"It's not that erotica and romance are deathly different, it's that their purpose, tone, and conventions are not identical."
Well, the problem I was having in the previous post - and the reason I mixed apples with oranges - is that the romance versus erotica divide, which definitely exists in heterosexual fiction and GLBT fiction, doesn't exist in slash (IMHO). Except in a few extreme cases, I don't think there is any great difference in approach between G-rated slash, PG-13-rated slash, and NC-17-rated slash. That why it's hard to compare slash to non-erotica genres (such as romance or genre fiction) or to erotica genres.
I read a news article recently about the problems that librarians have in evaluating shonen ai books; the books will seem very kid-friendly (from an American point of view), and then bam, on the next page, the characters will be in bed together. Same problem with slash. Most PG slash fantasy novels read like mainstream fantasy novels. But god help you if you pore through the author's site to see what else they've written. You could find yourself reading a fetish tale - and with no discernable change in the author's style.
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Well, the problem I was having in the previous post - and the reason I mixed apples with oranges - is that the romance versus erotica divide, which definitely exists in heterosexual fiction and GLBT fiction, doesn't exist in slash (IMHO). Except in a few extreme cases, I don't think there is any great difference in approach between G-rated slash, PG-13-rated slash, and NC-17-rated slash. That why it's hard to compare slash to non-erotica genres (such as romance or genre fiction) or to erotica genres.
I read a news article recently about the problems that librarians have in evaluating shonen ai books; the books will seem very kid-friendly (from an American point of view), and then bam, on the next page, the characters will be in bed together. Same problem with slash. Most PG slash fantasy novels read like mainstream fantasy novels. But god help you if you pore through the author's site to see what else they've written. You could find yourself reading a fetish tale - and with no discernable change in the author's style.