Not wrong for the most part, but it isn’t as simple as men in fandoms being praised and at worst ignored.
Depending on the fandom, men who participated were nerdy, obsessive basement-dwelling weirdos at best and pedophiles/sexual predators at worst. Not to mention, women in fandom are by in large attacked by teens and other women whereas men in fandoms just tend to stay in their own lane and leave each other alone minus a mutual shit-throwing contest.
When it comes to how people foam at the mouth for guys like Markiplier or dudes who do Minecraft and other similar games, they aren’t looked at as fandom participants. They’re looked at as accessible, minor celebrities. There is an intense parasocial relationship there between them and their young(er) audience. Not to mention, it’s helped by the fact that the gaming YouTubers are in some way attractive or if they’re faceless, their fans fantasize about how attractive they are combined with the fact that they’re making content for the audience.
Whereas with fanart, fanfiction, etc. the parasocial relationship is lacking. They’ve been gaslit into thinking that fiction, fandoms, etc. are some form of political activism that you need to do “right” because of people who prey on teenage rebellion and desire for justice but not lacking the wisdom to know where evil originates from. It’s why they call people any kind of x-phobic over ships, fiction, etc.
And because the parasocial relationship of idol or celebrity status is missing, they target them thinking that they’re doing some moral good in the world. Not to mention, older people in fandom tend to make the content they, themselves, want to see and not what these tweens and teenagers want to see. Because they aren’t making content for tweens and teenagers, they’re deserving of criticism because they aren’t as accessible as the 30-year-old gaming YouTuber who makes content for them. They’re old enough to know what they want, but not wise enough to navigate the fact that not everything revolves around them and their personal tastes.
Factor in the fact that it’s usually other women participating in these attacks too and well it isn’t as simple as thinking women should only be having children. In my experience and casual observation, most men in fandom tend to just stay in their own lane. Of course, you have those who attack women for just participating because they’re misogynistic, but their attacks are distinctly different from it being pedophilic, x-phobic, fetishizing, etc. They just go straight for and stick to the misogyny. There are very few if any moral or social justifications behind it like “protecting MLM” or “protecting children”, etc.
In short, the 30-year-old gaming youtubers get a “pass” because they’re not looked at as fandom participants. They’re looked at as if they’re minor celebrities who make content for an audience whereas women in fandom who make for themselves are not as accessible and then you just combine that with being gaslit into thinking fandom participation is a form of activism.
