The body shaming and misogyny in NCIS and Hawaii 5-0 fandoms is not okay.

[theeverdream]

ETA: A lot of what I say is non-specific; my comments to this post have a lot more detail, if you want it.

So apparently in the two active fandoms I'm in, body shaming has been deemed acceptable. Not just okay by an unspoken consensus among community members but actually permitted by mods. One of the comms has a rule against negativity towards actors and I was told that saying something is wrong with someone because of their weight doesn't qualify.

One of the mods of a comm I'm in is very anti-a woman character and it comes out very badly. There's supposed to be no bashing in that comm either. People in different comms say "you know who" or "her" when talking about someone and it is childish at best, misogynistic at worst.

It's getting ridiculous. Saying "her".. referring to characters in a derisive manner - I think that weakens slash fandom as a whole and that saddens me. If I had to choose which issue I was more passionate about, it would be the body shaming, due to my own experiences and the experiences of my friends and family. People with the same body types as certain actors are being told there is something wrong with them and they stand in front of their mirror and believe it.

This is not okay.

I don't really know what to do anymore - it's hard to try to make things better with no support from the people who could implement some changes. So here is what I can do right now. Have a graphic:





Link to it, pass it on... spread it around however you want to.

Look at it and believe it no matter if you're bigger or smaller.

Comments

[gyri.livejournal.com]

I haven't come across body-shaming in the H5O fandom, but I totally agree with you it should not happen and I applaud your support and encouragement.

However, I am more than a bit sensitive at this point for being labeled misogynistic because I happen to express dislike for a female character or dare to criticize a female actor.

[calcitrix.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's terrible. How do they not understand that both of those are negative things?

[elayna88.livejournal.com]

I'm confused about the body shaming... are people dissing on the actresses or the fans? Or both?

Neither makes much sense to me. Admittedly, I think most actresses these days could stand to put on a few pounds, but they can't, because their profession demands the super skinny standard.

And actresses become successful because they *can* meet the Hollywood standard of beauty and thinness. To expect fans, normal people who like to watch TV and read /write fanfic for their hobbies, to be as gorgeous is just silly.