Fandom can be extremely clique-ish and social shunning is definitely something that I remember being huge -- especailly back in mailing list days -- but shaming others for loving something is really shitty behaviour from fellow fans.
But a lot of it depends on the fandom and the genre you were involved in, and I think I was lucky. Early forays into anime were supported by other fans, even though in hindsight... well, those stories are better left buried. *g* Then I read in BtVS (huge and sprawling and too intimidating to write in), and SV (huge, sprawling, but generally supportive. And so full of seriously awesome writers doing amazing things that my stuff was never a big deal) and then Sports Night (teeny-tiny boutique fandom where you knew the other twenty active fans and I blossomed there).
But it's just lousy behaviour to attack other fen, to tear down something that someone spent hours doing out of love. Unfortunately, fandom isn't immune from people acting like jerks, but it's unnecessary and I wish it didn't happen.
no subject
Fandom can be extremely clique-ish and social shunning is definitely something that I remember being huge -- especailly back in mailing list days -- but shaming others for loving something is really shitty behaviour from fellow fans.
But a lot of it depends on the fandom and the genre you were involved in, and I think I was lucky. Early forays into anime were supported by other fans, even though in hindsight... well, those stories are better left buried. *g* Then I read in BtVS (huge and sprawling and too intimidating to write in), and SV (huge, sprawling, but generally supportive. And so full of seriously awesome writers doing amazing things that my stuff was never a big deal) and then Sports Night (teeny-tiny boutique fandom where you knew the other twenty active fans and I blossomed there).
But it's just lousy behaviour to attack other fen, to tear down something that someone spent hours doing out of love. Unfortunately, fandom isn't immune from people acting like jerks, but it's unnecessary and I wish it didn't happen.