My impression (and my personal take on what I do and don't want said about fandom) is that as long as what's being said isn't actually oh, those silly fangirls writing their silly porn or god, what freaks, I'm really interested in scholarly work on fandom and having people discuss the perception versus the reality of it. There's a huge difference between writing an academic paper that thoughtfully addresses fandom and fic, and, say, telling Gawker about fandom.
But then I'm a sociology major and find things like this really interesting so possibly I have a different angle on it. But I don't think anyone was offended by Lev Grossman's TIME article about fandom!
I saw a quote from the Grossman article that was really cool, so clearly I need to actually read this thing in full. (Also, yay sociology! It's kind of like anthropology but with slightly less of an awkward colonial background and also there were no sociology classes about pop culture at my school.)
And yeah, that's a line that I've seen mentioned a few times - the "god, what freaks," vs actually looking at it from a sympathetic perspective - and I tend to agree, which is why I love Henry Jenkins so much. (The original acafan! That man is my hero.) On the other hand, something about having to give my professor a broad overview of fandom and transformative works during her office hours felt... sketchy. Maybe it's just that I feel weird about discussing this stuff with people who don't already know about it to begin with. (Or maybe I've just internalized too much shame, ha.)
(I love sociology! We do a bit less talking about the why of cultures, I think, but it's a lot of fun. So many demographic trends! I kind of want to do my honors thesis on the sociology of fandom, actually. I'm a psych major as well, so many about the psychological demographics ...)
Most people in fandom are okay with it being talked about as long the conversation isn't condescending or offensive, I think. It's pretty common knowledge that fandom exists and, for my part, if more of the discussion of it weren't so negative, I'd be a lot more willing to out myself as a participant. And it's probably normal to feel weird discussing fandom; we all spend a lot of time hiding it from people, and it's hard to explain. My mother is a professional journalist who has written creative fiction and loves books and movies and TV shows and it took me the better part of seven years to get her to understand why I felt a desire to build on someone else's creations.
If you can force the mainstream to look upon fandon with a tad less derision, maybe it would be a good thing? The portrayal of The Fangirl on Supernatural is like a nasty bucket of ice water down our collective backs, with how no matter how brave and smart she is, in the end she is reduced to "dumb, horny and desperate" and even her porn is portrayed as some almost infantile self-insertion of the lowest quality, and, of course nobody ever mentions the sense of community, the close and lasting friendships that develop, instead choosing to show us as bickering with each other over boys and hating each other for getting boys' attention.. (basically the way women are usually presented in stories, right?)..
You make an excellent point. And yeah, I think that the portrayal of fandom is really strongly related to a lot of internalized misogyny. If we're not bickering with each other over boys, we're fat lesbians who can't get laid, or just plain deluded.
I heard about The Fangirl (Becky?) on Supernatural! I think I know some people who kind of liked her? But yeah, I think there's definitely a line between loving satire and between alienating the main portion of your fanbase. A thin line, maybe, but a line nonetheless.
As an anthro major, I can say that people tend to be really open about whatever topic you present. Fanfiction is not going to be the farthest thing out of their comfort zone that they've ever been exposed to, I'm sure. Even an intro class has things that are stranger and more difficult to understand than fandom. Most anthro people love to know about somebody's interests, especially if they relate to their anthropological work. (It's great. I can talk to people about deafness and the history of ASL and audism and everyone's all "That's so cool. I bet there's a lot of academic work to be done on that" instead of having their eyes glaze over.) This is especially relevant in a pop culture class. If you want to do it, go for it. I don't think your concerns should hold you back. In my experience, they haven't been a problem and aren't likely to be.
Hey, long time no... speak? Whatever, it's been a while. I had no idea you were an anthro major!
You're right, I think, and my teacher was definitely more interested in it from a "Oh, this is so fascinating," standpoint and not a "point and laugh" one, but my worry actually does stem from one of the pop culture classes I was in (this class is actually a theoretical class, I'm just twisting the paper topic for my own interests), where we were discussing fandom and there was definitely a sense of, "Well, people can do what they want to do? I guess? But god, that's so weird." I don't know whether to blame that on the fact that all the fic they had been exposed to was apparently the really shitty stuff that always gets dragged up by the media when they're writing about us, or the fact that half the class was film majors rather than anthro majors.
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But then I'm a sociology major and find things like this really interesting so possibly I have a different angle on it. But I don't think anyone was offended by Lev Grossman's TIME article about fandom!
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And yeah, that's a line that I've seen mentioned a few times - the "god, what freaks," vs actually looking at it from a sympathetic perspective - and I tend to agree, which is why I love Henry Jenkins so much. (The original acafan! That man is my hero.) On the other hand, something about having to give my professor a broad overview of fandom and transformative works during her office hours felt... sketchy. Maybe it's just that I feel weird about discussing this stuff with people who don't already know about it to begin with. (Or maybe I've just internalized too much shame, ha.)
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(I love sociology! We do a bit less talking about the why of cultures, I think, but it's a lot of fun. So many demographic trends! I kind of want to do my honors thesis on the sociology of fandom, actually. I'm a psych major as well, so many about the psychological demographics ...)
Most people in fandom are okay with it being talked about as long the conversation isn't condescending or offensive, I think. It's pretty common knowledge that fandom exists and, for my part, if more of the discussion of it weren't so negative, I'd be a lot more willing to out myself as a participant. And it's probably normal to feel weird discussing fandom; we all spend a lot of time hiding it from people, and it's hard to explain. My mother is a professional journalist who has written creative fiction and loves books and movies and TV shows and it took me the better part of seven years to get her to understand why I felt a desire to build on someone else's creations.
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I heard about The Fangirl (Becky?) on Supernatural! I think I know some people who kind of liked her? But yeah, I think there's definitely a line between loving satire and between alienating the main portion of your fanbase. A thin line, maybe, but a line nonetheless.
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You're right, I think, and my teacher was definitely more interested in it from a "Oh, this is so fascinating," standpoint and not a "point and laugh" one, but my worry actually does stem from one of the pop culture classes I was in (this class is actually a theoretical class, I'm just twisting the paper topic for my own interests), where we were discussing fandom and there was definitely a sense of, "Well, people can do what they want to do? I guess? But god, that's so weird." I don't know whether to blame that on the fact that all the fic they had been exposed to was apparently the really shitty stuff that always gets dragged up by the media when they're writing about us, or the fact that half the class was film majors rather than anthro majors.
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