OTW Fannews: Defending Porn | Organization for Transformative Works

graphic by James Baxter featuring two men kissing

io9 shared a slam poem by Brenna Twohy to explain why people love erotic fanfic. “Twohy’s message here is a clear and powerful one as she juxtaposes Harry Potter-themed pornography with more mainstream pornography—and how important (and valuable) it is to many consumers of erotic fan fiction that the sex is just one part of a larger story and that they know the personalities, names, and faces behind the genitals.”
Carolyn Cox at The Mary Sue reviewed porn parodies of Doctor Who and more. “From what I’ve seen of Woodrocket, their adult films do have some similarity to slashfic in that the writers are cognizant of a fandom’s politics and pet peeves. That’s not always the case for porn parodies…there are a lot of ways to get your rocks off on this strange little world of ours, and if any of those ways for you involve certain characters or pop culture entitties (halp!), Wood Rocket likely won’t offend your politics or your fan sensibilities.”
Hollywood may already be taking note of what The Telegraph discusses about women’s interest in gay porn. “That ability to connect seems vital to the legion of women engaging with gay porn. Because they’re not just watching it. They’re writing it, talking about it – and even directing it. Dore, who has been directing porn for ten years and calls herself a feminist, identifies this new confidence in women’s porn-viewing habits as political…“Women have a right to explore their sexuality in the same way that men do,” she adds… But, it’s important to consider whether we’re just turning the male gaze in on itself. Are women becoming the oppressor instead of the oppressed? Are we just fetishising another marginalised community?”

How is erotica used in your fandom? Write about it in Fanlore! Contributions are welcome from all fans.

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Gowan commented: I don't believe porn needs to be defended. There is too much defense of porn going on to begin with. It is important to differentiate between pornography (which literally means "depictions of prostitutes"), and erotica. Pornography all too often means that rape is filmed, whether it's "rape-rape" or just the exploitation of survivors of childhood sexual abuse, exploitation of women who need the money, et cetera. Erotic literature and fanfiction on the other hand, hurts no one who is involved in the production process. It can be bad, it can be inspired by porn, it might even influence children who read it negatively, but it does not hurt anyone directly. That said, I love Brenna Twohys slam poem. I just think we need to differentiate, and not call erotic Harry Potter fanfics "porn".