However, I think that a lot of the struggle between slash and het fen occurs when slash fen think that they're being "cool" or "trendy" for shipping slash pairings, so they're still defining homosexual relationships as intrinsically Other by using them as a form of rebellion.
On the other end of the spectrum, as of late, there are het fans who see themselves as "rebelling" or "nonconformist" or as "moral crusaders" for shipping het pairings. I think that wearing the title of "slash fan" like a faddish piece of jewelery is something done by the younger/newer fans, while wearing the title of "het fan" like another piece of faddish jewelery is done by the older/not-so-new fans.
I'm usually in anime/videogame fandoms, so...yeah. Forgive me if I'm rambling.