fandom question I'll probably regret

[rm]

Would someone please explain the appeal of MPREG to me? Seriously, I'm not trying to be snarky. I don't get it, I probably never will get it, I don't really want to get it, but intellectually I'd like to know what's up with that.

Do you think it's sexy? If so, why? I mean, there is a sort of posession/dominant/territory thing that can be hot about normal pregnancy, so... okay.

Or is it... "wow I _hate_ this character and want to make them as miserable as popssible -- with puking!"

Seriously, help me out here.

I'm going to bed and am on set tomorrow, but really hope to wake up to oodles are horrifying responses.

Comments

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

I don't get its appeal myself.

Some random guesses:

That stuff you said a while back about feminizing villains? This is feminizing as heck.

What few MPREGs I've run across have usually involved: pregnancy as the Reason an Emotional Bonding is necessary (or sex, too), in which case it's just an Excuse for that plot (which used to happen all the time in het romances too).

Also, they're always particularly weakening and feminizing pregnancies. MPREG never involves a guy getting pregnant and being fucking macho about it, no nausea, no problems, make any girly comments about it and I'll fucking kill you. No, it's always a weakening thing. Weakness = vulnerability. Which, you know, is hot or something, or equals emotional accessibility.

Althugh I now find the idea of a really butch and hearty MPREG vaguely amusing.

Conan glares: "Yes. I'm due in three months and it's a girl, and I still work out every goddamned day, so if you've got a fucking problem with it, I'll rip you into bits and barbecue them. I'm eating for two, and this baby likes her meat fresh and bloody."

Alternatively, there may be some element of revenge involved: "Ha. Conan thinks he's so tough; let's see him cope with morning sickness and mommy hormones! Bwahaha! I have made this male character face a problem he has no idea how to cope with! Oh, and I've made a Secret Magical Prophecy so he can't just give himself a Heimlich maneuvar and get rid of it."

Persoally, I don't want pregnancy in my smut, and pregnancy as plotline is pretty lame. Mpreg is waaaaaaaay up there with Overly Contrived Plot Designed to Force Characters Together.

It's weird that people who'd shriek in horror about a plot in which a girl gets forced into sexual relations and then forced to carry a baby resulting from said sex AND to keep having a relationship with the rapist, whom the shen falls for - wtf? - think this plot is Just Dandy when it's two guys. I mean, sure, we all had one or two rape fantasies, but yuck.

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

It's weird that people who'd shriek in horror about a plot in which a girl gets forced into sexual relations and then forced to carry a baby resulting from said sex AND to keep having a relationship with the rapist, whom the shen falls for - wtf? - think this plot is Just Dandy when it's two guys. I mean, sure, we all had one or two rape fantasies, but yuck.

It may just be because of the fandoms I'm in, but I've never actually read any MPREG where the pregnancy was the result of rape--is that really very common?

I'd agree that there's a lot of MPREG that's feminizing, but I'm not sure that the mere fact that a pregnancy involves some uncomfortable parts is inherently feminizing or weakening. Personally, I prefer the fics that include both the good and the less-fun aspects of being pregnant.

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

As with so many things, it depends on what you call 'rape'. I ran across one not too long ago which was a case of "You two must have sex and male X must get magically preggers, or the WOrld Ends and Everyone Dies." (Or some threat of that sort.) I am admittedly not much of a fanfic reader much less an MPREG specialist, but I expect the "forced into this" fantasy is at least as common there as it is in any other romance/slash/sex writing.

It's not necessarily discomfort that's feminizing, it's that the discomfort is in some way weakening the male character, which is (grr) often translated as feminizing. I've known women who somehow butched their way though a whole pregnancy without flinching (which amazes me), despite bitching about how they had to quit drinking booze, and bragging about how hard their kid kicks. I haven't seen pregnancy as 'a challenge by which to show new strengths" done in mpreg; it's always a weakness thing.

Of course, I may simply not care for pregnancy fiction regardless of gender. I'm sure that's a big part of it.

[aynatonal.livejournal.com]

Althugh I now find the idea of a really butch and hearty MPREG vaguely amusing.

I've read one of these, kind of! It's actually excellent and is actually, technically, not MPREG. OK, go with me here: it's a Master and Commander fic that goes to a sci-fi place and posits a virus that causes a third of the population to spontaneously switch genders. Jack turns into a woman, Stephen accidentally gets him pregnant and Jack has a tremendously hearty pregnancy and birth on board his ship. And did I mention it's excellent? A bit angsty (as the premise presupposes), but really good. It's by astolat who is a fixture of slash fandom and a very accomplished writer.

[alterjess.livejournal.com]

I'm not normally much of a fic reader at all, but...link? Because I think I need to see this.

[aynatonal.livejournal.com]

Your wish is my command! The World Turned Upside Down.

[alterjess.livejournal.com]

Thanks!