Let's not overintellectualize the hockey smut
I'm in a book club. A queer book club. We typically read literary fiction from queer authors. This month was an exception when the group voted to read Heated Rivalry. How fun! How hot and playful!
I thought this would offer a reprieve from the deep, critical analyses common in the discussions of our literary fiction books. I was a fool to think this.
We haven't met yet, and already in our Discord, there is discourse about this damn book. About how it's an awful book written by a woman for other women and fetishizes gay men. Mind you, these are exclusively queer women making these arguments in the Discord.
Well, as a gay man, I feel resistant to having non-queer men tell me that something I find fun and enjoyable isn't for me?? Or is fetishizing me??? This type of social justice performance really irks me!!! What bothers me is that it feels prescriptive -- "this is how you should feel about this" -- which just doesn't reflect how I actually feel.
I feel like we're all just overeducated millennial leftists who are weaponizing our graduate degrees and critical analysis skills to feel a sense of superiority or control over the world. And can I blame them? Look around, the world isn't doing too hot rn. I'd love to feel more in control of what's going on, but I don't think applying an academic critical lens to hockey smut will get us there.
It just feels so 2017. So Instagram-infographic social justice. Let's give it a rest.
I am realizing I might sound like a rep*blican or something -- I'm not! I'm very much a leftist. But, I think I am just no longer interested in this song and dance.
It also sounds like I don't love this book group -- I do! I just wanted to process some of these feelings. <3
