Dept. of Fandom Snowflake
What this fandom, or any fandom, provides, is a group of people who share one's love of something, a group that goes beyond the admitted general pleasure of having friends enjoy it - because they might enjoy it, but not share your deep love of contemplating it.
Think of it this way: fandom is a gathering of people who enjoy like-minded things - and in our society, that takes place with far more groups of people than simply fans of genre cult shows.
Herpetologists and amateur lovers of snakes and reptiles gather to share their love; amateur stargazers and professional astronomers do the same, and can get quite intense about it. Lovers of mystery writers (in general or in specific) give awards, but consider the time they spend together socially at conferences even more valuable.
What are pet shows but a fandom of sorts? Lovers of Austen novels, wine aficionados who go on tours with friends they've come to know through earlier winery tours; carnival glass fans who get together to hear scholarly discussions on this or that manufacturer of this 1930s style glass, and then share both their own thoughts on the glass and news about their families ....
Fandom is simply a subset of society and, just as one gets out of society what one puts into it, one can get out of fandom what one puts into it. I get friendships with people who like what I like - and who have other likes and dislikes that I might discover. I get companionship, I get (again, this rant notwithstanding) substantive and challenging discussions about, for example, the show I love. I wouldn't get the latter in society at large because most people are default dismissive about DW.
The same obtains for other types of fandoms: star gazers seek out each other because if they want to talk about the joy of watching an ancient supernova in one corner of the sky, which they've watched make minute movements over the space of a week, they need to talk to someone who appreciates that joy. And they're not going to find that in general society unless it's by accident.
Society is a searching out by people for company and shared hearts. Fandoms of all kinds are simply a sharpening of that focus by people sharing a specific set of interests. And within that fandom, small or large as it may be, lies multitudes.
Yep. Wordy and pretentious. How can I boil it down?
The people I've met - creative, quirky, steady, weird, fighting challenges, making their worlds better, loving unreservedly, generous, witty, curious, some as mainstream as I am, others from marginalized communities, who are gloriously forcing the world to pay proper attention, who showed me so much about the world around me that I didn't know before. People who've shown me a better way to move and act in this world,way beyond just within a fandom. Artists, commentators, makers of new things, magnificent humans.
The things they have done - helped each other, materially and emotionally; helped me; allowed me to help them.
The things they've created - that goes without saying, all you artists, writers, and commentators.
So that's fandom for me. And now I'll shut up.
* Oh, and the acronym on the cut? It's from general old SFF/skiffy fandom. Fandom Is A Way Of Life. Isn't it just?
This entry was originally posted at https://kaffyr.dreamwidth.org/757751.html?mode=reply, where there are currently
comments. You can comment there or here, but prefer to read over on DW. You can comment there using open ID if you don't have a DW account.
Think of it this way: fandom is a gathering of people who enjoy like-minded things - and in our society, that takes place with far more groups of people than simply fans of genre cult shows.
Herpetologists and amateur lovers of snakes and reptiles gather to share their love; amateur stargazers and professional astronomers do the same, and can get quite intense about it. Lovers of mystery writers (in general or in specific) give awards, but consider the time they spend together socially at conferences even more valuable.
What are pet shows but a fandom of sorts? Lovers of Austen novels, wine aficionados who go on tours with friends they've come to know through earlier winery tours; carnival glass fans who get together to hear scholarly discussions on this or that manufacturer of this 1930s style glass, and then share both their own thoughts on the glass and news about their families ....
Fandom is simply a subset of society and, just as one gets out of society what one puts into it, one can get out of fandom what one puts into it. I get friendships with people who like what I like - and who have other likes and dislikes that I might discover. I get companionship, I get (again, this rant notwithstanding) substantive and challenging discussions about, for example, the show I love. I wouldn't get the latter in society at large because most people are default dismissive about DW.
The same obtains for other types of fandoms: star gazers seek out each other because if they want to talk about the joy of watching an ancient supernova in one corner of the sky, which they've watched make minute movements over the space of a week, they need to talk to someone who appreciates that joy. And they're not going to find that in general society unless it's by accident.
Society is a searching out by people for company and shared hearts. Fandoms of all kinds are simply a sharpening of that focus by people sharing a specific set of interests. And within that fandom, small or large as it may be, lies multitudes.
Yep. Wordy and pretentious. How can I boil it down?
The people I've met - creative, quirky, steady, weird, fighting challenges, making their worlds better, loving unreservedly, generous, witty, curious, some as mainstream as I am, others from marginalized communities, who are gloriously forcing the world to pay proper attention, who showed me so much about the world around me that I didn't know before. People who've shown me a better way to move and act in this world,way beyond just within a fandom. Artists, commentators, makers of new things, magnificent humans.
The things they have done - helped each other, materially and emotionally; helped me; allowed me to help them.
The things they've created - that goes without saying, all you artists, writers, and commentators.
So that's fandom for me. And now I'll shut up.
* Oh, and the acronym on the cut? It's from general old SFF/skiffy fandom. Fandom Is A Way Of Life. Isn't it just?
This entry was originally posted at https://kaffyr.dreamwidth.org/757751.html?mode=reply, where there are currently
comments. You can comment there or here, but prefer to read over on DW. You can comment there using open ID if you don't have a DW account.