God, I’m tired of fandom and the weird need to both insist fanfiction is important and culturally relevant, but simultaneously assert it’s not important enough to critique the rampant racism/sexism/fetishization and myriad other issues.

It’s like... either it’s a valid art form and therefore criticism is necessary for growth, or it’s not. Pick a side and accept the consequences.

like bro straight up i’ve spent so much of my time since i was 12 in fandom spaces and while i do have a critical eye now and also have the self awareness now to not attach a large part of my personhood into fandom (even if i know it’s a part of who i am, i am also self assured now in a way i wasn’t as a middle schooler and high schooler), reading stuff in fanfiction fully put ideas into my head the way any media does?? like it was a form of content that i consumed a LOT and it was also completely unregulated unlike traditional media which, for better or for worse, allows for certain content that i would not have been exposed to otherwise. like obviously fanfiction is different from traditional media in the sense that no one is profiting off of the INCREDIBLY problematic stuff that exists in there but that does not mean it should be immune from criticism or that it is okay that that stuff exists. plus, what’s the harm in addressing racism, sexism, fetishization, and other issues so that more ppl learn about how those things manifest themselves in fanwork in order to create a better experience for everyone? fan spaces are treated as untouchable and i understand where that comes from, but if ur escapist fantasy is racist, the fact that it’s escapist doesn’t eliminate the very real racism.