Alternate Universe: The Fem Fan Experience

[@joanmoriarity8738]

You have articulated a thought that has been hiding at the edge of my perception for ages. I've felt it for years but only now can I explain it. Some fans express their fandom by deciding what is and is not "correct" according to the "rules". Others express theirs by inventing new things that are not so much concerned with being "correct" as with being true to the spirit of the characters and stories they love. The first of those two groups is subtractive. Their happiness comes from deleting the happiness and pleasure of others. In order to succeed in their purpose, they must force other fans to back down and submit to the superiority of the "canon", punishing and exiling those who refuse to submit. They feel attacked and persecuted when they discover that someone is enjoying heretical breaches of canon. The second group is additive. Their happiness comes from finding and creating new things to make people happy. In order to succeed in their purpose, they need to welcome as many new ideas and perspectives as possible. When one of these things resonates with them, they revel in it. When another one just doesn't work for them, they are content to shrug and say "interesting, but not for me." There is legitimate pleasure to be found in the exercise of mastery in a particular field of endeavour. When you spend a lot of time and effort learning the details and intricacies of a complex and challenging subject, it's not hard to understand why you might feel irritated when someone comes along and says "yeah, but what if it was something else?" But to harass and threaten and excommunicate them as punishment, especially when you were never forcibly made to take in their ideas in the first place, is wrong. Thank you for helping me to externalize this thought. It's like an itch I couldn't reach, and it was driving me crazy.

[@WitandFolly]

Love this! This is why I make sure to not state anything such as "this is the best way to be a fan" or whatever, because there are many ways to be a fan! And my perspective alone is limiting just because it's only mine. It's good to see others' experiences. This is a really interesting take, thank you!!

[@ADavid42]

thanks for this essay! Yes there is a link between fanfiction and feminism, and I think it goes back thousands of years, to the traditions of oral history - when women had to encode the realities of their oppression in fantastical myth. 'Canon' is HIS story. Fanfic, is Her story.

[@carolinea6769]

One of my favorite tweets goes something like, "Men also write fanfiction. They just publish it as a 30 minute KZbin video and call it a theory." Obviously this is an over-generalization, but it gave me a new perspective on the ways men and women tend to engage with fandom. I really appreciate how you broke down two different kinds of theorizing: foretelling and imagining. The beauty of so many fan works is that they allow us to think of new possibilities and view the same story from different angles. Fan writers are not only thinking critically but also creatively, dissecting the characters and story beats given and building something new with them. That's awesome! It's also nice to see AUs/crossovers get their flowers! I used to avoid AUs for a while, sticking to stories that are largely canon-compliant, but I've found myself enjoying AUs a lot more recently, and I've even had the urge to write a few myself! Putting two or more texts into conversation with each other is a really fruitful form of literary analysis, and so a lot of AUs/crossovers do this analytical work and make poignant metatextual commentary all while delivering an entertaining and usually character-driven narrative. That's an impressive feat, so shout-out to all the AU writers out there! I've considered writing a couple myself and the amount of research and thought it takes is immense! My goal is to finish writing one some day and put that story I've always wanted to read out there! Thank you for this thought-provoking video. I always enjoy learning about the history of early fandom and how fans have engaged and identified with "canonical" texts in subversive and even counter-culteral ways. One of the areas of my academic research is all-women bands so it was nice to see Riot Grrrl get a mention here. The ways that female musicians carved out a space for themselves in male-dominated musical genres such as jazz or rock while simultaneously being marginalized by the music industry saw them navigating a position that was often contradictory, especially given the way that all-women bands were enfolded into the military apparatus during WWII and Vietnam. Super interesting topic, but women's presence in male-dominated spaces or spaces that were co-opted by men (such as jazz and rock music) offers a more inclusive vision, but of course women are also capable of reproducing dynamics that resemble the dominant systems of power.

[@dominikkulcsar2753]

Thank you for making this video! :)

[@WitandFolly]

hey dominik!! thank you :)

[@mslindadoll]

As a woman, I have always felt alone in science fiction. ....and it's never gotten easier. Thank you for this perspective. I will be contemplating it more deeply in the coming days.

[@WitandFolly]

💗💗💗 it's lonely! And it's hard to keep fandom friendships. I hope this helps a little bit.

[@jenf8804]

LOVE your videos your takes are always so on point!!!!

[@swanhill5759]

Such a thought-provoking essay! I’m always intrigued by the history of early fandom, and how the bones of transformative fanwork may make its creativity inherently countercultural. So this is such a treat to watch. Thank you for all the research you must have done, and for those interesting fanzine images 💕 And I so appreciate the nods to Adariel and the Adar-as-Celeborn theories. I don’t actively partake in much RoP shipping, but I love consuming it for this reason. The side of fandom that indulges imagination are simply always the ones having the most fun. And sometimes that imagining, perhaps due to a frequent focus on character and theme, can happen upon a canon “truth” or correct “theory” because we don’t limit ourselves to rules or more obvious canon in the first place. I mean…there’s a reason why early Reylos predicted the force bond. It wasn’t about uncovering something “true” before others did or one-upping the writers, but about highlighting something that could be interesting & enriching for a dynamic that shippers already spent time enjoying together.

[@galahcockatoo]

Great video! As a woman, I was always questioned by boys/men about the lore of the comic books and movies, which made me feel like an intruder in that fandom. BTW, Adar being Celeborn fanfic is pretty cool. Who knows...😉

[@willvandom5105]

Finally such a well articulated video about a topic that every marginalized fan has felt in their fandom. It's so true that most fanboys interacts with fandom by excluing others, because they aren't as true of a fan as themselves, just beause they don't know all the lore. So you constantly try to distant yourself more and more from others, which must be quite lonely. While fan-girls try creating an community that welcomes and hear each other

[@willvandom5105]

It's like girls do it to escape from their day to day marginalisation, to feel free and welcome in a safe space. While men?? Try to marginalise themselves?? But why tho

[@BeLikeWater-hu4qk]

Sooo well done 🎉

[@tiffanygarrison275]

Thank you for another awesome video. It’s a sad thing knowing that, as a woman, my enthusiasm as a fan is not as valued or sought after as much as that of men (white men, let’s be real). Sure, my dollar spends as well as a man’s but again, not as valuable.

[@Merina2222]

Very interesting video

[@poenpotzu2865]

Thanks for video! It was very informative. I wont lie growing up both in school and with friends fanfiction was often viewed as lazy escapism, so its nice to see a different perspective on this topic.

[@barleigh234]

The powers that be’s work💜💜💜

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

Cool