Femslash

Femslash (also known as "f/f slash", "femmeslash", and "saffic" [Lawrence, K. F.; Schraefel, M. C. (2006) [http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/11800/01/wbc2006KFLawrence.pdf Web Based Semantic Communities – Who, How and Why We Might Want Them in the First Place] University of Southampton. Accessed 12 August 2007.] ) is a subgenre of slash fan fiction which focuses on romantic and/or sexual relationships between female fictional characters.Lo, Malinda. (4 January 2006) [http://www.afterellen.com/Print/2006/1/fanfiction.html Fan Fiction Comes Out of the Closet] AfterEllen.com. Accessed 19 July 2007.] Typically, characters featured in femslash are heterosexual in the canon universe; however, similar fan fiction about lesbian characters are commonly labeled as femslash for convenience. [Herzing, Melissa. (April 2005) [http://etd.vcu.edu/theses/submitted/etd-05092005-125907/unrestricted/herzingmj_thesis.pdf The Internet World of Fan Fiction] Virginia Commonwealth University. Accessed 12 August 2007.] The term is generally applied only to fanworks based on Western fandoms; the nearest anime/manga equivalents are more often called yuri and shōjo-ai fanfiction. [ [http://dictionary.lunaescence.com/index.php?cat=9 Dictionary of Anime Fandom] Lunaescence. Accessed 19 July 2007.]

Terminology: Variations and Debate

A range of terms developed in different communities, including the following:

Altfic

This term arose in the "" fandom, considered the first major femslash fandom, as an abbreviated portmanteau of the words "alternate" and "fanfic", to suggest an "alternate" (i.e. subtextual) reading of the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle. It remains largely specific to "Xena" fandom.

Femslash, femmeslash, F/F slash, FS and girlslash

"Femslash", "femmeslash", "f/f slash", "FS" and "girlslash" mark out femslash as a distinct category of "slash".Fact|date=July 2007 The equivalent terms ("boyslash", "manslash" and "m/m slash" or simply just "slash") are also used, but have not fallen into equal currency.Fact|date=July 2007

affic

This term, a punning portmanteau of sapphic and fan fiction, arose as an attempt to assert the separate status of writing about women in a relationship instead of treating it as a subgenre of writing about men.Fact|date=July 2007 The term is not generally applied to all fan writings about female/female pairings but to those which are seen as demonstrating a more consciously lesbian aesthetic perspective.Fact|date=July 2007

lash

Some fans consider "slash" to refer to all same-sex pairings, not simply male/male and argue that it is unnecessary to use terms which distinguish same-sex fanfiction based on the gender of characters.Fact|date=July 2007 However, many fans simply assume that slash is a male/male pairing; so, some authors simply use the term "slash", while others have more definite terms.

So far the term is mostly used for same-sex pairings. On the other hand, if the canon universe features a same-sex pairing and fanon brings one of the characters into a heterosexual pairing, then this fanon pairing could also be called a slash pairing ("sexual clash" with canon).

Yuri

Yuri is a term generally found in fanfiction about Anime or Manga, but it is spreading to other areas of fandom. Though it can be used by authors to encompass all female/female pairings, it is most likely to be found in the description of an M rated fiction.

History

Beginnings

Dani Morin wrote the first known story to involve femslash, "Kismet", which was published in the "Star Trek"-focused magazine, "Obsc’Zine", in 1977.Fact|date=July 2007 In the mid-1980s, femslash appeared again in the small "Blake’s 7" community, whose membership included Jane Carnell, Barbara Tennison, M.J. Dolan, and Bryn Lantry.Fact|date=July 2007 As fan terminology became popular in the community, these female/female stories became known as "f/f slash".Fact|date=July 2007 During the mid-to-late 1980s, some fandoms moved online in the form of university networks, Usenet, and mailing lists.Fact|date=July 2007

Early influential themes

Femslash drew inspiration from several themes derived from television programs. In 1997, "ER"s characters Kerry Weaver and Kim Legaspi developed a close relationship. "Xena: Warrior Princess" was centered on the adventures of two female heroines and was popular among the lesbian audience. "Sailor Moon" inspired a large femslash community; [Youssef, Sandra [http://yuuyami.com/luce/thesis.pdf Girls who like Boys who like Boys - Ethnography of Online Slash/Yaoi Fans] Honours Thesis for Bachelor of Arts, Mount Holyoke College, 2004.] it attracted Americans who were not steeped in eastern or Japanese fannish cultural practicesFact|date=July 2007 and helped create a larger femslash audience for anime shows that were gaining popularity in the United States, such as "Card Captor Sakura" and "Revolutionary Girl Utena". Eastern and western fandoms mixed to create a single femslash culture.Fact|date=July 2007

Increase in popularity

As attention grew, femslash material expanded into other fictional universes, and femslash became more acceptable.Fact|date=July 2007 Writers from the older fandoms migrated to new fandoms, which had well-defined female characters, more than one attractive and interesting female character, or both.Fact|date=July 2007 "Smallville", "Battlestar Galactica", "Harry Potter", "Queen of Swords", "Stargate", "South of Nowhere", "The L Word", "Bad Girls", and "Firefly" quickly gained femslash communities.Fact|date=July 2007

Evolution to the present

Free mailing list services (such as YahooGroups), archives (such as FanFiction.Net), blogs, and audio or video clips are common across fandoms, including femslash.Fact|date=July 2007 However, femslash communities have not fully embraced zines and conventions, which are common in other fandoms.Fact|date=July 2007

Also, many fanfiction writers don't consider femslash to be a serious part of fandom, and treat it with less respect than the more popular Het and Slash communities. "The International Day of Femslash" was hosted by ralst.com on July 19, 2008, as an attempt to bring femslash to the front of popular fanfiction and bring more respect to the subgenre.Fact|date=July 2008

ee also

* Fan fiction terminology
* Lesbianism in erotica
* Lesbian fiction
* Lesbian science fiction
* Yuri (term)
* Slash fiction

References

External links

* [http://www.femslashday.com International Day of Femslash] hosted by [http://www.ralst.com ralst.com]