On Censorship Im Fandom

On censorship im fandom

The golden rule of life is to “do unto others as you would have done unto yourself.” The golden rule of fandom is “don’t like, don’t read.”

I have seen too many people attack and threaten and wish censorship upon writers who put out works that they don’t like.

Yes, people write about illegal, immoral, and inhumane things. But they write them about fictional characters. These are works of fiction. If you don’t want to see that, don’t read that.

For myself personally, I think fandom culture fell apart after the invisible wall was built between the “proshippers” (those who are okay with shipping things like incest, pedophilia, zoophilia, rape, etc.) and “antishippers” (those who are not okay with those things). The thing is, those terms shouldn’t exist because the only wall im fandom is “don’t like, don’t read.”

Self-proclaimed “antishippers” will call these people “sick on the head,” and “mentally ill.” And yeah, maybe they’re mentally ill, but does that warrant harassment? Are we not meant to help, or feel compassion for those in bad situations who may be projecting onto their works?

And to those saying, “if they want to write it, how do we know they don’t want to do it?” I bring to you intrusive thoughts.

An intrusive thought is an unwanted, unsolicited, and usually violent or immoral thought that pops into your head at any given time. It is different from an impulsive thought, which is a thought you act on by impulse, such as buying a second coffee or dying your hair without thinking.

The difference between these thoughts is the content, and the fact that intrusive thoughts are almost never acted upon. By definition, a thought being intrusive is unwanted. This means that the sufferer believes the content of these thoughts to be immoral or harmful.

We know that those with intrusive thoughts do not want to act on them. Why should we believe those writing fictional stories including things typically found immoral or harmful wants to commit such acts themselves.

Many self-proclaimed “proshippers” do say that writing these things is calming for them, to write about things or similar things that happened to them.

I am not going to speak for these people, but even though I cannot see that as a coping mechanism, I am not the one in need of coping.

So, no, I am neither a “proshipper” nor an “antishipper,” and I may never know why people write about zoophilia or pedophilia or rape or anything like that. But at the end of the day, it’s fiction. And if I don’t like it, I don’t read it.