Slash Fiction - History

History

It is commonly believed that current slash fanfiction originated within the Star Trek: The Original Series fan fiction fandom, with "Kirk/Spock" stories – generally authored by female fans of the series – first appearing in the late 1970s. The name arises from the use of the slash symbol (/) in mentions in the late '70s of K/S (meaning stories where Kirk and Spock had a romantic relationship) as compared to the ampersand (&) conventionally used for K&S or Kirk and Spock friendship fiction. For a time both slash and K/S (for "Kirk/Spock") were used interchangeably. Slash later spread to other fandoms, first Starsky and Hutch, Blake's 7, and The Professionals, then many others, eventually creating a fandom based around the concept of slash. Many early slash stories were based on a pairing of two close friends, a "hero dyad" or "One True Pairing" such as Kirk/Spock or Starsky/Hutch; conversely, a classic pairing between foils was that of Blake/Avon from Blake's 7.

The first K/S stories were not immediately accepted by all Trek fans. Later, authors such as Joanna Russ studied and reviewed the phenomenon in essays and gave the genre more academic clout. From there, increasing tolerance and acceptance of homosexuality and frustration with the portrayal of gay relationships in mainstream media fed a growing desire in authors to explore the subjects on their own terms using established media characters. Star Trek remained an important slash fiction fandom, while new slash fandoms grew around other television shows, movies, and books with sci-fi or action adventure roots.