First thing’s first, we need to understand that most “proshipper” types aren’t going to come right out and specifically say that they write gross things, and they’re definitely not gonna specifically say that they write abuse/incest/pedophilic stories that are clearly just for self gratification, so they’re going to disguise their beliefs with vague words.
For example, the word “proshipper” (or, as of more recently, “profiction”, both of which are used interchangeably) in itself is a dogwhistle meant to disguise their writing and beliefs, which they claim means that they’re just all for people shipping and having fun in fandom, which on the surface sounds good! But it’s just code for “we write gross things to titllate out audience and ourselves”.
(Please note that the reason I put “proshipper” in quotes is because I believe that referring to them as such helps them conceal what they actually do, when they are pro abuse and should just be called that instead. I will never give in to what they want)
Other such dogwhistles you might encounter include, but are (likely) not limited to:
- “dark fic/dark fiction” (sounds like they’re talking about simple tragedy/heavier topics, but references their gross shit)
- the phrase “separate reality from fiction” and/or “I/we know how to separate reality and fiction” (we’re not even gonna get into the ableist implications of this phrase right now, but the issue is that these are issues people face in real life, and they are being portrayed as good and even sexy)
- “antis” (people who speak out against them and warn others about them)
- The constant, repeated misuse and misapplication of “censorship” (someone telling you not to write about incest like it’s cool and fun is not “censoring” you and it is disrespectful to actual victims of censorship)
- “puritan”/“purity culture”/“purity (or morality) police” (all of which are bad because it’s not being sexually conservative to call bad things out and be concerned about it, but I want to give special attention to “purity culture” because it is a term that “proshippers” stole from victims of a very specific brand of Catholic/Christian religious misogyny and abuse and is misapplying and misusing to victimize themselves)
Like, if you see a post that says something along the lines of “I write dark fan fic but people don’t like that! The antis are trying to stop us artists from expressing ourselves! This is censorship!”, or some other variation, stop and think about who these “antis” are and why they “don’t like that”, and you’ll probably realized that they’re writing material that is abusive, incestuous, and/or pedophilic in nature, and these pieces are written for the express purpose of titillation/sexual gratification.
They are trying to assume the victim position and get people on their side, and people who are unaware of what they actually mean will see these posts (and people responding against them) and either assume the “proshipper” is a victim and side with them, or assume that this is just some stupid internet slapfight and ignore it, and neither of those conclusions are good or helpful.
See, the overall problem with the “proshipper”/“profiction” crowd is that the topics they are so disrespectfully blasé about are real things that happen to real people, and there is nothing wrong with making fiction that portrays that– provided that you are respectful and appropriately condemn it.
The “proshippers” don’t do that. Instead, they write fiction about these hurtful, real life traumas and turn them into smut fiction to gratify themselves and their audience, and they then use the language of academia and social justice to both obscure their true intentions and shame those who call them out.
It’s gross, it’s evil, and it needs to be recognized for what it is and called out.
