Couldn't find a good title

[wiseheart]

My recent - and a bit unpleasant - encounter with an archivist made me think about the overall manner people are treated in various fandoms. The "suck up and shut up" parole, in particular.

For a long time, I've been repeatedly told to grow a thicker hide when meeting the general nastiness that seems to make itself wide in every fandom. But frankly, I don't see why I should.

Why should I get rid of the civil manners trained into me in a time when said manners were a requirement if one wanted to be accepted in polite society? Why should I accept that I would be treated rudely, well, just because this is the Internet? Why should I accept that it's supposedly "normal" in a fandom - which is, frankly, a small and fairly insignificant part of human life - to call names, to be rude and nasty and lecture people who happen to have different opinions?

Why can't we just talk about our favourite book/movie/series/whatever, without the fear that some self-important idiot would elbow themselves in and kill the discussion with their aggressivity? Why can't we just write and share stories, without knowing that there are armies of self-important idiots out there whose only agenda is to look for mistakes, even if there are none, and to tear the story apart and lecture the author, even if they are wrong.

Yes, they are bad stories. There's a lot of crap out there. So what? That's what the Back button is for, on every frigging keyboard. Nobody forces people to read what they don't like, right?

And I'm the one told to get a life? Oh, please!

When has rudeness become a norm?

Comments

[makamu]

It never has but sadly it is mostly the rude, selfish people who get what they want. Doesn't make the matter better by any stretch of the imagination but that is how the world is. This makes it all the more important to stand up for one's own fannishness politely and strongly at the same time.

Maybe my young idealism is showing again, but that is how I have survived. And if all else fails, remember Galilei and that thoughts are free.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm not fighting anyone. It's just not worth my time. I've been writing twice as long as some of those blowfish are alive, and they won't drove me away of my favourite pastime.

I just hate the rudeness and the nastiness. Which is the reason why I withdrew from any other fandom activities than writing - well, that and the Tolkien Quiz, of course - quite some time ago.

[jilba.livejournal.com]

I agree, we should be able to discuss these fandoms without it becoming the sort of cat fights I know you've been subjected to in the past. As Ithilwen says, who cares if those teenage fangirls are out there writing crap stories, at least they're not on the streets taking drugs. And yes, God Bless the Back Button, saver of our brains on many occasions!