The most controversial and misunderstood genre that I discuss on this blog is the slavefic genre. The most famous example of slavefic is the Captive Prince trilogy by CS Pacat, but the genre itself is much wider and more varied. Since it is a subject of particular distaste to many people, I wanted to write a bit of a run down on what slavefic is and is not. Firstly, a definition:

Slavefic is a genre of fiction, popularized by fanfiction communities, that explores sexual slavery and the relationships (sexual and/or romantic) that take place within the confines of slavery and power imbalance. It often includes a lot of depictions of noncon sex, hurt/comfort content, and traumatic experiences. It is usually modeled off of a romanticized version of historical greco-roman slavery systems.

What slavefic is not:
It is not an endorsement of systemic injustice, real world systems of slavery, or racist institutions. Slavefic is fantasy, first and foremost, and the point of it has little to nothing to do with racial prejudices, unless to explore the dismantling of them. It’s purpose is to explore relationships within power imbalances, trauma, and themes of loss of power, as well as rebellion. While it is fully understandable to be uncomfortable with the genre and refuse to read it, it is important to understand that writers and readers of the genre are engaging with power dynamics fantasy and not the subject of real world slavery.

That does not, of course, mean that it is impossible for works in this genre to demonstrate racist attitudes, as it is possible of any genre. Considering however that this subject matter in the real world is so tied to racism, one may argue that it is easier for this genre to come with such baggage, whether the author intended it to or not. For that reason, it is a genre that should be engaged with with caution and sensitivity, both as a reader and as a writer.

Is slavefic BDSM?
Yes… and also no. There are many people who practice BDSM lifestyles that involve living within an agreed upon power exchange known as Domination and submission, where the submissive party is “owned” or dominated by the Dominant party. D/s can take as many forms as people who practice it; some people restrict it to bedroom activities only, some people incorporate light amounts of it in their daily lives, and others live within a strict 24/7 Master/slave dynamic (known as Total Power Exchange). While this may sound frightening, what makes D/s (even if the practitioners refer to each other as “Master” and “slave) differ from real slavery is consent: Even a TPE is negotiated and agreed upon by all parties. This is, obviously, not the case with real slavery.

Slavefic does not, by nature, depict consensual D/s relationships. As such, it’s not entirely accurate to call it BDSM fiction. However, the people practicing D/s in their lives often have fantasies that inform their lifestyle decisions, and those fantasies often involve things that, in real life, would not be consensual or healthy. Fiction depicting sexual noncon, kidnapping, seduction and, yes, slavery, are providing a safe space in which to indulge and engage with those fantasies.

In a piece of fiction, the consent of the fictional characters does not matter, as they are not real, and cannot give or withhold consent. What matters, instead, is the consent of the writer and the reader. The writer consents to everything that happens within the story, as they are the one with the control over the narrative. The act of reading the story is consent by the reader, as the reader is free to cease reading at any time. Therefore, fictional content like noncon and slavefic is more akin to consensual nonconsent roleplay. As such it has much more to do with BDSM than it does with real world slavery.

Reasons for writing or reading slavefic:
The concept of slavery, of someone taking your power and autonomy away and forcing you into subjugation and servitude to their own authority, is one that people find fascinating, frightening, and compelling for many reasons. It should be clear that this genre is mostly about exploring power imbalance, but why people may want to do that is varied.

Some slavefic is primarily hurt/comfort; the author is exploring trauma through a character that is subjected to abuse and how they recover from it after the fact. Some slavefic is more akin to horror; the author is exploring the fear of helplessness and powerlessness. Some is more about the power of love overcoming horrible odds, with the author exploring a typical “asshole turned good by their sweetheart” romance scenario, or a “forbidden love” scenario. And yet others are underdog stories about rebellion and uprising, fighting back against corrupt and abusive systems and eventually dismantling them.

At the end of the day, slavefic is a genre that makes people uncomfortable for a good reason: In the real world, slavery has been a horrific institution that causes great damage to real people. It should never be handwaved away that the subject matter of these books is, therefore, understandably upsetting to many, and that many will not want to read it. However, it is a genre that takes those themes and uses them as a way to engage with what is a deeply ingrained concept in the human psyche. Power, the abuse of power, and the fear of helplessness are all things that humans find fascinating, and slavefic is just another genre that delves into that.

For more reading on the creative depiction of unsettling sexual fantasy fiction, I encourage you to please read the Gutterotica Manifesto.