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miss_pryssI was thinking about my post of this morning, and I got so excited I decided to rant some more.
The thing is, you can write whatever you want, and chances are, if it's Harry/Snape I'll probably read at least the first paragraph. But if you have qualms putting Snape in bed with 14-year old Harry, I'm going to skip out the second you start in with these little moral equivocations and negotiations.
A recent example was a story I read where Snape refused to allow Harry to reciprocate his sexual attentions, and it seemed clear to me that the author felt that this line she had created for Snape exonorated him of any moral ickiness associated with fucking a 14-year old. In fact, it seemed to be kind of a bonus. Snape's a fucking hero, now, for jerking Harry off and refusing to even take off his own robes while he does it.
It would have been a different story if this had been presented as a facet of Snape's attitude - a symptom of his denial or discomfort - but it was clearly a matter of authorial attitude. The author wanted to make it clear that she and Snape agreed that fucking a 14-year old is hot but hugely creepy and weird so hey, let's make it a little bit ok by imposing these bizarre and fundamentally meaningless and arbitrary restrictions on it. Fucking a 14-year old is bad - unless you don't let him touch you in return. Sounds a lot like "fucking a man is bad unless you do it in a dark alley with no protection and you can't see his face and will never talk to him again." No-one is out there proclaiming the moral high-ground of the DL... people behave in these ways in order to create some sort of method of coping with a HUGE INTERNAL CONTRADICTION.
So what I'm saying is, (and forgive me that this is taking so long and making so little sense - I'm tired AND somewhat inebriated right now) if you have moral qualms about putting Snape in bed with a young Harry, then don't do it, or do it in a way that intelligently explores the dynamics and problematic aspects of the relationship. But for God's sake, don't make up these lame rules and then pretend that that makes everything ok. Because all that does is throw the negative space into view - the fact that you clearly DON'T think it's all right, and are desperately trying to come up with some transparent way of making it seem sort of acceptable.
And come on, people. If we can't feel relaxed enough to honestly and bravely explore this kink-tastic stuff in fanfic, then where the hell *can* we?
The thing is, you can write whatever you want, and chances are, if it's Harry/Snape I'll probably read at least the first paragraph. But if you have qualms putting Snape in bed with 14-year old Harry, I'm going to skip out the second you start in with these little moral equivocations and negotiations.
A recent example was a story I read where Snape refused to allow Harry to reciprocate his sexual attentions, and it seemed clear to me that the author felt that this line she had created for Snape exonorated him of any moral ickiness associated with fucking a 14-year old. In fact, it seemed to be kind of a bonus. Snape's a fucking hero, now, for jerking Harry off and refusing to even take off his own robes while he does it.
It would have been a different story if this had been presented as a facet of Snape's attitude - a symptom of his denial or discomfort - but it was clearly a matter of authorial attitude. The author wanted to make it clear that she and Snape agreed that fucking a 14-year old is hot but hugely creepy and weird so hey, let's make it a little bit ok by imposing these bizarre and fundamentally meaningless and arbitrary restrictions on it. Fucking a 14-year old is bad - unless you don't let him touch you in return. Sounds a lot like "fucking a man is bad unless you do it in a dark alley with no protection and you can't see his face and will never talk to him again." No-one is out there proclaiming the moral high-ground of the DL... people behave in these ways in order to create some sort of method of coping with a HUGE INTERNAL CONTRADICTION.
So what I'm saying is, (and forgive me that this is taking so long and making so little sense - I'm tired AND somewhat inebriated right now) if you have moral qualms about putting Snape in bed with a young Harry, then don't do it, or do it in a way that intelligently explores the dynamics and problematic aspects of the relationship. But for God's sake, don't make up these lame rules and then pretend that that makes everything ok. Because all that does is throw the negative space into view - the fact that you clearly DON'T think it's all right, and are desperately trying to come up with some transparent way of making it seem sort of acceptable.
And come on, people. If we can't feel relaxed enough to honestly and bravely explore this kink-tastic stuff in fanfic, then where the hell *can* we?
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no subject
Date: 2004-04-29 03:36 am (UTC)well said. Thank god you're a harry/snape reader - I've been the only one I know for a while.
and since i'm tired and a little inebriated myself, i shall just say Right On and Well Said again. cheers.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-30 03:04 am (UTC)Thanks, man. And hey, who is the pretty boy in your icon?
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Date: 2004-04-29 05:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-30 03:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-29 08:54 pm (UTC)Right.
All children who have had abusive childhoods clearly know what sexual relationships are in their best interests...
no subject
Date: 2004-08-01 09:50 pm (UTC)