#its a gift economy
So yet again, someone decided a fun thing to do on Twitter would be to invite people to give their “cancelable” opinions about fanfic and how so many things are terrible or overrated or not well-written or whatever (not gonna lie, a loooot of the criticisms have real big not-like-other-girls energy).
An author saw it, leading to them removing all of their fics from AO3.
The pushback to this author being upset has been along the lines of, don’t put your work out on the internet if you don’t want feedback.
I’ve been trying to understand why that response just falls flat for me, and here’s what I’m thinking. That feels very much like a capitalist consumer viewpoint. “Fic is a thing I consume and as a consumer, my opinion is IMPORTANT because you are marketing a PRODUCT to me. This is a transaction.”
And I realized, that’s not how I experience fic or fandom. For me, fic isn’t a thing that I buy and consume, it’s a gift given to me.
This is the example I keep thinking of. When I got married, we were given a wedding gift by one of my IL’s friends, a hand-painted bone china pitcher (think Spode or Wedgewood). Beautiful. Classic. Elegant. Like, entirely not us at all. You know what we did? We wrote a heartfelt thank you letter, expressing our appreciation of the gift, the thoughtfulness, etc. What we didn’t do, have never done, is tell them that it didn’t work for us. Because that’s just rude.
Engaging with fic, for me anyway, comes from this emotional space in my heart. So the connection between writer and reader for me, is much more a relationship, even if the relationship is simply that we’re both engaging in a fandom around something we love. It’s not a transaction.
Of course not all fic is for me; I doubt there’s any fic that every single person without exception has adored! And obviously I know my fics aren’t for everyone either! And that’s okay! Fic is such a gorgeous, lush, rich and realized landscape where so many different things flourish together, and I think that’s really beautiful. There’s something for everyone and there’s room for everyone at the table.
So absolutely, you can put your critical and negative opinions of the gifts others have given you out into public spaces, knowing that the people who have given you those gifts occupy those spaces with you. No one can stop you!
Personally, I’d much rather focus on the joy that fic has given me, and the gratitude I feel for people’s willingness to share their gifts with me and the world.
