An Ode to Fandom
Morality, the distinction between right and wrong, is something that is inherently subject to change as time progresses. What was once considered moral within society is now condemnable and vice versa however the introduction of social media has accelerated this process greatly. Theorist Richard Dyer, introduced the idea of the 'constructed celebrity' and that celebrities, as we know them, are created in order for financial gain for institutions. He also went on to say that celebrities/stars are both 'present and absent' and although they represent real people, the real people 'playing' the celebrity are not the same as the celebrity itself. This thus makes sense that consumers ('fans') find it difficult to separate their treatment of real people from the acceptable treatment of fictional characters. We inherently crave relatability within the art that we consume and therefore if the celebrities we idolise are constructed in the same way as a media text, the morality of 'headcanoning' their identities to create a gratifying sense of personal identity [Blumler & Katz] becomes blurred as we struggle to detach the constructed star from the person behind it. An example of this is the assignment of sexual identities to KPop idols within their respective fandoms, sexuality and gender are two key aspects of identity that people find relatability within and therefore if this identity is unclear, the assignment of a relatable sexuality/gender identity becomes the instinctive response by fans. This is reinforced by Klam's idea of us seeing celebrities from an aspirational perspective - 'they are the us we want to be' but contradictory we also enjoy the voyeuristic side of 'stanning' someone. Due to institutionalised stereotypes perpetuated by the western media, there are four key ways in which fans from the global west interact with foreign media texts, particularly from East Asia; these are Feminisation, Isolation, Infantilisation and Fetishisation. This is potentially due to the difference of values and prioritisation of cultural standards opposing the hegemonic western views upon gender identity however it is still an immoral practise. These can be seen through the sexualisation of male friendships within Kpop idol groups, such as BTS and NCT, the affectionate members are painted within an 'effeminate' narrative and the other members are also analysed through an incredibly western perspective of masculinity in which the general consensus is that emotional. This is significant within fandoms as there is a clear hierarchy of accounts, in relation to Jenkins' theory, we have the subgenres of 'fans', the 'hardcore' fan, the 'anti' fan and the 'new' fan. Due to this, the 'hardcore' fan- a fan who feels entitled to more attention or respect due to the amount of reach they have within a fandom, their role as a content creator or the length of their time as a fan, usually dictates the morality within the fandom- an online judicial system of what can be accepted and what cannot. Although, due to changing online climates this is again up for discussion, as other accounts can essentially apply fandom alws to the hierarchical system and use classic cancel culture techniques to disarm the hierarchy however this is again a morally subjective practise. This is a notable attribute of fandom culture, as the audience structure changes and audiences 'create popular culture rather than cultural industries' as Fiske suggests, what fandoms condemn and condone suddenly is more significant for the situation of the online climate.
This leads onto my next point which is about fandom and homosexuality- and particularly the fetishisation of mlm relationships by online fandoms. The fetishisation of same-sex relationships is condemned within 'real' ethics, however in the post-moral climate of online spaces, the fetishisation of same sex relationships- particularly by cisgender women, is something that gains a lot of attention within fandom spaces. The innocent affection of friendships is exploited and analysed under the guise of 'shipping', a term coined to explain the feeling of wanting two people to date, this has had real consequences on the celebrities and their friendships with each other, once again reinforcing how fan entitlement blurs the lines of celebrity and reality. An example of this was the friendship between Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson of former boyband 'One Direction' became impacted by fans consistent sexualisation of their friendship. This subculture of fandom dynamics, is highlight debated within online spaces, however despite their controversy, 'ship' tweets still gain thousands of retweets and likes on twitter creating an echochamber within these spaces in which the act of fetishisation is not being actively condemned or combatted. An example