Toxic Fandom: When Criticism and Entitlement Go Too Far
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| Title: | "Toxic Fandom: When Criticism and Entitlement Go Too Far" or "How a group of internet fans known as antis transformed shipping in fandom from 'Don't Like, Don't Read' to discourse and death threats" |
| Creator: | By Sean Z, with additional reporting by Aria C. |
| Date(s): | October 3, 2018 |
| Medium: | essay |
| Fandom: | panfandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender |
| Topic: | Shipping discourse |
| External Links: | Toxic Fandom: When Criticism and Entitlement Go Too Far, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Toxic Fandom: When Criticism and Entitlement Go Too Far or How a group of internet fans known as antis transformed shipping in fandom from 'Don't Like, Don't Read' to discourse and death threats is an article/essay published on GeekDad.com in October 2018. The essay is largely by Sean Z, with some contributions by Aria C. The authors give an overview of "the good old days" of shipping, the rise of anti-shippers, and the changes in fandom as a result.
Excerpts
To be clear, critiquing media for its larger social impact is fine and healthy. However, in these cases, antis would disingenuously put forth these claims to provide a basis for their hatred. For example, in the video game Overwatch, antis claim pairing Gabriel Reyes with McCree (known as McReyes) promotes pedophilia. (It doesn't. McCree, the younger character, is 37.) They also claim pairing Rey and Kylo Ren from Star Wars supports incest, because there's a chance they could be related (they're not). Pairing Hank and his android partner Connor together from the video game Detroit: Become Human also supports incest by their logic (Connor is an android assigned to Hank, a human, to be his partner on the police force).
That's where Voltron fandom stands – there are lots of amazing fan artists, talented fan writers, and a great show staff, but the fandom is scary, and I say that as someone who loves this show and this fandom. During the first season and before antis became a prominent voice, the show's staff and voice actors used to share and reblog fan art, joke about ship names, and even responded to messages in private chats. Now, not a single main cast member still has direct/private messages enabled on Twitter. I mourn the show we could have had if we all weren't scared.
Even though antis are usually a small fraction of the people who are part of a fandom, they have power to do significant damage. Toxicity drives people out of ships, and out of fandom, regardless of their pairing.
Ultimately, fandom is what we make of it, and we all can make it better. If you're a parent, speak to your children about proper online conduct, and talk to them about the repercussions of harassment online. If you’re a convention organizer, take caution when someone proposes a panel on ethical shipping, and investigate if the people proposing this are speaking in good faith, or are they trying to gain a platform for inciting harassment. If you're a member of popular show or movie's staff, take a moment and remind your fans and followers that you don't support harassment, especially over ships. And finally, if you're a fan, be decent to people. Scroll past stuff that isn't for you. Make the content that you’re passionate about. If we all work together, we can bring back the golden days of "don't like, don't read."