Hey, EW: Thanks for Perpetuating the Stereotype!

[taste_is_sweet]

Any of you guys out there seen This Week's Cover from Entertainment Weekly magazine?

(And I'm sorry to be so North America-centric with this, my international Flisties, but this is one of the most popular magazines in North America, which is one of the reasons I'm so mad.)

I'm not talking about the Vampire Diaries, though if that floats your boat that's cool. I'm talking about the wee little article title down at the bottom: "Meet the Shippers: TV's Weirdest Fans".

Yeah. That.

As you can imagine I read the article with a certain amount of trepidation, being that it was essentially about me and pretty much everyone I know online. (Though naturally they had the nomenclature a little incorrect, since Slashers aren't "Slash Shippers" as in the article, we're just Slashers, thanks.) But surprisingly, given the title, it was pretty good. I could've done with more acknowledgement of slashers, especially given how the article mostly discussed how the (het) shippers influenced plots of television shows (albeit grudgingly on the part of some producers, apparently) and it would've been nice to see that slashers have had influence beyond Gabrielle and Xena. After all, I'm pretty sure the leads of The Sentinel played the 'bromance' up for the slash fans, and I know for sure that before TPTB decided to bite the hands that fed them with Stargate: Universe, they actually gave a nod to the Jack/Daniel fans once.

But overall, not a bad article. Which made the title that much more maddening and, not to put too fine a point on it, mean. So I decided to write them a letter about it. I'm sure it won't get printed, so I figured I'd put it here, too.



Dear Mr. Jensen and Ms. Murphy:

I wanted to thank you for your article on 'Shippers' in the Feb. 17 issue of Entertainment Weekly. Given the dismissal in the title ('TV's weirdest fans') I was sure it would be nothing but a joky article encouraging all the 'normal' viewers to point fingers and laugh at the weirdos on the fringes. It was a pleasant surprise, therefore, to see that Mr. Jensen had actually put thought and research into what he wrote, and ably and fairly introduced an aspect of fan experience that I'm sure most of your readers didn't know existed.

I was especially impressed with the mini-interviews of actual fanfiction writers, vidders and awards site hosts by Ms. Murphy. Thank you for choosing such a representative group of fans without the sniggering adherence to images of antisocial spinsters huddled in their parents' basements. In my personal experience most women who choose to immerse themselves in fandom (as we call it) are students, professionals, mothers and spouses just like anyone else.

(I should point out, however, that we slashers don't call ourselves "slash shippers"; we're just slashers. We are also a far larger group than you might have imagined. If you'd care to look on such fan archives as AO3, I'm sure you'll find that the slashers, if not in the majority, are an extremely large and prolific group. You'll also see that any given television show, movie or popular book will have inspired slash fiction.)

I was saddened, however, by the choice of title for the article. I'm sure you can appreciate how hurtful it would be to be called 'weird' simply because of how you choose to engage with media and other fans. Given how your article states that the majority of shippers (and slashers) are women, I'm sure you can also appreciate how it would appear that our gender influenced your description as well. We are certainly used to the assumption that anything women particularly enjoy is frivolous--Or 'weird'. But that doesn't make it acceptable.

Comments

[mezzo-cammin.livejournal.com]

Well said!! Brava!

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :)

[wpadmirer.livejournal.com]

Good letter. What I thought was funny was that I wrote an article almost identical to this about 20 years for a magazine about the web. Ha. Been there, done that.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Totally. It's amazing how long it takes things to actually be known widely sometimes, eh?

I'm sure your article didn't have a dismissive title. :)

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Oh! And thank you! Sorry I forgot to say that.

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Well said, that woman. :D


Did you see Lev Grossman's article on fan fiction published in Time last July? The Boy Who Lived Forever (http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2081784,00.html)?

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :)

No I didn't see the article. Thank you for letting me know about it. At least the title sounds good...

[amalthia]

Well said. I also don't like being called weird because I engage in a hobby.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I didn't even realize until today that the title for the article in the table of contents was "TV's Craziest Fans", which was even worse. And I'm sure the letter won't be printed, or if it is I'll get some condescending response. At least I tried...

[niamh-sage.livejournal.com]

Good one. I don't like the pejorative use of 'weird' either.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. In the table of contents shippers were called "TV's Craziest Fans". The worst part is that even after pointing it out I'm sure no one will understand why I made such a big deal about it.

[tigertale7.livejournal.com]

Well, they'll probably just roll their collective eyes and say, 'See? Crazy.' Being dismissed is one of my least favorite things, and mainstream does love to dismiss what they don't agree with/can't or don't understand.

Your letter was clear and concise, and even if it doesn't get printed, I hope they at least spare a moment and think about why you took the time to write it. Thank you for doing that.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Well, thank you for the support. :D We slashers have to stick together--apparently we're too weird or crazy for anyone else. :/

[niamh-sage.livejournal.com]

Ugh. The use of the word 'crazy' to describe anything people can't understand or relate to is also horrible. Ditto using 'insane' to describe things that are bizarre or over the top in some way. Hate hate hate.

And yeah, people don't get it. Maybe some of them are born without a compassion gland? :/

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

I don't know. For some people it's very hard to see anyone else's perspective.

♥

[caras-galadhon.livejournal.com]

Oooh! Thanks for the tipoff about the issue, and also, that is a great letter, and I hope they publish it. It's a miracle when any mainstream publication manages to get through an article on fans without some level of shaming, and it's disappointing that this one got so very close, but fell down on the title.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'd love it if they printed it, but even if they do it'll be highly edited (down to 200 words or less) and I'm sure it'll have a condescending response. But I tried. :)

[mific.livejournal.com]

Go you! Excellent letter.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :D

[iadorespike]

Nicely done. :) Thanks for sharing.

<333

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. And thanks for reading!

[darkmoore.livejournal.com]

Well said. Being called weird is not nice =(

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Even worse was that I didn't realize until later that in the table of contents they'd changed 'weirdest' to 'craziest'. Awesome, huh? >:

[(Anonymous)]

what? are you people seriously offended by the term "weird"?
well let's look at the definition!!

weird/wi(ə)rd/
Adjective:
Suggesting something supernatural; uncanny: "the weird crying of a seal".
Noun:
A person's destiny.
Verb:
Induce a sense of disbelief or alienation in someone.
Synonyms:
adjective. strange - odd - peculiar - quaint - uncanny - bizarre
noun. fate - destiny - lot - fortune - doom - luck - kismet

HMM I'M NOT OFFENDED AT ALL...

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Yes, we 'people' were offended by the term 'weird', for the reasons I thought the letter made abundantly clear. If you don't mind being called weird that's awesome for you. But I can assure you that no one at Entertainment Weekly was thinking of anything other than an insult.