Aging Fandom

[julieandrews]

I was surprised to hear people talking about the aging fandom and the death of Worldcon, etc. Aren't we past that? Haven't the arguments been made and heard? Isn't it jolly well obvious that people my age and people half my age are engaging with science fiction and fantasy? They're watching it, they're playing it, they're writing it, they're remixing it. But yes, they're reading it too. Really they are! Or did you think Rowling and Meyer got where they are solely based on 50+ white male readership?

Maybe they're not at your cons. Maybe because they're your cons. And maybe you're completely failing to see the ones that are at your cons, because they're not part of your clique, or they're not attending the panels you're attending, or they're not established enough to be invited onto panels, or they're not, like, old enough to hang out in the bar!

Do you want another generation to take up the mantle of the institutions you've built up? Well, then, you'd better be ready, willing, and able to accept change. You can't dismiss Buffy. Or paranormal romance. Or anime. Or video games. You have to be able to say 'that's not for me' without saying 'that's for kids' or 'that's for girls' or 'that's for _____'.

'That's not for me, but I will give it a place at my con, because I see lots of people are interested in talking about it.' And then be prepared to give it a respected space. I've seen some of those WorldCon descriptions. There's not full respect there.

So, yea, guys, fandom isn't aging. It's just a slightly different fandom than you grew up with.

Comments

[nojojojo.livejournal.com]

Is this from Readercon?

I started to say that it wasn't a lack of respect, but ignorance -- but of course, that's part of disrespect, dismissing a particular topic as too unimportant to learn more about. So, yeah. What you said.

[julieandrews.livejournal.com]

Yea, I heard it on a couple of panels. Some people seem to know the arguments, but I'm surprised it still comes up. Readercon's looking pretty diverse to me. Not as much so as Wiscon, of course.

But I've never been to a WorldCon, other than on the periphery of one when it was in Boston. Maybe it's more evident at Worldcons?

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I was surprised to hear people talking about the aging fandom and the death of Worldcon, etc. Aren't we past that?

No, and we never will be. After all, fandom has been on the verge of death since before I was born in 1965 and it always will be dying. The arguments I've heard have been the same since I attended my first convention (the 1984 Worldcon in Anaheim) and they don't change. I'd say than Anime cons have now been around long enough that I would be surprised to hear those people who attended the first ones moaning about the Death of Anime Fandom.

fandom isn't aging. It's just a slightly different fandom than you grew up with.

Nicely put. I do recall reading one particularly grumpy fan who said, in effect, "If Fandom doesn't stay exactly the way it was when I personally got into it, I want it to die anyway as soon as I do, since it's entire purpose is to provide me with a social life."

[julieandrews.livejournal.com]

*snerk*

Speaking of aniem fandom.. back in my day, you had to send away for fansubs on VHS, and without even Paypal to pay for them! You guys don't know how easy you've got it these days! Manga in every bookstore and library, fansubs downloadable in two clicks. Man..

And I only started watching anime in the 90's. Hard to imagine what the fandom was like before that, though I know there was a fandom.

[cherylmmorgan.livejournal.com]

I spent the weekend at Finncon in Helsinki. Attendance was around 15,000; the average age was probably under 20; the majority of attendees were female. Yes, this was mainly an anime crowd, but there were also many SF fans there as well. Panels featuring George RR Martin and Al Reynolds were packed to bursting.

No, fandom is not dying, but some people would rather pretend that it is than admit that being a fan no longer makes you a member of a small, persecuted minority.

[julieandrews.livejournal.com]

Good point. Like people who are fans of a show, until it's suddenly wildly popular and then it's just no longer cool anymore.