You got your gender wank in my fan wank! You got your fan wank in my gender wank!

[roxann_ireland]

This came up in a discussion amongst a bunch of fanboys gamers male video game enthusiasts of my acquaintance regarding the term "fanboy" - what makes a fanboy, are you a fanboy, is "fanboy" an insult

Comments

[roxann_ireland]

I would think that if it weren't for the fact that game-characters get slashed just like everyone else and when I look at the fangirl behavior, I don't see any difference between game fandoms and other fandoms. Case in point: today I found myself watching Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II songvids and they looked just like all the other fanvids I've seen. I was originally thinking that it might be a gamer thing with the guys, and I do think it's worse with the gamers, but then I recalled conversations I've had with comic book fanboys and movie fanboys and they don't seem that different to me. Still that same competitive deal.

Or maybe it's just the guys I know.

[roxann_ireland]

In the DW fandom, do the guys refer to each other as "fanboys?" Is it derogatory, teasing, adjectival (is that a word?) or what? Have you noticed?

[roxann_ireland]

So would it be fair to say that, in your experience, the level disdain for fanwhatevers in a given fandom increases with the degree of male participation. I've also never hear a guy use the word "fandom".

[belladonnalin]

It's interesting - I see both "fangirl" and "fanboy" used variously positively and negatively. I've DEFINITELY see fanboys dismiss anyone who identifies as a "fangirl," but I've also see media enthusiasts (HEE!) look down their collective noses at any of us that identify as fan-anythings.

For me, "fangirl" isn't a negative term, but I do think that it points to different behavior than fanboying. I am certain part of that is gendered expectations - fangirls tend to write, fanboys tend to obsessively collect? But I don't know, it's not always that clear, either.

[roxann_ireland]

I think I could make a thesis on this whole gendered fannishness thing. What do you think? I guess I have to go back to college first. Still not sure if I really want to do that, if I will fail out again, etc...

[belladonnalin]

You TOTALLY could! Are you still thinking about Evergreen?

[roxann_ireland]

Hmmm, kinda - right now I am working on getting my hed pastede on yay. I haven't written up my most recent adventures in psychopharmacology, but I really need to.

[varushka]

The Brokeback fandom is a bit atypical in that for about 95% of us, it's our first fandom experience ever. I'd barely heard of, much less actually read, any fanfiction or slash until my involvement in the Brokeback Mountain fandom. And the overwhelming majority of Brokeback fanpersons are female, and I know some of those women are queer (including a few slash writers I know about).

[cathaus]

I actually prefer the term "geek" as an umbrella thing. Some do not. I've read some slash, but am not involved in the scene, so to speak. I don't know if "geek" is pejorative now, or what. Once in a mixed gathering I referred to myself and others who were into certain things as "geeks" and was corrected by a woman who said that, no, she is a FAN of such and such. Okay... but at the time that seemed awful passive. I mean, I enjoy lots of stuff that has fandoms, I read comics, etc etc... but I think of my main geekiness as being making and learning about medieval stuff. While technically I'm a fan of being involved in that, it's not a fandom.

That said, I realize that reading and writing and squeeing about fandoms and slash is not passive, but actually a very active engagement of the media. Pls dnt flame me thx ok.

[roxann_ireland]

It's funny because I was actually just talking to my mom about how I thought that "geek" was a more umbrella term, whereas "fangirl" was more specific, with an emphasis on the media-centric.

You may like something that has generated a fandom, and it may be a geeky thing to like, but you can like it without being a member of the fandom, is what I'm saying.

[cathaus]

That sounds about right.