Thank you to all those people who replied to my query. I had my suspicions, but I didn't know for certain that such artwork, rare though it is, did exist or that it was available in zines. At least I know now that Julie's argument does have some factual basis.
The slash debate at Redemption showed that contentious issues like this can be debated in a mature and intelligent fashion. Whether or not they will be is another matter altogether. Personally I am not happy about erotic or pornographic fan art. I have no moral objection to depictions of nudes, male or female, or images of explicit sexual acts, but when such images relate directly to real people, however idealised or out of date, I think it represents an invasion of their privacy and dignity.
Fiction relies on words, and words make explicit the connection between narrated events and the fictional characters performing them. The participants are named as the fictional characters they are. Images, however, weaken this connection, since we inescapably see not only the character but also the actor who played that character.
It's not as simple as I (as a writer) would like it to be, since though words may connect narrative with fictional character, nevertheless we visualise what we read and hence see the real life actor. Any reference within a written text to eg Tarrant's butt or, for that matter, Jenna's boobs, cannot be wholly divorced from Stephen Pacey or Sally Knyvette, even if the intention to make that connection is completely absent.
If you follow that argument through to its logical conclusion then it follows that, to show respect to the actors, no erotic fanfiction, perhaps no fanfiction at all, should ever be written. I don't support that notion at all. Or you could go the other way and say that the actors' feelings are irrelevant and fans should be free to write and draw whatever they wish. Unfortunately, I can't support that either.
Ultimately, it's all down to where you draw the line, and unsurprisingly most people tend to draw it at pretty much the point where they themselves are standing. I candidly admit that that is pretty much what I do. I do know that I would not want to offend any real life person, however inadvertently, with what I write, and certainly not jeopardise their careers. Where B7 actors are concerned, I owe it to them not to; they made the series that inspired me to write in the first place.
Some people have said (jokingly or otherwise) that they themselves would not object to being depicted in pornographic art. That's irrelevant. It's what the people who *are* being so depicted think that counts. And even if you yourself don't object, what if it was your parents? Your partner? Your children? I doubt if anyone on this Lyst needs to look far before finding someone they care about who would be deeply hurt and angry about being eroticised for someone else's gratification.
Does pornographic material distort fans' minds? I very much doubt it. There have been numerous studies on the effects of sex and violence in the media, and the results seem to be vague and ambiguous. Any impact would appear to be mild and temporary. Admittedly there are some people out there who behave atypically in a way that most of us would consider 'disturbing', but all the evidence I'm aware of suggests that such disturbance lies within the individuals themselves, or at least outside of media influences. Every attempt that I'm aware of to cite roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons as an influence on suicide or homicide has been thrown out of court, as it has with violent books or videos. I would expect the same to happen with fan erotica.
There are disturbed people around, and in any sizable community such as fandom it is not surprising that a few such individuals will be found. That, to me, says far less about fandom than it does about society as a whole.
I doubt if any kind of unanimous verdict can be reached on this one, but we can at least - if we choose - declare where we stand and why.
Neil