shallanelprin | Actually, no, Twilight is not responsible for girls in fandom...

*FACEPALM*

Right, because there totally weren't 20 bazillion women fangirling over Captain Kirk and Han Solo back in the day.

Mmmmmm, I'll raise my hand to that one. Han Solo might be my very first movie crush.

Two very good examples of obsessive fangirling :)

Ditto to the above commenter. I also suppose that 5-to-1 ratio of girls to guys I saw at that HP convention was a hallucination, too.

HP is actually the other thing they credit with bringing girls to fandom. But girls clearly aren't interested in serious sci-fi or comics *rollseyes* At least HP is good stuff and well written.

And these people have obviously never been to a Supernatural convention... :)

Exactly! Otherwise known as "What, there's a guy attending that didn't get dragged here by his girlfriend/wife/whatever?!" conventions.

And if there is, what are the odds that he's not gay? :)

You're totally right. Women have always been a part of fandoms.

It's just unfortunate that we haven't been considered a MAJOR part of fandom until recently.

I'm at all the midnight showings of movies I can get to. And while there are always women there, they're a pretty small portion of the crowd. And many of them have the, "My boyfriend dragged me here," face. And at all the Star Wars events I've been to, all the geeks I've talked with at midnight showings or in book stores, they're always a little surprised that a girl is so into a fandom.

It's a male dominated arena that we've always had a corner in. It's a strong corner. It's a proud corner. But it's underappreciated.

I think we should be glad that movements like Twilight have given us a chance to be brought into the spotlight as far as fandom goes. We're a force to be reckoned with that no one has really noticed/taken seriously before. Regardless of how anyone feels about Twilight, it's shown people the world over that women are a demographic that has a very strong presence. Not only in Twilight, but in all fandoms.

Did that sound totally pretentious? I really was essentially agreeing with you. And it is insulting to be told girls didn't exist on the scene til Twilight.

It's true that in attending events I've always been outnumbered by the boys, but online almost everyone I know into various fandoms is a girl. That might be a bit of where I socialize online, LJ fandom does seem to be girl dominated.

Honestly, I'm having geek resentment issues with Twilight, Lost, Heroes and basically anything where it's socially acceptable to be crazy into it. Also, I know you like Twilight, but I really, really don't. Mostly because it's so very badly written (I gave up after four chapters, I couldn't make myself read more). It's badly written vampire fan fiction with a self absorbed Mary Sue (Bella) and I hate that's become so popular when there are so many better vampire related fandoms out there. I know you like it, so we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one.

I think to some extent you're right. Online, I tend to be more involved with fandoms that are female dominated.

I guess I just kind of phase out the geek resentment. It's always been my mindset that I'd rather be excited by a huge horde really loving something I also love than to be upset with them for "jumping on the bandwagon" so to speak. I have no reason to resent them. They just happen to like something that I also like. And maybe their being involved with semi-geeky fandoms will introduce them to better fandoms.

And where not liking Twilight goes, I can respect that. I'm the first to admit that Bella is weak and the writing is crap. But the story is cute. It makes me smile. I love the enthusiasm around it. I'd rather smile at the girls who are bouncing around about it than roll my eyes at them. In my younger days, I did my fair amount of squeeing at Star Wars premieres. And because they're getting involved with a mainstream fandom, they're that much more likely to find the "better" vampire fandoms that you're talking about. I know I definitely have.

I'm really not trying to antagonize in any way. And, again, like I said. I have zero issue with you disliking Twilight. A lot of people do.

What are your favorite fandoms?

Hey, no worries :)

My fave fandoms? I guess I kinda have to separate the thing the fandom is a fan of and the fandom itself. 'Cause I love me some Supernatural, but a lot of the fans are kinda crazy. There are quite a few sane ones, but the fandom has a bit of a reputation for nuttiness. I've actually started avoiding the fandom because they're ruining the show for me.

Things I'm crazy about on one level or another:
- Supernatural
- Stargate
- Star Wars (my first fandom)
- Star Trek (the first sci-fi I ever laid eyes on)
- All things Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse)
- I'm also into a few non sci-fi things: NCIS, Numb3rs, Bones

Yeah, I get what you mean about some fandoms thinking they're above "geekier" fandoms.

Mmmmmmmmmmm, Dracula. LOVE.

I'm trying to think of fandoms that I really like. The Office and House are up there. I used to follow the LOST madness religiously but I haven't even seen the last season because I don't have cable anymore.

You know about my extreme Star Wars obsession. I also have a pretty big fondness for LOTR. Rurouni Kenshin is probably my most random favorite.

My geek resentment issues stem from the same people who can quote endless details about Lost letting me know they think my being able to do something similar for Star Wars and Star Trek is weird. *sigh* I need to get over it, methinks.

And because they're getting involved with a mainstream fandom, they're that much more likely to find the "better" vampire fandoms that you're talking about.

I hope so. Because if Twilight gets people into Buffy or Forever Knight or Dracula that's fantastic :)

Actually, no, Twilight is not responsible for girls in fandom...

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