In the interest of analyzing the depiction of men in slash fanfiction, it is relevant to first examine the term masculinity and the way it established itself in society. Nowadays, it is widely discussed in advertisements¹ or TV-shows² in which ways masculinity can be toxic or problematic for women and men alike and how the society should be changing to remedy these consequences. But what exactly is considered to be masculine and why can it lead to problems within society?

In order to define masculinity, it is of importance to define gender and sex first. Sex describes the biological differences between men and women (McDermott 4). Gender however, is a socially constructed product, established to apply certain traits and characteristics to differentiate women and men (McDermott 4). As a consequence, masculinity is also a social construct and defined as “the characteristics that are traditionally thought to be typical of or suitable for men” (Cambridge Dictionary). These traits originated from the traditional societal sex roles and what was expected from them, e.g. male = provider (McDermott 4). Masculine individuals would be expected to be independent, aggressive, striving for competition or eager to take risks (McDermott 4). In contrast to that, traditional traits of feminine individuals would be weak, sinful (Kimmel 36) but also affectionate and sympathetic (McDermott 4). Additionally, females were expected to own up to the role of the caretaker and mother (McDermott 4).

Even if these beliefs seem simple-minded, they are still firmly established in society and are reinforced in almost every area of life. For example, the phrase “Real men do not cry” is still taught to young boys up to this day (The Guardian). The act shedding tears and thereby showing weakness is yet considered as “markers of failure” among many men and “If you cry, you lose” (The Guardian). Men, who still show some of the more feminine characteristics, are insulted, e.g. “blubbing big boy” and mocked for not being a real man (The Guardian). Many gay, bisexual or queer men also have a complicated relationship with the term masculinity and are abused by other men, have to hide their sexuality or feel less of a man compared to straight males (The Guardian). The topic of masculinity is difficult to discuss and even harder to properly define due to all these current changes in society's perception of gender. One of these deviant perceptions is represented in slash fanfictions, in which men do own characteristics that can be considered feminine or even own up to the role of a mother themselves - which will be further explained in the following chapters.

2. Fanfiction

The term fanfiction generally describes “unauthorised adaption[s] and re-writing[s] of media texts” for which the writers usually do not earn any money but share their works with others (Fathallah 9). It is quite difficult to pin-point when exactly fanfictions first occurred, since there are a variety of different opinions of what can be considered fanfiction (Cuntz-Leng 81). Some might argue that myths or different works and analyses about fiction like Faust can already be sorted into this category whereas others support the idea that it first aroused in the 1920s and 1930s (Cuntz-Leng 81). In the 30s, The Comet was the first fan oriented magazine, particularly for science-fiction lovers, that published their own stories to relief the readers of the economic crisis (Cuntz-Leng 81/2). Therefore, for many years, fanfiction was considered to be stories about existing worlds and characters written by amateur writers and published in magazines for fans, called “fanzines” (Jamison 74).

However, television series, particularly Star Trek, revolutionized the idea of fanfictions and the media fandom (Cuntz-Leng 82). Star Trek was not the first fandom³ that wrote fanfictions or involved two male characters in a close relationship; nevertheless it was the first fandom in which fanfiction was of such importance that it could preserve multiple fanzines dedicated exclusively to fanfictions (Jamison 84). Despite of associating typical “nerds” and “pale, lanky teenage boys” with the TV-series Star Trek, many housewives were very interested in watching the series and organizing small Sci-Fi clubs of female fans to talk about it together (Smith). Thus, even though official conventions and other meetings were overpopulated with male visitors in the beginning, fanfictions and writings in general have been mostly occupied by women later on (Cuntz-Leng 82). At that time the consequences of the war were still clinging to everybody's daily life and according to Dee⁴ Star Trek offered them freedom (Smith). “We were just electrified, [...] because that was not the world we were living in, and that was the world we wanted to live in” (Smith). Whilst Dee and her friends combined their passion for Star Trek and writing in order to create newsletters, Dee still emphasised that she wanted to be in the story and therefore started writing fanfiction and included herself within the fantasy world (Smith). Hence, without purpose, Dee and others thereby changed and evolved fanfiction by asking the question: What if?

But there was still a lack of possibilities to interact with a larger group of people, and therefore fanfictions and further story ideas were shared during conventions, meetings between fans or published in fanzines (Cuntz-Leng 78). The internet however, offered those new ways to connect with more people around the world and expanded communication and social networking, leading to a sudden growth of the phenomenon fanfiction (Cuntz-Leng 84).

[...]

¹ Gillette We Believe: The Best Men Can Be (14.01.2018)

² One day at a time (2017) “Outside”

³ “The fans of a particular person, team, fictional series, etc. regarded collectively as a community or subculture.” (English Oxford Living Dictionaries).

⁴ A Star Trek fan for about 50 years.