Oh, sorry about the migraine! I hope it's better by morning.
This issue is so complicated, and the definition stage alone is a nightmare. I *do* come at this favoring the creators' right to tell people who would dictate their work to fuck off, but that's made me really aware of the pressures of the corporate side and the consumer side. Also, it's WAY easier for me to look at this in TV and publishing than within fandom itself, mainly because the old (heh) definition of entitlement (Someone below mentioned the "George R.R. Martin is not your bitch" line from Gaiman, which, yes, exactly) is what I automatically glom onto.
I am entitled to a service if I pay for it. That's a clear contract. Likewise, I am entitled to certain benefits under the law. Yet, there's always some amount of resentment and contention when certain groups are entitled to special treatment that other groups aren't -- i.e. the backlash against people who receive help from affirmative action or the disability rights act. And, then, there are always people who want to punish a minority group for being different.
But yeah, there are too many meanings of "entitled" wrt fandom for me to parse. "Empowered" and "just" are great for celebrating our right as women to have and express opinions. "Privileged" is more apt for other things, except for how it's a word with a positive meaning shifted into a negative. "Inconsiderate" works, except that the whole entitlement discussion is about far more than being impolite. "Arrogant" and "disrespectful" step over the line into name-calling, but that's what I'd think (at best) of a stranger giving me unsolicited orders for what I should write.
And yet, we all are entitled to our opinions. Except when we're not.
Huh. Panlexicon has no words that mean privileged, entitled, AND inconsiderate. That's really interesting.
And yes: the expectations of where the power lies are also changing.
This. And as technology gets faster and cheaper, it's anyone's guess where the balance will end up. (Although given the terrifying state of adult literacy in the US, I imagine it'll still be skewed to *some* sort of elite.)
This issue is so complicated, and the definition stage alone is a nightmare. I *do* come at this favoring the creators' right to tell people who would dictate their work to fuck off, but that's made me really aware of the pressures of the corporate side and the consumer side. Also, it's WAY easier for me to look at this in TV and publishing than within fandom itself, mainly because the old (heh) definition of entitlement (Someone below mentioned the "George R.R. Martin is not your bitch" line from Gaiman, which, yes, exactly) is what I automatically glom onto.
I am entitled to a service if I pay for it. That's a clear contract. Likewise, I am entitled to certain benefits under the law. Yet, there's always some amount of resentment and contention when certain groups are entitled to special treatment that other groups aren't -- i.e. the backlash against people who receive help from affirmative action or the disability rights act. And, then, there are always people who want to punish a minority group for being different.
But yeah, there are too many meanings of "entitled" wrt fandom for me to parse. "Empowered" and "just" are great for celebrating our right as women to have and express opinions. "Privileged" is more apt for other things, except for how it's a word with a positive meaning shifted into a negative. "Inconsiderate" works, except that the whole entitlement discussion is about far more than being impolite. "Arrogant" and "disrespectful" step over the line into name-calling, but that's what I'd think (at best) of a stranger giving me unsolicited orders for what I should write.
And yet, we all are entitled to our opinions. Except when we're not.
Huh. Panlexicon has no words that mean privileged, entitled, AND inconsiderate. That's really interesting.
And yes: the expectations of where the power lies are also changing.
This. And as technology gets faster and cheaper, it's anyone's guess where the balance will end up. (Although given the terrifying state of adult literacy in the US, I imagine it'll still be skewed to *some* sort of elite.)
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