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Intermission - Gen as a genre or a label?
Apr. 27th, 2007 05:00 amI've been coming across a lot of debates concerning the definition of Gen, whether it constitues a story that has no pairings what so ever, or a story where we see hints of affection toward another person, but they are vague and don't go anywhere. Should a story that has some hints of slash be put into the Gen category or Slash?
When it comes to categorization, I'm not even going there. Categories help to organize but can get messy. When it comes to labeling a story as Gen or slash, it shouldn't be just for the sake of letting others know where it should be put, it should also be used in tandem with ratings and warnings. It should let the reader know what they're about to read.
Regarding General, slash, romance etc. as categorizing terms only is a complicated business. There are a lot of stories out there that are gen, but open to interpretation (the whole "it's gen but can be seen as pre-slash with your goggles on"). A lot of writers let their readers see what they will. Same thing with romance. I don't write romance, personally, but I have a story where I allow readers to see it as a pre-ship if they wish (although I wasn't particularly happy about it. I really don't like ships).
I already had my speil about the necessity of having warnings. Gen, slash, romance, are a way of getting out warnings without giving too much of the story away. If they don't cut it, then a little more specification is in order (the "slash undertones" "Pre-slash" "Charcter/character" "UST" etc.)
But I think all the debate over the exact definition of these category labels has made people paranoid and confused about using them, as there have been slash stories ending up in the gen category, and gen ending up in slash. Although I am aware that some people place their stories in these categories since that's where most of their stories already are. To me, this is kind of counter productive. If you put a slash story in Gen, you'r not going to get as many readers as you would if you put it in slash. Plus, if you neglect to warn people there is slash content (I have come across stories where that's happened) then you'll lose even more readers.
Categories help guide me to the kind of stories I want to read, but it's the labels and warnings I pay the most attention to.
But if I were to give a definition to Gen, I would agree with it having to do with no pairings, yet in terms of pairings being defined as two people coming together because they are in love. There are many stories where one character shows affection for another, caring for another, but in a way that could be left up to interpretation or that has more to do with brotherly/sisterly love, without it leading to a romantic or sexual situation. Whether the two characters in question end up together or not, well, that's either left up to your imagination or the story is written in a way where it doesn't really matter. It's the caring that is important, not whether or not they sleep together, or even kiss. All of the romance, whether slash or het, is more or less left out of the equation.
That's my opinion of what is meant by Gen. No one has to agree.
When it comes to categorization, I'm not even going there. Categories help to organize but can get messy. When it comes to labeling a story as Gen or slash, it shouldn't be just for the sake of letting others know where it should be put, it should also be used in tandem with ratings and warnings. It should let the reader know what they're about to read.
Regarding General, slash, romance etc. as categorizing terms only is a complicated business. There are a lot of stories out there that are gen, but open to interpretation (the whole "it's gen but can be seen as pre-slash with your goggles on"). A lot of writers let their readers see what they will. Same thing with romance. I don't write romance, personally, but I have a story where I allow readers to see it as a pre-ship if they wish (although I wasn't particularly happy about it. I really don't like ships).
I already had my speil about the necessity of having warnings. Gen, slash, romance, are a way of getting out warnings without giving too much of the story away. If they don't cut it, then a little more specification is in order (the "slash undertones" "Pre-slash" "Charcter/character" "UST" etc.)
But I think all the debate over the exact definition of these category labels has made people paranoid and confused about using them, as there have been slash stories ending up in the gen category, and gen ending up in slash. Although I am aware that some people place their stories in these categories since that's where most of their stories already are. To me, this is kind of counter productive. If you put a slash story in Gen, you'r not going to get as many readers as you would if you put it in slash. Plus, if you neglect to warn people there is slash content (I have come across stories where that's happened) then you'll lose even more readers.
Categories help guide me to the kind of stories I want to read, but it's the labels and warnings I pay the most attention to.
But if I were to give a definition to Gen, I would agree with it having to do with no pairings, yet in terms of pairings being defined as two people coming together because they are in love. There are many stories where one character shows affection for another, caring for another, but in a way that could be left up to interpretation or that has more to do with brotherly/sisterly love, without it leading to a romantic or sexual situation. Whether the two characters in question end up together or not, well, that's either left up to your imagination or the story is written in a way where it doesn't really matter. It's the caring that is important, not whether or not they sleep together, or even kiss. All of the romance, whether slash or het, is more or less left out of the equation.
That's my opinion of what is meant by Gen. No one has to agree.
