Signal boost: SurveyFail redux

[tzikeh]

Hey, remember SurveyFail, that perfect storm of arrogance and stupidity from a couple of pseudo-researchers who were going to use sexually explicit fanfic to prove that -- um. In their own words, "We're deeply interested in broad-based behavioral data that involves romantic or erotic cognition and evinces a clear distinction between men and women. Fan fiction matches this criteria perfectly."

In fandom's own words: FAIL. SO, SO MUCH FAIL.

Well, the book is still being published, although the title has been changed from "Rule 34: What Netporn Teaches Us about the Brain" to A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the World's Largest Experiment Reveals about Human Desire. It will be released this May, but it already has an Amazon page for preorders, of course.

And the page has had some tags added to it. A few examples: "mansplaining," "pseudoscience," "biased heterosexist and wrong," "who needs peer review?"

I think we could bump those tag numbers lots higher, don't you? Go on, you know you wanna.

(Post copied pretty much entirely from the_shoshanna. Please take the post, whole or in part, and post it to your lj or dw if you're of a mind to. Or you can just link people here, or to shoshanna, with an explanation if you like.)

ETA: Check out the "people who viewed this book also viewed" section, then click those books! Oh, and then go to this one. We need to add that to the display. :D

EATA: Someone posted a discussion thread at the book's main Amazon page that's chock-full of links to blogs, journals, and other websites of reputable scientists, all refuting (if not outright rolling their eyes at) the methodology and "science" in this book.

Comments

[melodyunity.livejournal.com]

Women enjoy writing and sharing erotic stories with other women. The fastest growing genre of erotic stories for women are stories about two heterosexual men having sex.

What is with these guys insisting that slash is about heterosexual men? I just...I don't get it.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

They're stupid, prejudiced, and wrong?

[klia.livejournal.com]

Because heterosexual men arrogantly think everything is about them?

[drunkoffthestars]

I think the 'heterosexual' qualifier was brought up in their early discussions of slash fandom by one of their early contacts as a historical note. They completely failed to understand that it is no longer present in most fans definition of slash. I was surprised to learn that it used to be part of the slash definition, but glad we seem to have dropped it at this point.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I was surprised to learn that it used to be part of the slash definition, but glad we seem to have dropped it at this point.

I take issue with your phrasing here. It didn't *used* to be part of the definition of slash; it *was* the definition of slash. It has since evolved thanks to to the changing social understanding of, and moral/ethical/legal issues regarding, homosexuality. But the origins of slash were about heterosexuality, not queerness. So, let's not go waving away the entire history and all of the women (many of whom are right here, thank you) who created and built slash fiction close to 40 years ago so that you could have your swipe at them today.

[drunkoffthestars]

I'm sorry I was unclear in my phrasing. That is what I was attempting to convey in fewer words than were obviously required. Sorry!

[the-shoshanna.livejournal.com]

Bear in mind that at the time slash was invented, there were no canonically non-heterosexual characters on television. Nobody even envisioned such a thing. Slash was by definition about heterosexual men because television was by definition about heterosexual men. And the ur-narrative of slash was the story of two straight men discovering love and lust for each other, the story of their love and attraction overwhelming and transcending even their prior self-images and sexual orientation.

[drunkoffthestars]

yup, pretty much. It is a concept I find somewhat foreign, as I am a slash fan of a more recent vintage.

[klia.livejournal.com]

Things haven't actually changed all that much in the past 40-45 years. Thankfully, there are a number of canonically LGBT characters in the media today, but they're still not very common. Most of the popular slash fandoms still involve canonically heterosexual men, because regardless of how viewers interpret the characters' words, feelings, and actions, they're still shown (or talking about) having sex with women.

[drunkoffthestars]

eh, I think it really depends on perspective and what corner of fanishness you inhabit. You are absolutely correct in that for the most part, creators intend their characters to be perceived as only heterosexual, but I think there is a lot of room for alternate interpretations that move away from the default heterosexual paradigm and authorial intent.

[klia.livejournal.com]

But that's always been the definition of slash: alternate perspective, perception, and interpretation of default heterosexual paradigm/authorial intent. I think the difference now is that writers/TPTB are, for the most part, aware of slash, and while some even openly acknowledge it in canon (like SPN), very few characters are allowed to actually *be* LGBT in canon.