Apr. 4th, 2019 04:24 pm
rambling thought dump
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
justboltsThis link popped up on my twitter feed in a conversation about fandom antis, their origins, and their current ranging impact on the fandom experience: Of Fandoms And Complete Shitshows
It's worth reading through, as are the comments, but there are a couple things I always dwell on when it comes to write-up of this topic:
1) Policing-free fandom has never genuinely been a thing.
One of the commenters mentions this in the context of slash/queer content in Tolkien fandom, but every fandom has had some or multiple variations of it.
I do think the OP is using "inter fandom" to mean the specifically progressive, diversity-friendly and socially-aware sphere that puts any value in other people's feelings, and not the segments that scream in panic anytime a non-white, not-straight character appears their general vicinity.
At the same time, I wish there was less lionizing of the supposed free-expression of past fandom in general. The effort to police and control the content of other fans has always existed, from mailing list battles over what the real characterization of Trowa of Gundam Wing is, to anon livejournal threads about the of evils of writing Sasuke from Naruto as a bottom. This isn't even touching how harsh things could get in conversation around racism, sexism, and homophobia. People have always harassed and targeted each other for isolation and rejection.
But the platforms were different and the broader social context was different. As OP notes, we're seeing a lot more fans appropriate social justice and progressive language in order to elevate their subjective discomforts into vicious moral crusades.
2) Some content regulation is, in fact, a good thing, and that's sort of the problem.
Look, I'm sure most of progressive fandom know this on some level, but I haven't seen anyone articulate it, so here goes:
100% free expression is a double-edge sword, and one that is and can be used to silence any who criticize content, narrative trends, and fan behaviors that are making their fandom environments hostile and unwelcome.
On that point, tagging, summarizing, and labeling are a form of content regulation that allow free expression while enabling fans to control their fandom experience. A comprehensive tagging system and the ethical framework in which it functions can't exist in a void where fans aren't openly discussing the various forms of societal oppression and the ways in which media (fictional narratives) enforce, normalize, and perpetuate it. There has to be a base level of knowledge and community agreement on what certain tags mean and why they matter.
Basically, in order to put a "non-con" warning on a fanfic, you have to know that a) you've written a fanfic with non-con in it and b) it's important to tell people it's there before they start reading your fic.
While warning labels on fanfic were far from unheard of before AO3.org, entire swaths of Old School fandom were loudly against the practice. It demanded that they accommodate the needs/feelings of other fans and dictated the context in which they presented their work. Want that death scene to be an unexpected shock to your potential audience? Well, fuck you, you have to label that shit upfront so someone you've never met and won't ever talk to isn't made to feel bad.
To even get to the point where slapping some sort of warning on a fic is a universal common courtesy, and not a gross imposition on your personal fandom freedom, is a pretty high hill to climb. And unfortunately, since we're all already standing on that hill, it gets a lot easier for newer fans to be dragged into "if this stuff is so hurtful and we all care so much about how people are hurt by it, WHY ARE WE LETTING IT EXIST AT ALL???"
So...no good deed goes unpunished, I guess! Or rather, extremism exists in everything, and to all forms of regulation there must be balance and proportion.
I honestly don't think most non-anti fans want fandom content to be a wholly unregulated free-for-all, but I do think the desire for rational and mutually beneficial regulation is unvoiced in favor of "free expression of all fan content is Best" because it is otherwise distorted to support anti reasoning.
It's worth reading through, as are the comments, but there are a couple things I always dwell on when it comes to write-up of this topic:
1) Policing-free fandom has never genuinely been a thing.
One of the commenters mentions this in the context of slash/queer content in Tolkien fandom, but every fandom has had some or multiple variations of it.
I do think the OP is using "inter fandom" to mean the specifically progressive, diversity-friendly and socially-aware sphere that puts any value in other people's feelings, and not the segments that scream in panic anytime a non-white, not-straight character appears their general vicinity.
At the same time, I wish there was less lionizing of the supposed free-expression of past fandom in general. The effort to police and control the content of other fans has always existed, from mailing list battles over what the real characterization of Trowa of Gundam Wing is, to anon livejournal threads about the of evils of writing Sasuke from Naruto as a bottom. This isn't even touching how harsh things could get in conversation around racism, sexism, and homophobia. People have always harassed and targeted each other for isolation and rejection.
But the platforms were different and the broader social context was different. As OP notes, we're seeing a lot more fans appropriate social justice and progressive language in order to elevate their subjective discomforts into vicious moral crusades.
2) Some content regulation is, in fact, a good thing, and that's sort of the problem.
Look, I'm sure most of progressive fandom know this on some level, but I haven't seen anyone articulate it, so here goes:
100% free expression is a double-edge sword, and one that is and can be used to silence any who criticize content, narrative trends, and fan behaviors that are making their fandom environments hostile and unwelcome.
On that point, tagging, summarizing, and labeling are a form of content regulation that allow free expression while enabling fans to control their fandom experience. A comprehensive tagging system and the ethical framework in which it functions can't exist in a void where fans aren't openly discussing the various forms of societal oppression and the ways in which media (fictional narratives) enforce, normalize, and perpetuate it. There has to be a base level of knowledge and community agreement on what certain tags mean and why they matter.
Basically, in order to put a "non-con" warning on a fanfic, you have to know that a) you've written a fanfic with non-con in it and b) it's important to tell people it's there before they start reading your fic.
While warning labels on fanfic were far from unheard of before AO3.org, entire swaths of Old School fandom were loudly against the practice. It demanded that they accommodate the needs/feelings of other fans and dictated the context in which they presented their work. Want that death scene to be an unexpected shock to your potential audience? Well, fuck you, you have to label that shit upfront so someone you've never met and won't ever talk to isn't made to feel bad.
To even get to the point where slapping some sort of warning on a fic is a universal common courtesy, and not a gross imposition on your personal fandom freedom, is a pretty high hill to climb. And unfortunately, since we're all already standing on that hill, it gets a lot easier for newer fans to be dragged into "if this stuff is so hurtful and we all care so much about how people are hurt by it, WHY ARE WE LETTING IT EXIST AT ALL???"
So...no good deed goes unpunished, I guess! Or rather, extremism exists in everything, and to all forms of regulation there must be balance and proportion.
I honestly don't think most non-anti fans want fandom content to be a wholly unregulated free-for-all, but I do think the desire for rational and mutually beneficial regulation is unvoiced in favor of "free expression of all fan content is Best" because it is otherwise distorted to support anti reasoning.
Tags: