On the one hand, I can't stress enough how annoyed I am when I see someone talk fandom history and be wrong! be so fucking wrong! What do you MEAN people didn't discuss x, y or z, what do you MEAN the fans didn't notice the blind spots or problems within the canon OR within the fandom, why do you say "well, we didn't see it right then, right, even though today it's obvious" - maybe YOU didn't, I still remember the >50 pages forum threads in which people fought about it.
...and then on the other, I realize I'm listening to a person talking in English about English speaking fandom and my earliest fandom experiences were in my not completely, but somewhat isolated, if only because of the language, turf.
But then again, I do remember a lot of discussions in English, after I learned the language enough to at least read it with understanding. It was different, yes, but if there weren't any people speaking up about the sexism, homophobia, racism then, you all wouldn't be finding it so obvious now! It's at least in part the result of many people being hurt and annoyed and forcing others to see and think about so many issues, even if they were driven away from fandom spaces and harassed for it.
And it's not like it's not happening now too, BTW, fandom is not over harassment and driving people away with their bigotry. It's not magically by itself more enlightened than it was - it's a result of work, it cost people time, effort and often health, and it's not over.
I beg you to stop with the narration or even insinuation that now when acknowledging some kinds of issues that people have been talking about for years is finally non-confrontational, speaking up now never amounts to marginalized fans being viciously attacked.