\em: real italics?

[fg@fgbbs.iaf.nl (Frans Goddijn)]

In ConTeXt, if I do {\em text} then the word "text" is set in slanted
font. In this case, my normal roman upright Times font is faked into
leaning over a bit. I'd rather have this default to real italics, since I
have an italics Times font. The idea to have fakes in my text body makes
me uneasy. What is a real typographer would se me hacking here?

Of course, the trade off here would be that anything set in true small
caps in the {\em ... } environment would me missing, since I don't have a
"small caps italic" font. But I think the chances of that happening would
be small if I watch out a little. Or maybe I could have a macro preventing
this, a variation of "\kap" that will set in small caps even though the
environment is italics?

How and where could I flip a switch telling ConTeXt to use real italics
for emphasized text?

Why is it slanted in default? Is that a technical necessity for possible
missing fonts or do the programmers think it 's actually prettier? I could
be wrong surmising that real italics is better, say, in an interview where
questions are in italics, answers in roman font. 

Met hartelijke groet!

 Frans Goddijn   | bbs: +31 (0)26 3217041
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