can you guys believe that people are actually going around creating networks centered on how much they hate a ship because they’re oh-so “progressive” and care about the well being of young girls, while at the same time harassing and bullying said young girls who ship it. if you cared about young girls you wouldn’t send them nasty messages or create blogs and networks dedicated to dragging them.
it’s a fictional ship just who cares! you don’t have to like it, you don’t have to be positive about it but good god why would you spread hatred like that? why create a network all about hating something instead of doing oh I don’t know, ANYTHING ELSE?
I really wish that people could accept that fiction is not reality, and enjoying a ship [or a character] does not mean you would condone it in real life. Calm the fuck down and come to terms with the fact that people will like ships you hate and that that’s okay.
I tend to feel like there is some middle ground on this, you know.
I sort of learned my lesson about ship-hating etiquette when I posted a thing poking at Sansa/Littlefinger (the GoT/ASOIAF fandom). That ship creeps me the fuck out because he’s an adult and she’s like 14, but I learned not to tag my hate. Yeah, some ships are gross and problematic and it’s not your thing and doesn’t have to be, but stay in your lane. I get that.
But there’s a flip side too…. I think, especially when you’re dealing with younger girls who might not know a lot about healthy relationships yet, I don’t think it’s the worst thing to point out to them that yes, this is fiction, but just FYI, it’s representing something that isn’t terribly healthy and here’s why. I’m not sure blogs devoted to hating on said ships is the best way to go about that, and I think it goes without saying (or at least it SHOULD) that nasty messages and bullying are not really the way to go either. But it’s important to remember that there are a lot of really young girls on tumblr and FFN and so forth, and you’re not doing the worst thing in the world if you gently tell them, “Hey, it’s not that these relationships don’t exist, and it’s not that it isn’t OK to read/explore this type of thing, but just FYI this isn’t what a healthy thing looks like.”
There’s a little bit of responsibility that comes along with being an older person in fandoms that can be tricky to navigate and I don’t blame anyone who wants to just sit it out entirely, but I think sensitive handling of this stuff can be for the overall good.