of this is 'fanfiction' - a form of textual poaching, a term to describe the act of taking a media text and 'reconstructing' it to reflect personal ideologies or make improvements, which is harmless in theory however when it begins to include real people it breeches the socially agreed boundary. On Fanfiction site, the number of fics that are both mlm and explicit, is disproportionate to the number of fics available on the site within respected fandoms and furthermore the amount of these fics that include minors, real people or unethical sexual situations is equally as shocking. This links to morality, as we allow these people to create immoral content on the basis that it is entirely fictional- however the concept of reality and fiction is not as black and white as one influences the other, instead it is a mutual feedback loop with fiction playing off the foundations of reality in order to have the appeal of relatability, as mentioned earlier, and reality following the progressive nature of fictional or semi-fictional media texts. Therefore, the morality of posting and interacting with 'fictional' content concerning real people is again a grey area as objectively the concept of writing about an utter stranger having sex with their peers is immoral however due to the climate within fandoms, 'stans' have become densensitised to the severity of these situations and the normalisation of fetishisation is merely collateral damage of consuming mainstream texts. This could probably be contextualised by the Freudian theory of 'Scopophilia', the notion of enjoying being both the voyeur and the exhibitionist, and essentially isolates the erotic stimulation of a media text from the media text itself, so in this case it is not about the celebrities themselves but rather a fascination of atypical sexual situations that do not conform to the heteronormative ideas of gender and sex. However, this almost amplifies it's harm to mlm relationships as it perpetuates a miseducation of homosexual sexual situations as well as relationship dynamics, which in turn influences people's perceptions of homosexuality and is inherently damaging to the formulation of LGBT teenagers perception of sex, gender and identity due to the exposure to these texts.
This brings me to my next point, which takes the ideas mentioned above and applies them to the specific fandom subgenre of media texts aimed at children. Now, I am going to be referencing the shows 'Voltron: Legendary Defender' and 'My Hero Academia' within this paragraph but due to the explicit nature of the themes I will be discussing, if you are triggered by the mention of Pedophilia, Grooming, or the sexualisation of teenagers, I would advise you skip this paragraph. Children's media texts are created to usually stimulate and engage minors with the media text, although in recent years due to the accessible nature of these shows, they have gained popularity in online fandoms particularly on the social media site 'Tumblr', where people interact with other people with similar interests as well as sharing their own content [textual poaching; henry jenkins] and the issue arises when this content is not as child-friendly as the original media text. For example, on fanfiction site Archive of our Own, one of the recommended tags for fanship 'Sheith', a relationship between 18 year old and a 25 year old pseudo-brothers within the show, is smut, a term coined for sexual content. This is easily accessed by minors within the fandom, and although censorship online is incredibly difficult, there is a responsibility from adults within a fandom-specific for young people- to monitor what they are creating and the ideologies they are circulating through online spheres. The creation of sexual content in fandoms with a majority young demographic, is that this creates the ecosystem to contribute to the concept of 'self-grooming'- which is essentially the desensitisation to sex and exposure to unhealthy relationship dynamics which thus puts them at risk of exploitation by adults 'in real life'. This is equally disturbing when you see adults within these fandoms defending and discussing the morality of pedophilic ships, or sexualising fictional characters of a young age since they are 'fictional' however the psychology of sexuality does not account for fiction/reality and these ideologies are heavily reflective of personal ideas and beliefs and thus the creation of a space which is both for kids, but a protected ground for pedophilia is shocking. Prior to the digital age, this was far less of an issue but as we see a growth in social media use by minors as well as the lack of condemnation for unethical practise in fictional context, there is a clear correlation with the normalisation of infantilisation and thus creates a separate plane of morality within the digital space.
