(no subject)

[bubosquared]

So the topic of age, and lack thereof, is apparently once again a hot topic (heh) in fandom. Or it is in my nook of it, anyway. I figured I might as well throw in my €0.02.

I'm looking at the subject of underagers on slash lists mostly from a listmom point of view, because I was two years over the legal age for reading smut here in Belgium. I couldn't/didn't join any lists before I was actually (well, nearly) eighteen, because I didn't want to lie. I just always thought of that as one of these pesky thing about being Belgian when the majority of the rest of fandom lives in the USA, where age laws are ridiculously strict.

So when I started RareSlash, at the whopping age of eighteen and three months, the age thing was really the only rule I consciously thought about and consciously instated. No age statements. Ever, at all. People could be on the list and "admit" to being underage without repercussions from me.

And I've done that on all my lists, always. I've had people warn me, meaning to protect me, I'm sure, that opening up a list like SlashArt to underagers was asking for trouble. (Consequently, when I turned it over to new management, it became an age-closed list. That hurt.) I know I probably am asking for trouble, but it's been nearly three years now, and we're still doing fine on both RareSlash and RS-X, both of whom have no age restriction, and have (had) underaged listmods and, in the case of Rareslash, an underage archivist.

I know I'm risking something, but I'm risking possibly even more with RS-X, and femgeeks, and the whole RPS thing. I'm taking that risk, small as I think it is, because this is something I believe in. I believe that age is irrelevant. I believe that there are twelve-year-olds who are mature enough to discuss subjects such as fisting, water sports, and BDSM, and that there's thirty-year-olds whose reaction to those subjects is "Ew! Gross! You're a pervert and need to be shut up for mentioning that!"

Age is nothing but a number, as us Timbertrickers say. ;D

Which brings us to the other age thing, the subject of underage characters in slash. Now, to be honest, I'm a bit ambivalent about this. Stories where both characters are underage (or at least alike in age) don't bother me. Kids have sex in real life, so there's no reason why they shouldn't have it in fiction, and also, not all slash is smut. Stories where there's a large age difference tend to bother the social worker in me, but I have that with all stories about power imbalances.

More importantly, the fact remains that it's fiction, no matter how bothered you are or aren't by it. No actual children were harmed in the writing of this story. And writing chanslash does not make the writer a pedophile who will go out and abuse a child, any more than the writer of a rapefic is likely to go out and molest someone.

And that's my soapbox for the day.

Comments

[sunshinegirl.livejournal.com]

And once again you say exactly what I'm thinking. :)

[versaphile.livejournal.com]

I was only 15 when I started reading slash, though I only had to ignore all the "You must be of X age to read this" text (which was actually pretty rare at the time) as back then everything was posted to web sites and usenet groups, not mailing lists with moderators. I also believe that the whole business of age is irrelevant; reading Mulder/Krycek slash whilst under 18 certainly didn't rot my brain or turn be into a twisted sociopath.

I understand the ostensible reasons for all the disclaimers and restrictions on slash, but I don't think they're anything but a legal safeguard. And I wonder just how much actual worth they would have in court?

[ex-anahata825.livejournal.com]

You rule, Melle.

Go you. :P

Just wanted to say that ..

[misswhiplash63.livejournal.com]

.. i really admire you for having the policies that you do concerning age and stuff. It makes me so sick to see all those lists where the mods are so paraniod about being caught that they've banned nearly everything and made a load of age restrictions. Thanks for not being one of them!

Right on!

[caribbeanblue.livejournal.com]

I agree completely - in my journeys, I have encountered plenty of fic that was otherwise inappropriate for my age group. Am I scarred for life? No! I've been watching the debate on the LOTR_RPS group... *sigh* Suffice it to say that there are quite a few adults out there making assumptions that have little or no basis in reality.

Wish I could speak out anywhere else, but I can't really, so... go you!

Kip

[sonatine.livejournal.com]

I have never figured out what the big hullyboo was. I started reading slash when I was 14. I've had friends who have been reading slash since they were 12. If anything, it was those damn Mulder/Scully smutfics that scarred me, not the slash. ^.^ Besides, I've never known anybody who really gave their true ages on the slashlists anyhow. More power to you Melle, and we'll call in the ACLU if anybody complains. *g*