Same. It is absolutley an insight on female sexuality, it has very little relation to the reality of a relationship between gay men. It is a way of safely exploring sexuality and relationships. It can also be a fetish, albeit largely a harmless one, as it doesn't involve exploiting real people to produce it and slash has been around for decades and decades without causing any damage.
I disagree slightly that it doesn't have consequences. I used to think that but a couple of years ago I read a long discussion by gay men about fiction and the publishing industry.
It was pointed out that it can be a struggle for gay male authors, particularly those writing erotica, to be published and find an audience because the genre is dominated by women. Many whom write under male or gender neutral pseudonyms.
A lot of the men were frustrated they had unwittingly bought some of these books when looking not just to support gay authors but also because they wanted fiction that was men writing men. They would get into the book, get a sense that something was 'off' in the depiction of m/m relationships, do a bit of research and discover it was indeed female slash fiction.
It's a bit of a thorny issue because I don't really like the idea that authors, male or female, can't write about what they want to - we've seen this attitude go down quite a censorious path recently with the YA fiction world. I also wouldn't want authors to be obliged to use their real names on books or be prevented from using initials or unisex names etc...
The best course of action would be for more investment made in gay authors within the genre but with women being by far the bigger market for it I suspect publishers go where the money is. Women that buy it largely don't want realistic gay fiction they want the slash stuff where a lot of 'safe' reader self insertion can happen.
It's not exactly on a level with fake lesbian porn produced for the male gaze but the discussion points stayed with me because it's an angle I hadn't previously considered.