I have some nebulous thoughts inspired by other threads (including what seem to be some unspoken assumptions about our priorities), let's see if I can articulate them...
I love getting recommendations for femslashy sources and femslash friendly fannish spaces. Femslash and femslashers are in the minority in fandom and it can be lonely sometimes, it makes sense for us to stick together and help each other out. Sharing the femslashy squee is super fun, too.
But I don't see much point in trying very hard to push other people into femslashy canons, or into creating femslash for canons they're into in an unfemslashy way, or to push themselves to create more femslash in general if they don't feel super enthusiastic about it. Encouraging people to push a little outside their comfort zone, sure, but personally I don't have a lot of choice about what I feel fannish or creatively inspired about and I get the feeling most other fans don't either.
Femslashiness in a canon and/or fandom is a major draw for me, so advertising femslashiness is more likely to make me want to try it out, but it's definitely not sufficient to guarantee my attention. And I find the assumption that people work that way annoying given that most of ""femslash fandom"" (eg live action femslash fandom) actively avoids the massive collection of video game/comic/anime etc fandoms with canon ff and lots of femslashers. Which is fair enough, you can't make yourself like video games/comics/anime, but alas I also can't make myself like The Devil Wears Prada. And even within the types of fandoms I tend to be drawn towards I can't make myself like, say, fShep/Liara even though it's the major canon f/f ship for Mass Effect.
I feel a certain solidarity with fellow femslashers and am more open minded about checking out f/f ships that don't jump out at me than f/m and m/m ships, but femslashiness does not define me as a fan. I prefer canon ships, and ensemble casts with lots of women, and speculative fiction, which means I'd rather read Dragon Age het or even slash than RPF femslash. And poking at the popular femslash fandoms on the AO3 there are lots I "should" like based on my general preferences but just...don't. That's just the way fannishness works.
So I guess I feel like pushing people towards femslash and femslashy canons (rather than just making it easier to get into) is a losing game for all concerned.
Do other people feel similarly? Or do you like being pushed to make more femslash/get into more femslashy sources etc when you wouldn't naturally? Have you had success pushing other people? Am I just misreading this talk of "pushing" and all you guys mean is "squeeing in an infectious manner"? Because I am totally down with squeeing in an infectious manner :D
The limits of "encouraging" femslash
I love getting recommendations for femslashy sources and femslash friendly fannish spaces. Femslash and femslashers are in the minority in fandom and it can be lonely sometimes, it makes sense for us to stick together and help each other out. Sharing the femslashy squee is super fun, too.
But I don't see much point in trying very hard to push other people into femslashy canons, or into creating femslash for canons they're into in an unfemslashy way, or to push themselves to create more femslash in general if they don't feel super enthusiastic about it. Encouraging people to push a little outside their comfort zone, sure, but personally I don't have a lot of choice about what I feel fannish or creatively inspired about and I get the feeling most other fans don't either.
Femslashiness in a canon and/or fandom is a major draw for me, so advertising femslashiness is more likely to make me want to try it out, but it's definitely not sufficient to guarantee my attention. And I find the assumption that people work that way annoying given that most of ""femslash fandom"" (eg live action femslash fandom) actively avoids the massive collection of video game/comic/anime etc fandoms with canon ff and lots of femslashers. Which is fair enough, you can't make yourself like video games/comics/anime, but alas I also can't make myself like The Devil Wears Prada. And even within the types of fandoms I tend to be drawn towards I can't make myself like, say, fShep/Liara even though it's the major canon f/f ship for Mass Effect.
I feel a certain solidarity with fellow femslashers and am more open minded about checking out f/f ships that don't jump out at me than f/m and m/m ships, but femslashiness does not define me as a fan. I prefer canon ships, and ensemble casts with lots of women, and speculative fiction, which means I'd rather read Dragon Age het or even slash than RPF femslash. And poking at the popular femslash fandoms on the AO3 there are lots I "should" like based on my general preferences but just...don't. That's just the way fannishness works.
So I guess I feel like pushing people towards femslash and femslashy canons (rather than just making it easier to get into) is a losing game for all concerned.
Do other people feel similarly? Or do you like being pushed to make more femslash/get into more femslashy sources etc when you wouldn't naturally? Have you had success pushing other people? Am I just misreading this talk of "pushing" and all you guys mean is "squeeing in an infectious manner"? Because I am totally down with squeeing in an infectious manner :D