Sort of semi-related to realism in slash...
Gil Shalos
I was thinking about this and one of the things that occurred to me is that the
vocabulary of erotica (slash and non-slash) is one of the 'hidden' factors that
affects my reaction to it. I don't mean I run away screaming when I see the
word "penis" on the screen, but there are all sorts of different terms used by
writers in slash and erotica for genitals etc, and the choice of words by the
author can make the difference between hot and squick for me.
Perhaps that's why I find lesbian erotica more 'real': it's written by and for
women in the same culture as I am, and I share a vocabulary with the author.
For example, (and here I must insert in CAPITAL LETTERS YMMV, IMHO, PURELY
PERSONAL TASTE HERE) nothing turns me off faster that the word 'pussy'.
I own two cats.
They do not bear any resemblance to the female genitalia.
However, there's also the problem for any author of 'how many times can I use
this word in this paragraph before the reader's eyes start to glaze?'
Perhaps we should start an ASCEML List of Pet Names for Private Parts, to help
imaginatively challenged authors (and I include myself in this category) when
the Word for Windows Thesaurus fails.
Gil Shalos
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Accept their reaching with careful hands
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In an article in the New York Times on March 27th, Barbara Kingsolver wrote:
<< . . .No subject is too private for good fiction if it can be made
beautiful and enlightening.
That may be the rub right there. Making it beautiful is no small trick. The
language of coition has been stolen, or rather, I think, it has been divvied
up like chips in a poker game among pornography, consumerism and the medical
profession. None of these players are concerned with aesthetics, to the
linguistic chips have become unpretty by association. . . >>
In a message dated 4/25/2000 8:06:12 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
gilsh...@hotmail.com writes:
<< Perhaps that's why I find lesbian erotica more 'real': it's written by and
for women in the same culture as I am, and I share a vocabulary with the
author. For example, (and here I must insert in CAPITAL LETTERS YMMV, IMHO,
PURELY PERSONAL TASTE HERE) nothing turns me off faster that the word
'pussy'.
I own two cats.
They do not bear any resemblance to the female genitalia.>>
<g> You have a point, but I think it goes beyond that. All the usual slang
words I can think of for female genitalia are also used as derogatory terms
for women. I *have* read women who try to reclaim these words, but it is
often a problem for me too.
Treksmut usually is pretty light on slang (and Latin) --or perhaps I'm just
selecting for that. I'm interested in knowing how others feel about slang. Of
course, context is important, but I find I like the word *fuck*, am neutral
about *cock* and usually don't like any slang terms for women's anatomy.
<<Perhaps we should start an ASCEML List of Pet Names for Private Parts, to
help imaginatively challenged authors (and I include myself in this category)
when the Word for Windows Thesaurus fails. >>
This scares me. Just because, once something is on the list, I think I'd not
want to use it. "Oh, look, she's decided to use one of those ASCEML private
parts words--see--there." Any term, removed from context, seems to me
euphemistic, clinical or crude. In my own writing I think I use mostly
euphemism, with a sprinkling of the other two, but I don't really want it to
be *seen* as euphemism.
Rather than simply words, perhaps people would be willing to quote a short
passage from a story which they feel describes sex well/does a good job with
the terminology?
Boadicea
Mark Stanley
Gil Shalos wrote:
>
> Perhaps we should start an ASCEML List of Pet Names for Private Parts, to help imaginatively challenged authors (and I include myself in this category) when the Word for Windows Thesaurus fails.
>
Try http://www.geocities.com/sileya/lexicon.html
Additions are still welcome, I believe.
Mark
--
"So, there's been theories that Holmes was a woman, that Watson was a
woman, but I'm wondering... what if Mrs. HUDSON was a woman?"
--JJ, Holmesslash member
~~~
mrs...@sk.sympatico.ca
ICQ# 51278836
http://members.tripod.com/~MarkStanley/
J. Juls
> Perhaps we should start an ASCEML List of Pet Names for Private Parts, to
help imaginatively challenged authors (and I include myself in this
category) when the Word for Windows Thesaurus fails.
>
How 'bout "Ol' Bessie"?
Eeek, sorry!
Julie
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Kiri...@themail.com
And in a related story...(BG)
I often run across 'which word should I use in conjunction with the rest of
the story.'
I mean in some stories, if feel it's very appropriate to use Cock, etc....
But sometimes when I'm writing, I get to that point and write that, and I
look at it and think. No, that's to jarring, it totally interrupts the mood
of the piece. and it leaves me in a quandry, until I find just the right
word to ceep it all in context.
btw gil, mho, happens to coincide with yours in this instance. (G) there
*are* certain words that just totally rip you out of the story.
Kiri
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jat (Jane)
On Mon, 1 May 2000 11:12:13 Kiristeen wrote:
>
>And in a related story...(BG)
>
>I often run across 'which word should I use in conjunction with the rest of the story.'
Context is everything. I hate "cunt" in real life myself, but I've been using
it in a draft because the characters would use it. I'm conscious of writing
around it sometimes, though, because I do dislike it.
>
>I mean in some stories, if feel it's very appropriate to use Cock, etc.... But sometimes when I'm writing, I get to that point and write that, and I look at it and think. No, that's to jarring, it totally interrupts the mood of the piece. and it leaves me in a quandry, until I find just the right word to ceep it all in context.
There's a funny discussion in the movie "Go Fish" about what to call female
genitals. The lesbians speaking eventually kind of agree on "honey pot" which I
find intolerably cutesy myself. I know sex is funny, but sometimes I don't want
to laugh. Speaking of jar- um, breaking the mood.
Jane
---
jat (Jane)
jat_sa...@my-deja.com
story page:
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