And a few more of your least favorite things

[exsequar]

I don't quite understand why bandom is looked at with such disdain by so many people. Never before have I felt so supremely judged simply for taking part in a specific fandom. I don't see this one as any different from any of my others - in fact, it's kind of Jsquared to the nth power. And I thought we were all gay friendly around here? So what is

Comments

[winterweathered]

I really don't think it has to do with the boys acting feminine. I'd be really surprised if that's the case... since every time Jared wears pink or, you know, wears pigtails, everybody's panties explode.

I think it's the nature of the fandom - specifically, that it's music. People's tastes in music vary SO MUCH. Part of it is also probably about the fact that the bandslash boys are very 'mainstream' at the moment. They're on TRL, etc. I'd bet that when *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys were at their height, popslash got looked down on quite a bit. A lot of fandom favorites tend to be cult hits - like SPN and Veronica Mars - as opposed to MTV-friendly stuff.

This, obviously, is just my personal opinion. I am definitely guilty of giving people crap (in jest) for being in bandom. But for me, it has absolutely nothing to do with the boys acting 'feminine,' and more to do with me being grumpy because all my favorite authors are writing about people I know nothing about.

I've actually never seen a fandom take so many people by storm so quickly! It really seems like in the last six months or so a HUGE portion of my friendslist has gotten into bandom.

[exsequar]

Thank you for answering me candidly and honestly, that's helped clear it up for me a lot. I've had one unpleasant encounter with a good friend who was pretty much strongly offended by the entire bandom aesthetic, so that's why I latched onto that as a sort of turnoff of the fandom. But in a general sense your reason makes much more sense - the mainstreamness turns people off. I, personally, kind of love that they're mainstream because we get interviews and material galore \o/ But I also understand the kneejerk "popular = bad" reaction because I've definitely had that in the past.

But the thing is that we're the *fandom* of these guys. And that is a cult group - we're not the teenyboppers screaming so loud your ears bleed at TRL or whatever. We're treating these guys just like we would any other fandom, and god is it FUN. I definitely understand that their music isn't for everyone, but. There just seems to be such a widespread active antipathy. And it makes me sad in my heart because, god, they're such precious and wonderful people and everyone dismisses them out of hand :(

It really has kind of swept through, hasn't it? I think it's partially the hiatus phenomenon, and bandom doesn't HAVE hiatuses, so it's a good temporary ship to jump to. But there's also their precious little faces! I couldn't resist, myself.

[winterweathered]

I, personally, kind of love that they're mainstream because we get interviews and material galore

TOTALLY. When I was into the boy bands, it was five or six years ago, when they were SO COOL, and it was like... every day, there would be something new to record or listen to or read or whatever. It was a magical time. Haha.

There just seems to be such a widespread active antipathy.

I really strongly think it's two things - first of all, that Pete is in the gossip rags all the time because of Ashlee, so the general view of him from OUTSIDE your fandom is that he's... THAT GUY. (I don't want that to sound wrong... What I mean is, the focus for people not in the fandom isn't really on his music or his words or his blogging or his Patrick-worship. It's on his penis pictures and the fact that he's banging a Simpson and that he was on One Tree Hill that one time.)

And the second reason for it, is the hiatus phenomenon. I know that occasionally, when I'm like YAYSAMANDDEEEEEAN! And then I come to LJ, and it's SpencerRyanPatrickPeteJoeRYANROSSOMG, I'm like... eh. But that's just because everyone is grumpy that their fandoms don't have summer tours.

Now I'm going to dream of a world where Jared and Jensen have a summer tour. *sigh*

[exsequar]

God, right now all of our favorite bands are touring. Together. It's like daily orgies or something, wtf. I can't even handle this level of awesome! *g*

Oh, PETE. Yeah, sadly, that's very true. And god, I love the guy, I really really do, but he is not exactly all warmsquishy all the time even when you do pay attention to everything he actually does as opposed to what gets into the tabloids. He's a shrewd and ruthless businessman, honestly, and also has some psychological issues, most notably an extreme Peter Pan complex. He's a really complicated guy, and you kind of have to accept certain things about him as just who he is, but when that gets distilled down into tabloid fodder... ugh. He doesn't come out pretty.

RYANROSSOMG. *cough* Sorry :D Yeah, I kind of feel guilty that I have all these new fun toys while everyone else is sunk in the hiatus blues! :( Don't worry, only a month to go! Winchesters soooon!