This leads onto my final point, which will address stan twitter as a whole, and the popularisation of Asian and Black culture [Fiske's theory of popular culture] as well as the hypersexual infantilisation represented on online platforms such as 'Tiktok'. What we refer to as 'stan twitter culture' is actually a misrepresentation of aspects of both Black culture, seen through the popularisation yet misuse of aave phrases, and Asian culture, seen through the sexualisation of Japanese school uniforms and the 'Lolita' image on 'Tiktok' especially. [As a white western consumer, I can only speak on this topic objectively and through the education I have received and research I have done - however if there is any misinformation, please comment below/contact me and I will happily delete/edit it.] I will use the popular 'Mia Khalifa' tiktok as well as the 'Okay Boomer' video to evidence my argument, as they both gained popularity but also are notorious for their sexual connotations and hypersexual/infantile representations of femininity. Infantilisation is inescapable within the media, with it being a clear stereotype of women that is still prominent within the advertising world, however it doesn't make it any less unnerving. Feminist theorist Laura Mulvey coined the term 'Male Gaze' to describe the consumption of media through the sexualisation of women in order to appeal to a heterosexual 'male gaze' and that is extremely applicable to these scenarios. Men, generally, get erotic gratification from the sexualisation of young women due to the reinforcement of traditional gender dynamics and the popularity of male entitlement to sex which stems from the psychological notion of women having a Madonna/Whore dichotomy that evidences both the appeal of infantilisation [connotations of purity and virginity] and the 'male gaze' [sexual appeal]. Similarly, the popularisation of Black culture without credit and with misuse of aave phrases is something that is not spoken about by the majority of stan twitter, whilst those who condemn it are easily overpowered by those who excuse it. There is a clear conflict of morality between what is socially acceptable, and a fans belief in the hierarchy of fandom being dependent on emitting criticism of their idols behaviour will make them a 'better fan' as seen in Ariana Grande's misspelled Kanji tattoo, as well as the discourse over her fake tan. It is also apparent within Kpop fandoms as the resistance to 'cancel culture' leads to a lapse in the agreed moral points of online culture and reality. This, in turn, influences the morality seen in real life situations, as there is no foundation of accountability and is incredibly harmful to the minorities in which these misrepresentations impact. As theorist Paul Gilroy spoke about the isolation of Black people, when it comes to depictions of their culture, leading to a 'diasporic identity'. This is further reiterated by the online gentrification of Tiktok dances in order to make them palatable by white influencers, as seen through the 'Renegade' and 'Savage' dance trends, and allows white influencers to commercialise Black creators content due to the lack of regulation within the online climate. Stan twitter has pioneered this ostracisation within fandoms- an issue that is widely unspoken about within the online climate that so desperately needs to hear it.
To conclude, fandoms are important in dictating the morality of society especially as the world becomes more dependent on online forums as a form of both professional and leisure communications. Whilst Fandoms have had a positive influence on commercialism, allowed spaces for foreign language media to thrive and pioneered globalisation single handedly. Their geopolitical role becomes undermined by the lack of structured 'laws' regarding morality and particularly issues that I have omitted from the above discussion, such as gender and sexuality, therefore I would argue that it is difficult to conclude an argument that is as complex as fandom culture, particularly without bias or generalisation. Despite this, I would argue that the accepted online hegemony does call for a change.
This brings me to my next point, which takes the ideas mentioned above and applies them to the specific fandom subgenre of media texts aimed at children. Now, I am going to be referencing the shows 'Voltron: Legendary Defender' and 'My Hero Academia' within this paragraph but due to the explicit nature of the themes I will be discussing, if you are triggered by the mention of Pedophilia, Grooming, or the sexualisation of teenagers, I would advise you skip this paragraph. Children's media texts are created to usually stimulate and engage minors with the media text, although in recent years due to the accessible nature of these shows, they have gained popularity in online fandoms particularly on the social media site 'Tumblr', where people interact with other people with similar interests as well as sharing their own content [textual poaching; henry jenkins] and the issue arises when this content is not as child-friendly as the original media text. For example, on fanfiction site Archive of our Own, one of the recommended tags for fanship 'Sheith', a relationship between 18 year old and a 25 year old pseudo-brothers within the show, is smut, a term coined for sexual content. This is easily accessed by minors within the fandom, and although censorship online is incredibly difficult, there is a responsibility from adults within a fandom-specific for young people- to monitor what they are creating and the ideologies they are circulating through online spheres. The creation of sexual content in fandoms with a majority young demographic, is that this creates the ecosystem to contribute to the concept of 'self-grooming'- which is essentially the desensitisation to sex and exposure to unhealthy relationship dynamics which thus puts them at risk of exploitation by adults 'in real life'. This is equally disturbing when you see adults within these fandoms defending and discussing the morality of pedophilic ships, or sexualising fictional characters of a young age since they are 'fictional' however the psychology of sexuality does not account for fiction/reality and these ideologies are heavily reflective of personal ideas and beliefs and thus the creation of a space which is both for kids, but a protected ground for pedophilia is shocking. Prior to the digital age, this was far less of an issue but as we see a growth in social media use by minors as well as the lack of condemnation for unethical practise in fictional context, there is a clear correlation with the normalisation of infantilisation and thus creates a separate plane of morality within the digital space.
