women like slash because het romance is inherently power-slanted

and then the wimmins go write and read power-slanted slash...

then the wimmins go write and read power-slanted slash...

Exactly! I feel like a freak because the little het romance I read is very balanced, and then I'm railing at the appalling carryover of what I consider 50s morality into slash relationships.

It really saddens me at the sexism I see some women carry over into a male space, like they work at perpetuating exactly what should be easiest to leave behind (and that's without the trope of demonising the girlfriend to get to the slashy relationship).

But for all I know, the gay guys I know don't represent shit, and neither do I.

Will read arch later.

Not weighing in on the current discussion.

I just want to throw in my 2 cents for my favorite crossroads demon, the sultry second who gave Dean only a year in exchange for his brother's life.

archie's got another good rant and insights here [link]

Honestly, as far as I've been informed, some people just like doing some stuff, and that dictates what happens in bed. It doesn't have to be a big sexual politics mapping of their personality.

The gay community does tend to equate one's preferences with personality type and gender roles, however, so slash writers aren't just making it up out of nowhere.

slash writers aren't just making it up out of nowhere.

See, that's entirely what I was afraid of, that what I'd been told by friends was not representative.

Then again, not my sex life, so it shouldn't be so depressing. But now I start to suspect everyone, since it's evidently more widespread than I'd imagined, and that includes former and potential partners.

Just because Dean has well-honed maternal instincts doesn't mean he can't either top or Dom, for crying out loud.

Not at all. Of course, now I'm picturing Dean topping in a Mommie-Infantilization scene with Cas. There's a frilly apron and a diaper involved, by the way. Thanks so much for that mental image.

There's a frilly apron and a diaper involved, by the way.

MY EYES.

No mystery why Sam says yes to Lucifer and his burn-it-all-down approach in that scenario.

Anne, I loved your rec. Exactly the sort of story I love. I want them around in some form or other to enjoy and poke a little fun at their own legend.

Matt, do you have a link, or possibly breadcrumbs, to yahtzee's goodnight moon story?

I suspected switching wasn't really the norm, but my egalitarian little heart still likes the idea. I really strongly resist the notion that one's position, preferred or not, in bed dictates one's place in a relationship. I have no patience with wimpy women in romance stories. I have less patience with writers who turn either male in a gay romance into a person with no will or motivation of his own.