Below are tenets I feel we must adopt to make Fandom into the Inclusive, Nuturing Community it once was--or Thought It Was. I was intending originally to elaborate at length on each tenet, but I figured I can do that on a case-by-case basis over the next few weeks. Keep in mind that I consider this a Living Document, welcome input from my fellow Fans, and encourage additions to this list.
Feel free to use this document as you wish. As long as you credit me, repost it wherever you’d like.
I’m amazed I have to write some of this stuff down.
1. I will respect that people may like something I do not like, and will not try to force him/her to believe otherwise
2. I will not equate financial success for artistic success, and will evaluate each piece of art on its own terms
3. I will celebrate what I love, and accept the loves of my fellow fans.
4. I recognize that my Fandom is there to enhance my reality, not Replace It.
5. I will recognize that not every genre item is made for me.
6. I will not keep patronizing genre stuff after I find I am not enjoying it
7. I will have standards--i.e. no more ‘at least it got made.’
8.I will be welcoming to people interested in joining Fandom regardless of their sex, orientation, skin color or experience.
9. I will not treat fellow fans I find sexually attractive and/or are dressed in a sexually attractive way any differently. I will Not treat said fan in a way that makes him/her uncomfortable or creeped out.
10. I will be open to new, original genre concepts and not tear them down because they aren’t similar to already established concepts.
11. Similarly, I will respect older concepts, and acknowledge their influence on present concepts. I reserve the right to dislike them, but will express that dislike in reasonable and engaging ways.
12. I will accept that, like all people, the creative types I revere grow, and won’t demand they make the same kind of artifact over and over and over again.
13. While I appreciate the access modern social media gives me to the creators and participants of the genre artifacts I consume, I will use it respectfully and not provoke, stalk, harass or otherwise make them unwelcome.
14. I will accept that there are other interpretations to the same concept.
15. I will respect when things seem to have a finite end, and resist Nostalgia Porn.
16. I will not fetishize my childhood to the point where I will refuse all other interpretations of what I loved and actively seek to sabotage attempts to rework them for future generations.
17. I will allow the generation of fans who come after me to develop their own icons and signposts, and will not force my icons and signposts upon them.
18. I will not be an asshole.
Anything I left out?
This is amazing, and I agree with all of it. I don't think you left anything out. The sad thing is, now that I've rad this, I wanna do a podcast version of it.
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