Muggles. Gotta live with 'em.

[amanuensis1]

Whoa, are we all really that upset over that article in The Guardian about Lumos? I didn't find it negative, really; the article's written by someone who is not only NOT a fan but admits she hasn't even read the books or seen the films ("Well...some of them"). She's not a fannish type at all. She's gone into it frankly baffled by the whole concept

Comments

Re: Reposted because I screwed up the first time

[dancing_moon]

I can't go to US cons, for obvious reasons. But I've been to a couple of swedish anime conventions and we don't have panels. About anything really.

Then I read a timeplan for a couple of US cons (to figure out what to do on our own con hehe) and it's filled with panels. About making cosplay wigs, about mechas, about fanfics, about characters and archetypes etc etc. And I think anime fandom as a whole is pretty gender-balanced

Otoh I know I read on fandom_wank about an argument involving yaoi fanart. A guy complains that there's less busty babes and more guy/guy all the time. Several artists state that it's because fanboys look but fangirls buy.

So I don't think it's as simple as she makes it out to be. And what irks me is that she does not ponder it, she does not investigate (which isn't scope of the article either) she just turns things around a bit until she finds an angle that matches her gender stereotypes and bingo, let's present that as a fact.

Here, one example:

It's the first time that women have ever dominated fandom in this way, and so of course it's all about doing extra homework and making sure your uniform is nicely pressed.

Is she somehow implying that the sci-fi nerds who have encyclopedical knowledge of anti-matter theory as propsed by author A, or can ramble specs for the Enterprise for hours have "not done their homework"? Is it different because the people at Lumos have focused on other things? I mean, being obsessed and discussing everything to death is part of being both a fan and a nerd yet she turns it into "girls doing their homework". Blah

Re: Reposted because I screwed up the first time

[ellid]

That statement about this being the first fandom dominated by women is simply not true. Early Trek fandom was so dominated by women that mainline SF fen were at a loss as to why their formerly 85% male conventions were being flooded by women, and that was the case well into the late 70s/early 80s (my first Trek con was in 1979, and over half the attendees were female). Trek fandom didn't become the province of male geeks until after the first or second movie.

Re: Reposted because I screwed up the first time

[dancing_moon]

Yes, true about the female domination, I think I saw someone else mention it on another post too.

What an interesting glimpse of Trek history :) I wasn't around then, but it's always fun to learn more

Re: Reposted because I screwed up the first time

[amanuensis1]

I'm glad you posted this perspective, because I would not have known this. I always believed SF fandom to be male-dominated in general.

Re: Reposted because I screwed up the first time

[amanuensis1]

I mean, being obsessed and discussing everything to death is part of being both a fan and a nerd yet she turns it into "girls doing their homework". Blah

Yeah, I can definitely feel how that rubs my sexism sensors the wrong way.