Oh, that's for sure! I've sweated over this a lot when trying to figure out how to rate fics, and I know I haven't managed to be consistent when it comes to where I draw the line between PG-13 and R, and where I draw the line between R and NC-17. It's difficult. And of course there's also the way people talk about men being more visually inclined than women, and I suspect that also plays into how ratings are established. *cough*
I will definitely say that being part of fandom and learning the conventions of fic warnings, and the reasons for those conventions, has definitely educated me in a lot of ways. Of course, one of the other things fandom has educated me about is the vast edges of the realm of sexuality, both consensual and non-consensual (if you would even call that sexuality as opposed to...well, I don't know a better term, but there must be one). Until the Harry Potter fandom, I always thought golden showers would be, like, sunshine and blessings. :D
But in all seriousness, not at ALL brainier than I wanted. This is an interesting discussion, and for all that my default approach was from the other direction than Dru's, I also find a LOT of merit in the idea of warnings. I confess that I often dislike having to warn for things that I think will "spoil" the plot for people, but I also hate the idea of springing something on people who aren't prepared for it, so I think (I hope) I tend to err on the side of spoiling rather than surprising.
In any event, this is a very interesting discussion.
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Oh, that's for sure! I've sweated over this a lot when trying to figure out how to rate fics, and I know I haven't managed to be consistent when it comes to where I draw the line between PG-13 and R, and where I draw the line between R and NC-17. It's difficult. And of course there's also the way people talk about men being more visually inclined than women, and I suspect that also plays into how ratings are established. *cough*
I will definitely say that being part of fandom and learning the conventions of fic warnings, and the reasons for those conventions, has definitely educated me in a lot of ways. Of course, one of the other things fandom has educated me about is the vast edges of the realm of sexuality, both consensual and non-consensual (if you would even call that sexuality as opposed to...well, I don't know a better term, but there must be one). Until the Harry Potter fandom, I always thought golden showers would be, like, sunshine and blessings. :D
But in all seriousness, not at ALL brainier than I wanted. This is an interesting discussion, and for all that my default approach was from the other direction than Dru's, I also find a LOT of merit in the idea of warnings. I confess that I often dislike having to warn for things that I think will "spoil" the plot for people, but I also hate the idea of springing something on people who aren't prepared for it, so I think (I hope) I tend to err on the side of spoiling rather than surprising.
In any event, this is a very interesting discussion.