#antishipping

[time stamp: 2 Feb 2021]

I haven’t been on tumblr too much for quite a while for a variety of reasons, and I can’t promise that’s going to change (I’m … very ADHD …) I hope that my blog gives you some food for thought.

That said, I want to reiterate a couple of my blogging principles for your consideration:

First and foremost, I use the word ‘anti’ all over this blog - both in old posts and new. When I first started this blog in 2016, its meaning was understood by my audience. However, the meaning of ‘anti’ has become murky and controversial over the years, so let me define it here:

‘Anti’ is short for ‘anti-shipper’ or ‘anti-[ship]’.

Anti-shippers are people in (mainly English-speaking) fandoms who:

• demand sexual purity and Americentric morality in fictional content, particularly ‘ships’ (short for ‘[usually romantic or sexual] relationships’), from fans participating in fan discussion and creating fanworks on social media sites,
• where the sexual purity and Americentric morality of any given fictional work is frequently subjective and/or openly contradictory.

 Crucially,they enforce their demands via:

• violent and bigoted rhetoric
• targeted harassment
• noise mobs/dogpiling
• violations of privacy
• threats of physical (and occasionally sexual) violence
• threats to income
• property destruction, and 
• (occasionally) physical assault.

Antis named themselves ‘antis’ back in 2015-2016. They don’t like the label so much now (though they still frequently use it) because of their violent reputation.

This blog is heavily focused on what anti-shipping is, why anti-shippers exist and act the way they do, and the damage anti-shipping does to online fandom communities via thoughtful, reasoned analysis of anti-shipping rhetoric and sociology. The goal is to honestly look past the surfeit of anti-shipping violence and understand why its arguments and methodology have genuine appeal to many fandomgoers without judging those fandomgoers.

There are certainly anti-shippers who spout violent rhetoric because they’re remorselessly abusive, but I doubt that the majority of anti-shippers fit that description.

On the contrary: I believe there are sociological reasons anti-shipper communities are so prevalent in fandom today, and I believe people become anti-shippers for valid, personal reasons. For instance, I believe that the structure of modern social media has fundamentally changed the structure of fandom and how fans communicate. It’s harder to avoid content you don’t want to see, for instance. Has this encouraged the growth of anti-ship communities? I believe it’s a likely factor - one of many.

There is also plenty of evidence that anti-shipping communities tend to be insular and internally abusive. Members are expected to ‘cut off’ anyone who does not share their views on how fandom should conduct itself, and members who leave the community are demeaned, smeared, and targeted for harassment. This makes it exceedingly difficult for anyone who became involved in anti-shipping to escape it.

Furthermore:English-speaking (particularly American) fandom is heavily influenced by the same underlying societal factors that have brought us right-wing-based rising authoritarianism / anti-progressive bigotry / open white patriarchal supremacy today: things like white fascism (which started in the USA), Manifest Destiny, European/American Imperialism, Christian Fundamentalism / Puritanism, the post-Vietnam antigovernmental white supremacist movement, the AIDS genocide/crisis, backlash to the Civil Rights Movement, and backlash against gay and trans rights.

Although most of fandom - including anti-shippers - are themselves targets of right-wing hatred, Puritanical / Imperial / racist / anti-queer / misogynist / transphobic arguments frequently make up the basic elements of the rhetoric anti-shippers use to justify their violent abuse of shippers.

Many of these puritanical/imperial/racist/misogynist/anti-queer/transphobic talking points were dressed up in progressive language before anti-shippers started employing them by faux-progressive groups such as TERFs/SWERFs/radfem enablers, truscum, and exclusionists.

Anti-shippers are not typically aware of this, and may fall anywhere in their conscious desire to gatekeep marginalized communities for real people. (And pro-shippers such as myself are not immune to using right-wing arguments, either.*)

Because of all these factors, I believe it is crucial to understand anti-shipping rather than simply dismiss it anti communities as weird fandom phenomena made up entirely of bullies and jerks. I also believe it’s crucial to understand not only anti-ship rhetoric, but also to identify its origins.

The haters aren’t going away, and we aren’t going to shame them into stopping. But if we understand and dismantle their arguments, we can limit their influence more effectively and - most importantly - maybe provide an escape rope out of an abusive anti-ship community for those who need one.

Thanks for being here.

(*Pro-shippers - people that argue it’s okay to ship or portray whatever you want in fiction, even if it’s a harmful or illegal dynamic IRL - tend to fall prey to ‘free speech’/’anti-censorship’ rhetoric as employed by intolerant right-wingers.

Because right-wingers use obfuscating language, distinguishing between ‘I want to be allowed to incite IRL violence’ & ‘I want to be allowed to explore dangerous relationship dynamics in fiction without regard to RL morality’ can be weirdly difficult at first blush. But if you loudly advocate for a group that right-wingers want to incite violence against, they’re usually quick to expose themselves. ;) )