Slash as a Form of Women's Writing and Reading

The purpose of this article, written from the perspective of gender and feminist studies, is to present fangirls' writing (and reading) as a form of women's anti-systemic activity aimed against pop culture and its patriarchal nature. Writing fan fiction is an act of re-reading and "poaching" across mass culture: writers rebel against canonical interpretations of texts. What is more, fan fiction carries a counter-institutional approach and fans have developed their own understanding of a canon the term "fanon" describes fans' fixed convictions about canonical texts. One of the most popular ff genres is slash, which focuses on male homoerotic relations. Many female readers of fan fiction perceive slash as a way out of a dominant discourse, however, fan fiction turns out to be also a form of re-working problematic issues (e.g. gender roles and stereotypes).