Really? You think I haven’t thought about this issue? Is a story about recovery or dealing with trauma, is that “normalizing sexual relationships with children”? Should that be forbidden? Is that harmful? Should someone trying to deal with their own trauma by writing fiction that addresses it directly, should that be forbidden because it’s harmful?
Should I write only the sunniest, most proper fiction that never mentions anything disturbing or awful just in case some reader, somewhere, takes it as normalizing that awful? Is it my job to purge my work of anything that some kid, somewhere, might take in a way I didn’t intend and maybe be messed up by? Fuck no. Because let’s be 100% clear here, you actually can’t entirely predict what a reader will take away from a piece. One does one’s best. And I can’t tell another writer what to write, I can only tell them to be sure they mean to write what they write.
And the problem here is the sweeping condemnation of, what, the number of fics with particular tags? Seriously? As if it’s that simple?
Are you absolutely sure that every work tagged “pedophilia” on AO3 is wankfodder? Every one? None of them are stories where characters experience and process it, or just talk about it? None of them are stories where the authors are trying to process their own experiences? It’s never permissible to even mention pedophilia, lest someone be influenced wrongly? Should survivors never talk about or fictionalize their experiences? Really?
Do not lecture me on the responsibilities of authors–I have thought long and hard on the issue, and have come to the very considered conclusion that I have no interest in purity tests. Rape is bad, but not all stories about rape are bad. Racism is bad but not all stories about racism are bad. Pedophilia is bad but…you get the picture. Just saying “look at all these fics tagged “pedophilia” AO3 is doing a bad thing hosting them!” is so incredibly stupid I just don’t know where to begin. Are some of those fics toxic? Surely. Pretty much every other tag has toxic fics in it, too. Are all of them? I seriously have my doubts.
I am prepared to say that adults having sex with kids is bad, no nuance. I am NOT prepared to say that any fic about that topic is unambiguously bad. Because that’s not true.
I’m not in the business of telling people what to read or what to write. And you can take your list of things people somehow can’t write about because they’re bad and fuck all the way off.
Because let’s be 100% clear here, you actually can’t entirely predict what a reader will take away from a piece.
You reblogged a post that said “the only harm [non-photographic child porn] can do is if you read it” and I think that’s an irresponsible view for an author to hold. Fiction does affect reality, or good minority representation wouldn’t be important, Birth of a Nation wouldnt have led to a resurgence in the KKK, etc. Writers have an obligation to keep in mind what kind of impact their work will have on the people who read it, and normalizing sexual relationships with children is harmful.
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