What are some "fan" stereotypes? (Meaning the stereotypes the "general public" has about fans, rather than the stereotypes fans themselves have.)
The biggest stereotype of all: Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons. People still believe fans are all overweight, have hygiene problems and are completely socially inept. Never mind that fandom by its very nature is a social activity . . .
Oh, and there's also the belief that we're all out of touch with reality, we spend every single dollar on our obsessions and we cosplay 24/7. And that people who write fanfiction, especially the NC-17 stuff, do it because they've never had sex in their lives and never will.
Are there different stereotypes for female and male fans? Is the stereotype "gendered"? I think the basic male stereotype is the Comic Book Guy type. Female fans . . . well, some people don't think female fans exist at all, especially in anime and sci-fi fandoms. Women in media fandoms are thought of as the typical shrieking fangirl who is a borderline stalker of her favorite
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stereotypes...The Simpson's Comic Book guy has already been mentioned, but I think it bears repeating - the Get A Lifers are the wierdos, while the people watching the Simpsons or SNL or MadTV can consider themselves normal while they point and mock
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This has been mentioned above, but the general fan stereotype is male, probably out-of-shape, in his parents basement with pictures of 7 of 9 all over the walls, smart but socially inept. If you have ever seen the SNL sketch with william Shatner, It describs the view perfectly. He is basically beings asked by "fans" in Spock ears inane questions about safe combinations and the like, to whom he finally screams "Get a Life!". The entire transcript is here. IT almost exactly portrays the stereotype that exists. Some people have a "fangirl" stereotype,especially with music and celebrities, but that is basically a giggly 13yr old hoarding NSYNC posters and using her parents credit cards to bid on EBAY for a shirt Ashton Kutcher wore. The predominate view, I find, is the male fan
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daegaer has made a valid point...women fans don't exist in the publics' view. And the male comic book/amazon woman (read:Buffy, Xena, etc) fans are portrayed as overweight slobs who never see daylight, are socially inept and living like trolls in there parents' basement
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The biggest stereotype of all: Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons. People still believe fans are all overweight, have hygiene problems and are completely socially inept. Never mind that fandom by its very nature is a social activity . . .
Oh, and there's also the belief that we're all out of touch with reality, we spend every single dollar on our obsessions and we cosplay 24/7. And that people who write fanfiction, especially the NC-17 stuff, do it because they've never had sex in their lives and never will.
Are there different stereotypes for female and male fans? Is the stereotype "gendered"? I think the basic male stereotype is the Comic Book Guy type. Female fans . . . well, some people don't think female fans exist at all, especially in anime and sci-fi fandoms. Women in media fandoms are thought of as the typical shrieking fangirl who is a borderline stalker of her favorite ( ... )
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