cliterature

Commentators seems to be constantly surprised and dismayed by the interest straight people have in gay and lesbian erotica.  It seems we are all meant to inhabit a tidy world where each person only lusts after one gender and the other gender is about as exciting as a coat-stand (notwithstanding that there are no doubt a few coat-stand fetishists out there)

 For example, Ashlye Tellis writes: “One of the most infuriating things about straight men is their professed interest in lesbian porn. Straight men are so assured of their place in the world, they think the frame of the lesbian porn scene is merely waiting for their entry … All these women need is a d**k, is what they argue. “

Straw man argument aside, there is a leap here from the bemusing fact that men watch women together to a very gendered all-encompassing interpretation as to why they do it.  How is it gendered?  Well, women show an equal and opposite interest in gay male erotica (e.g. slash, MM, yaoi), albeit more often in written rather than visual forms.

Does this mean they are so assured of their place in the world that they think gay men are just waiting for them and their magic c**t?  To be honest this interpretation is probably right on for a small minority who prefer voyeurism scenarios leading to MFM.  But actually the MM fandom is very diverse.  There are many explanations and most of them are probably correct for some people, but none apply universally.

And whatever the motivation might be, what is acheived by denying the legitmacy of the response (”professed interest”) or somehow denying its logic, legitimacy or moral standing.

This kind of regulation of desire didn’t play when it was done to women (e.g. Freud’s theory at clitoral arousal was ‘infantile’ and vaginal stimulation alone should suffice, not to mention all those charming theories about hysteria, frigidity and nymphomania).  Women have fought very hard to be free to have their own desires, as diverse and perverse as they please so long as nobody gets hurt.  It seems only fair that what is good for the goose should also be permitted for the gander: the freedom to choose erotica we like, without fear of slander.

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