The Importance Of Fandom

Submitted By bwomen
Words: 390
Pages: 2

Let's be clear, I don't care about tolerance, I care about truth, justice, and the American Way progress. And I definitely don't care about tolerance when it comes to tolerating opinions that are frankly sexist (or racist or heterosexist or some other ism). While some in fandom bemoaned when "social justice warriors" took over, I welcomed our new overlords. I've been in fandom for sixteen years now, have been watching the HP fandom for several, and been a part of it for five. And needless to say, I've seen a lot of bullshit in that time. Why I am so old in fandom years that I remember when fans used to say that the way women and POCs were written in canon were so inherently problematic that the most feminist and progressive thing to do was to ignore them and just focus on the white dudes.
This was a serious attitude and a common one at that. So yes, I was happy when fandom seemed to say "enough" and the trolls were driven back. Unfortunately, five years after the books finished and a year after the movies have, there are still some people stuck in the past. These poor dears, when using such well-reasoned arguments as "So-and-So is a Mary Sue!" are often left confused when these arguments meet resistance. Everyone over at FictionAlley and their insanejournal community thinks they're brilliant, so what's wrong with these people at LJ and tumblr?

The problem isn't that you dislike these characters. I don't care much for the twins or the Marauders. I don't hate them, I