Acafen vs Squeefen, round 235
The last few rounds of metafandom have focused on the aca-fen vs anti-aca perspectives on enjoying fic. And it's moving along in predictable patterns. (Not because they're inane or boring patterns--I find them fascinating every time--but because they've been done before, and there's only so many directions this can go.)
Phase 1: "I not acafan; I no like acafandom. Acafandom=mean." Response: "Wy u no like acafandom? U dumm. Acafandom=fun." Phase 2: "Stoopid ppl no like acafandom. They dumm." Response: "Thx for dis post; ur rite, they dumm."
(Hopefully, by writing that in Kitteh, it's obvious that I'm exaggerating to make a point, and nobody actually called anyone else "stoopid" or "dumm.")
The anti-aca posts get a flurry of "yeah, I don't like acafandom either" replies--and a swarm of "what? why do you have a problem with acafandom? Lots of people love it! I LOVE IT! If you don't want to analyze fic & trends in fandom, don't play the acafandom game. Don't like? Don't read."
Okay, so far, so good.
Then aca-fen are inspired to write their own posts about Why They Love Acafandom. These pro-aca posts get a flurry of replies that say "YOU GO GIRL!!!" and some that say "I'm not really an acafan but I love the aca-activity." None (or not many) that say "no, I think acafandom is annoying and exclusionary and mean-spirited, at least what I've encountered of it." There are posts that say that--but not replies to the pro-aca posts. Because they know they're not welcome, and they'll get swarmed on.
Politely swarmed on, maybe. Gently offered counterpoints, from a dozen directions. With a polite but firm undertone of "if you don't like it, you can leave." Academic, literary analysis is praised; semi-academic friendly discussions are praised; non-aca discussions are dismissed as "just mindless squee" or worse.
And this is... a common reaction, to any attempt to discuss fandom from an other-than-academic perspective.
Slash is women having sex with with other women's brainz...
Fanfic is a religious exercise...
Fandom is a political/feminist act...
Slash makes people queer...
Incestfic promotes child abuse...
I just wanna watch the show & enjoy the pretty boys & think about them having sex...
Any non-academic relation to fandom is suspect, and prone to both getting direct argument and spawning a cluster of "how dare she say that!" meta posts.
I don't think this is a "problem" to be "fixed." But it's worth noting--that academic literary analysis and the not-quite-academic variations that are similar are welcome, and widely accepted and agreed with... and other forms of analysis are often critiqued or mocked. The oft-claimed "Fandom welcomes all ideas & perspectives" is a lie, except in the sense of "nobody will come to your house and beat you with sticks for saying something we think is stupid." But as far as "you will be able to connect with people of similar beliefs, and people who strongly disagree will just pretend they don't see you rather than replying to contradict you or making comments about you in their journals" (with varying degrees of directness)... no, that's not happening.
Acafan privilege: 1) I can expect to find discussions I enjoy, and feel welcome to participate in, in most online fandom venues. 2) I am free to insult venues that exclude me, and I can expect widespread agreement with the insults. 3) I will not be assumed to represent the beliefs of everyone who agrees with me on this one point. 4) I can expect not to be told that my fic is bad because my understanding of fandom is wrong. 5) I don't have to understand perspectives I don't agree with in order to have interesting discussions about fandom. 6) I can be bitchy at someone without it being assumed that all aca-fen are bitchy.
And so on.
For what it's worth, in the recent discussion, I haven't seen anyone be vicious or even mean, as I understand them. (Which is why I haven't quoted anyone; I don't want anyone thinking I'm pointing fingers at them.) Haven't seen overt rudness. Just an overall attitude of, "of COURSE aca-fandom is Good, and anything else is... maybe not good." And a lot of aca-fen and would-be-aca-fen patting each other on the back, agreeing with each other... while the non- or anti-aca fen are silent.
I don't know where I fall on the aca-scale. I've not got a degree; that puts me at "non-aca." I generally love aca-discussion, but my perspectives on some aspects of fandom are so far from the norm (inasmuch as fandom has a "norm") that they often either fall flat or draw outrage. This has given me plenty of opportunity to watch for trends, to notice patterns... and the pattern I notice is aca-fandom, as a meme (not an organization, not a bloc, not a cohesive group of people), is tolerant of non-competing memes (writing technique discussion, art materials discussion, copyright issues) and less tolerant of, sometimes contemptuous of, incompatible memes.