This character is usually described in terms that either appoint him feminine characteristics or hyperbolize his existing feminine qualities. This may consist of describing the “feminine” man as smaller, weaker, and more emotional than the other half of the relationship. In contrast, the “masculine’ man is often described as larger, stronger, stoic, and capable. Overwhelmingly, in these fictions during a sex scene, the feminine character is portrayed as the more submissive, less assertive of the two, and is usually depicted as the “bottom” in the relationship as opposed to his masculine partner. Some have speculated that this trend is due to the all-too-common portrayal of women as submissive and men as dominant in a relationship that is often presented even today as the “natural” order of male/female relationships. Slash writers, who force characters out of their source characterizations and into rigid gender roles, seem to be responding to the idea of ingrained gender inequality in a “normal” relationship and express this belief through their fictions (Salmon…