I saw an argument, and I canât find it now, but it totally made sense, that thereâs a gender split in fandom. Male fandom tends to be a curator fandom; male fandom collects, organizes, and memorizes facts and figures. Male fandom tends to be KEEPERS of the canon; the fandom places great weight on those who have the biggest collection, the deepest knowledge of obscure subjects, the first appearances, creators, character interactions.
Female fandom is creative. Females create fanart, cosplay, fanwritings. Female fandom ALTERS canon, for the simple reason that canon does not serve female fandom. In order for it to fit the âoutsiderâ (female, queer, POC), the canon must be attacked and rebuilt, and that takes creation.
âMaleâ fandom devalues this contribution to fandom, because it is not the ârightâ kind of fandom. âGirls only cosplay for attention, theyâre not REAL fans!â âFanfiction is full of stupid Mary Sues, girls only do it so they can make out with the main character!â âI, a male artist, have done this pin-up work and can put it in my portfolio! You, a female artist, have drawn stupid fanart, and itâs not appropriate to use as a professional reference!â
In the mind of people who decry the âfake geek girl,â this fandom is not as worthy. It damages, or in their mind, destroys the canon. What is the point of memorizing every possible romantic entanglement of heterosexual white Danny Rand if someone turns around and creates a fanwork depicting him as a bisexual female of Asian descent (thus subverting Randâs creepy âwhite saviorâ origins)? When Danny Rand becomes Dani Rand, their power is lessened. What is important to them ceases to be the focus of the discussion. Creation and curatorship can work in tandom, but typically, in fandom, they are on opposite poles.
This is not to say that there arenât brilliant male cosplayers or smashing female trivia experts, this is to say that the need of the individual fan is met with opposing concepts: In order for me to find myself in comics, I need to make that space for myself, and that is a creative force. Het white cis males are more likely to do anything possible to defend and preserve the canon because the canon is built to cater to them.
jacobvanloon
blakekathryn
areudirty
theartofmadeline
vaporwave
gummygunk
origamiaround
