Do you worry about if "anti" will one day become the new "SJW", where people will just lob the phrase at anyone who is merely critical about a ship without argument? I've already started seeing the latter happen slowly.
yes and no, because ⌠well, itâs funny, but âantiâ has kind of ⌠come full circle? in this respect?
a brief history of the word/label âantiâ in fictional media tumblr fandom spaces is below, but please remember that the word/label âantiâ is used in a lot of other communities as well, with different connotations in each one (see âantisâ in RPF fandoms for an example).
brief history of the âantiâ label in fictional media fandoms on tumblr
in fictional media fandom spaces on tumblr, âanti-[ship]â started out as the tumblr version of âthat ship is my notpâ and had nothing to do with moralizing or bullying.Â
(âanti [ship]â was itself an outgrowth of the anti-[topic] tags used to keep [topic]-negative posts out of the âmainâ tag on tumblr (âdonât tag your hate!â), which encompassed everything from intellectual critique of [topic] to vendetta tirades against [topic].)
due to tumblr fandomâs conflation of shipping and activism, anti-kink/anti-porn radfems (swerfs) influence anti-[ship] communities in particular by intermingling anti-[kink/porn] & anti-[ship] blog content.*Â
following the social models cued by anti-kink radfems & puritanical anti-sex-ed Christians, a significant portion of self-identified âantisâ eventually semi-organize into an abusive fandom-policing machine geared towards picking on fans/fanworks of designated âbad shipsâ (which are invariably described as âpedophiliaâ/âincestuousâ/âabusiveâ). the superficial appearance of doing good, likely coupled with other factors such as ship wars, feelings of disgust towards dark/kinky fandom content, and misogynistic cultural background radiation draws new fandomgoers into the movement, growing their ranks.
the constant vitriol, hatred, harassment, and negativity spewing from these militant âanti-[ship]â communties cause the word âantiâ to become associated with cyberbullying and moral abuse.
a backlash against anyone using âanti-[ship]â tags or calling themselves an âantiâ (whether they were partaking in this type of militant anti-shipping or not) results, unfairly hurting self-identified antis who were minding their own business, alienating them from the shippers attacking them. militant antis intensify the resulting polarization by using non-militant antis as shields & strawmen to paint the backlash as unwarranted.
nonetheless, 'antiâ and âanti-[ship] as self-identifiers start to fall out of use. militant antis migrate to âanti-pedophiliaâ/âanti-incestâ/âanti-abuseâ, though they continue to focus on fictional depictions and not real life examples of these things. they assert that anyone criticizing them or their stance on fictional dark content must be a [wannabe] irl pedophile/rapist/abuser, or an apologist for them at the least.Â
the constant polarization and nonstop harassment still streaming from militant antis takes its toll on its targets and its bystanders, encouraging hypersensitivity to any sort of critique or negative comment in their relatively anti-free spaces.
hypersensitivity led to shushing and discouragement of negativity of any kind whatsoever in âpro-shipâ or âship and let shipâ communities. people who complain âsound like antisâ.
 and the ironic thing is ... they do. but in the original tumblr fandom sense, not the âmilitant hater antiâ sense.
*come to think of it, radfem descriptions of kinky relationships such as clg & ddlg as âpedophiliaâ or âincestâ and of bdsm relationships as âabuseâ no doubt had a significant influence on the way these words would come to be employed by militant anti-shippers.Â









