Problematic

Synonyms:
See also:	Ableism in Fandom, Cultural Imperialism in Fandom, Homophobia in Fandom, Misogyny in Fandom, Race and Fandom, Real World Events in Fanworks, Social Justice, Social Justice Warrior, Puriteen, Purity Culture in Fandom, I stand with my cancelled wife
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In its broader sense, problematic means anything that "in some way—through its meaning, or the unstated assumptions behind it—reinforces unjust beliefs or an unfair system". It is largely tied to the Social Justice movement online. In its fannish context, this could be characters, creators, actors, casting decisions, storylines, quotes, costumes, or even fanart of racist, misogynistic, sexist, homophobic, or appropriative natures.

A problematic fave is a person or thing that has exhibited problematic behavior but for whom the speaker's affection has not diminished. A number of blogs titled "Your Fave Is Problematic" have been active over the years, and are dedicated to compiling evidence of celebrities' problematic behaviors. There have also been discussions of whether or not YFIP is in itself problematic.

To be an unproblematic fave is a high praise in fandom. This is a person or thing that has not exhibited any problematic behaviors and has probably, in fact, acted or spoken in an educated and self-aware manner. They are also often a Cinnamon Roll.

Anti-shippers describe some ships as problematic. A ship can be flagged as problematic or "proship" (originally short for pro-shipper, but often used as an abbreviation for "problematic ship"), among other things, due to toxic dynamics, age gaps, power imbalances, or incestuous themes.

Fannish Usage and Discussion

In a March 2014 thread about "words you'd like to never see again" on Fail-Fandomanon, nonnies discussed the limitations of the term:

[Nonnie 1]
problematic. it's just so vague. like, if something is racist and sexist, say "this is racist and sexist," not "this is problematic." it's too....cutesy, i guess. by not saying exactly what the problem is, it's like you're ignoring it. i can get using it certain ways, when talking about a group of things that have issues, but they don't all have the same issues, but it shouldn't be used as a replacement for actually saying that something is racist/sexist/homophobic/etc.

[Nonnie 2]

'Problematic' annoys me because it gets used online as though we're supposed to know what those problems are. The whole point of this stupid word is for academic-ese like: "There are several problematic aspects of [Measure for Measure] that make it difficult to classify as either comedy or tragedy..." In other words, those aspects cause problems for the Shakespeare scholar trying to classify the play. The only way to know what the problems are is to read on for a description. The writer literally means "has some kind of problem". The whole point is that it's nonspecific. It does not mean "All of the *isms"! Arrrgh. If you mean "morally bad", just say so!

[Nonnie 3]

Yes! It's also applied to things like "the sources for this dialogue are problematic, as no one mss. contains the entire work, and there are considerably divergent readings."

Now it just means "I don't like something in this."

Over time, the word has become increasingly used by some people in fandom as a means of attempting to shut down any discussions about a work, pairing or person; often with those claiming that something or someone is problematic making that the entirety of their argument. By association, anyone who likes the something or someone automatically becomes problematic themselves. This has led to considerable frustration amongst other people in fandom spaces, particularly as the wide use of the word and what is encompassed within its use means that people who draw or write for shows or ships that people don't like are put in the same overall category as people who have acted out harm against real people, making it difficult for people to know how to gauge information and its severity.

List of terms I am putting on the shelf out of the reach of the average tumblr user for 2024:

-queerbaiting

-codependant

-toxic

-problematic

-good representation

-fetishization

reddbuster 

[ORAORAORA204]
The worst part about this is that because the target has been deemed “problematic” these people think they are doing something good. Like some kind of chronically online fandom superhero taking out the trash. It has become incredibly prevalent over the years to the point where I really have no desire to engage in any fandom communities. One person out of ten isn’t toxic and delusional as Hell and that ratio just doesn’t work for me.

[BastetSekhmetMafdet]
It is the epitome of armchair activism or slacktivism. “I can Make A Difference! - by harassing some poor fan whose Bert/Ernie watersports fanfic got maybe 10 kudos and 1 comment!” 🙄 🙄

Blocking at the first hints of toxicity, and not engaging in discourse, helps, but I tend to be very wary of “community” these days in a way I was not 20 or even 10 years ago. Toxicity and bullying have always existed, but when fandom had more walled gardens and fewer spaces like Twitter (is it still Twitter?) and TikTok, it was easier to avoid.

Both within fandom and outside of it, there have also been discussions around how the vagueness and lack of specificity in the word — as well as the fact it gets applied to things that people just don't like — also means that it is losing it's value within discussions about media or other topics, because some people are stopping at "it's problematic" and not explaining or analysing what the issues are, which is an important factor in academia and media analysis.

Meta/Further Reading

• The rise of the anti-fandom fandom, ^{Archived version} at The Daily Dot (May 2013)
• Femslash Revolution's 2017 statement
• Stupid Fandom discourse about problematic discourse could be cured easily if more people understood that it's all fiction, r/CuratedTumblr, ^{Archived on 29 November 2024}