This leads onto my final point, which will address stan twitter as a whole, and the popularisation of Asian and Black culture [Fiske's theory of popular culture] as well as the hypersexual infantilisation represented on online platforms such as 'Tiktok'. What we refer to as 'stan twitter culture' is actually a misrepresentation of aspects of both Black culture, seen through the popularisation yet misuse of aave phrases, and Asian culture, seen through the sexualisation of Japanese school uniforms and the 'Lolita' image on 'Tiktok' especially. [As a white western consumer, I can only speak on this topic objectively and through the education I have received and research I have done - however if there is any misinformation, please comment below/contact me and I will happily delete/edit it.] I will use the popular 'Mia Khalifa' tiktok as well as the 'Okay Boomer' video to evidence my argument, as they both gained popularity but also are notorious for their sexual connotations and hypersexual/infantile representations of femininity. Infantilisation is inescapable within the media, with it being a clear stereotype of women that is still prominent within the advertising world, however it doesn't make it any less unnerving. Feminist theorist Laura Mulvey coined the term 'Male Gaze' to describe the consumption of media through the sexualisation of women in order to appeal to a heterosexual 'male gaze' and that is extremely applicable to these scenarios. Men, generally, get erotic gratification from the sexualisation of young women due to the reinforcement of traditional gender dynamics and the popularity of male entitlement to sex which stems from the psychological notion of women having a Madonna/Whore dichotomy that evidences both the appeal of infantilisation [connotations of purity and virginity] and the 'male gaze' [sexual appeal]. Similarly, the popularisation of Black culture without credit and with misuse of aave phrases is something that is not spoken about by the majority of stan twitter, whilst those who condemn it are easily overpowered by those who excuse it. There is a clear conflict of morality between what is socially acceptable, and a fans belief in the hierarchy of fandom being dependent on emitting criticism of their idols behaviour will make them a 'better fan' as seen in Ariana Grande's misspelled Kanji tattoo, as well as the discourse over her fake tan. It is also apparent within Kpop fandoms as the resistance to 'cancel culture' leads to a lapse in the agreed moral points of online culture and reality. This, in turn, influences the morality seen in real life situations, as there is no foundation of accountability and is incredibly harmful to the minorities in which these misrepresentations impact. As theorist Paul Gilroy spoke about the isolation of Black people, when it comes to depictions of their culture, leading to a 'diasporic identity'. This is further reiterated by the online gentrification of Tiktok dances in order to make them palatable by white influencers, as seen through the 'Renegade' and 'Savage' dance trends, and allows white influencers to commercialise Black creators content due to the lack of regulation within the online climate. Stan twitter has pioneered this ostracisation within fandoms- an issue that is widely unspoken about within the online climate that so desperately needs to hear it.
To conclude, fandoms are important in dictating the morality of society especially as the world becomes more dependent on online forums as a form of both professional and leisure communications. Whilst Fandoms have had a positive influence on commercialism, allowed spaces for foreign language media to thrive and pioneered globalisation single handedly. Their geopolitical role becomes undermined by the lack of structured 'laws' regarding morality and particularly issues that I have omitted from the above discussion, such as gender and sexuality, therefore I would argue that it is difficult to conclude an argument that is as complex as fandom culture, particularly without bias or generalisation. Despite this, I would argue that the accepted online hegemony does call for a change.
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Recommended Reading
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I hope you enjoyed reading this op-ed! Please comment below with any edits or recommend any reading or opinions on the matter!
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