In message 01C0B6C0.B3A847A0@host213-122-54-11.btinternet.com, Louise Rutter Louise.Rutter@btinternet.com writes
[Shane wrote]
No, definitely not! But it does say to me that if you're going to write about Muslims, you should learn a bit about what the different groups are, and make sure that the descriptions you've got for them are right for the group you're writing about. Or to make the decision to throw all that information to one side, if you feel the story justifies it. But you
should
have the information to begin with.
And this is where the problem occurs. I don't currently have any close gay friends, having lost track of the ones I knew at college. So how am I supposed to find out? Gay literature, even that written by gay men, is itself likely to be an unreliable source since it will presumably also be designed to titillate and/or be interesting and exciting rather than explain dull everyday life. How are the majority of gay men going to react to being asked about the intricate details of their daily personal by those white middle class women that Neil was talking about?
This is what the Realism in Slash panel is for. Interestingly, while the first one at Redemption was billed as a way to ask meaningful questions about what sort of physical impossibilities made gay male readers of slash ROFL, it rapidly went into discussions of social aspects and never really went back to sex. I missed a fair chunk of this year's but the portion I saw seemed to have a similar focus. (And might I say how much I appreciate David and Manny's tolerance of impertinent questions throughout the weekend.)