‘The Tent’s Big Enough for Everyone’: online slash fiction as a site for activism and change

This article draws on a piece of wide-scale mixed-methods research (n = 429) that examines how women who write and read male/male erotica feel their involvement with the genre has affected their views on gender and sexuality and their political engagement with gay rights issues. Previous work has looked at how online slashfic communities might provide a safe space for exploring gender performance and sexuality, while other researchers have observed a tension between those who identify as queer themselves and those who only ‘play at queerness’ exclusively within the online environment. However, much of this work has examined the theoretical positioning of such forums as transgressive and/or political. Far fewer pieces have attempted to engage with the women who frequent such sites to ask them about whether their involvement in these online spaces has affected their attitudes and behaviours. This study looks not only at the ways in which online m/m fandoms can act as a safe space for women to explore their sexualities and gender identities, but whether and how these insights connect to women’s real-world lives. Data presented here shows a strong consensus among participants that involvement with explicit slash communities has had a positive effect on their lives, as well as contributing to beneficial changes in their knowledge, attitudes, and practices with regards to LGBTQ+ issues. Overall, slash is seen as a medium which can create better allies, encourage cross-identification, and bring about positive personal changes. To this extent, I argue that explicit online slash sites can act as heterotopias.     

Book reviews

W. J. Hudson, Australia and the League of Nations. Sydney University Press in association with the Australian Institute of International Affairs, Sydney, 1980, pp. 224. $22.50.

H. Kenway, H. J. W. Stokes and P. G. Edwards (eds), Documents on Australian Foreign Policy 1937–1949. Volume III, “January‐June 1940”. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1979, pp. lvii + 579. $26.00.

J. D. B. Miller, The World of States: Connected Essays. Croom Helm, London, 1981, pp. 179. £12.50.

Robert O'Neill, Australia in the Korean War: Volume I: Strategy and Diplomacy. Australian War Memorial and Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1981, pp. xxi + 548. $27.50.

Ian Downs, The Australian Trusteeship Papua New Guinea 1945–75. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1980, pp. xxiv + 587. $28.00.

Kym Anderson and Aurelia George (eds), Australian Agriculture and Newly Industrializing Asia: Issues for Research. Australia‐Japan Research Centre, Canberra, 1980, pp. xii + 462. $7.00.

R. and A. Burnett (eds), Australia‐New Zealand Economic Relations—Issues for the 1980s. ANU Press, Canberra, 1981, pp. 183. $12.00.

T. B. Millar, The East‐West Strategic Balance. George Allen and Unwin, London, 1981, pp. 199. $19.95 (cloth), $11.95 (paper).

Karl W. Deutsch (ed.), Ecosocial Systems and Ecopolitics. A reader on human and social implications of environmental management in developing countries. UNESCO, Paris, 1977, pp. 368. No price given.

Allan Schnaiberg, The Environment. From Surplus to Scarcity. Oxford University Press, New York, 1980, pp.464. $14.95.

Gerald Foley with Charlotte Nassim, The Energy Question. Second edition. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1981, pp. 327. $6.95.

R. M. M'Gonigle and Mark W. Zacher, Pollution, Politics, and International Law. Tankers at Sea. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1979, pp. xviii + 394. $22.50.

J. E. S. Fawcett and Audrey Parry, Law and International Resource Conflicts. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1981, pp. xiv + 254. £20.00.

John L. S. Girling, Thailand, Society and Politics. Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 1981, pp. 306. $US24.50.

Leung Chi‐keung, J. W. Cushman, Wang Gungwu (eds), Hong Kong: Dilemmas of Growth. Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University and the Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, 1980, pp. 665. $12.

Adam Malik, In the Service of the Republic. Gunung Agung, Singapore, 1980, pp.326. $S18.00.

Donald L. Horowitz, Coup Theories and Officers Motives. Sri Lanka in Comparative Perspective. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1980, pp. xv + 240. $US21.00 (cloth), $US9.25 (paper).

J. Bruce Jacobs, Local Politics in a Rural Chinese Cultural Setting: A Field Study of Mazu Township, Taiwan. Contemporary China Centre, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, 1980, pp. 247. $6.00.

Frank Hardie and Irwin Herrman, Britain and Zion: The Fateful Entanglement. Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1980, pp.x + 118. $7.95.

L. G. Churchward, Australia And America 1788–1972: An Alternative History. Alternative Publishing Cooperative Limited, Sydney, 1979, pp.261.

Angelika Volle, Aus—und Forthildung fur Internationale Tatigkeiten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Europa Union Verlag GMBH, Bonn, 1980, pp. 188. No price given.

O. G. Roeder and Mahiddin Mahmud, compilers, Who's Who in Indonesia. Gunung Agung, Singapore, 1980, pp.428. $S30.00.

Deryck Scarr, Viceroy of the Pacific. Pacific Research Monograph No. 4, Australian National University, Canberra, 1980, pp. 334. $9.00.

Stein Rokkan (ed.), Scandinavian Political Studies, Vol. 12, 1977. Universitetsforlaget, Oslo; Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, pp. 288 $US22.00.