how do you explain your love of bullfighting to others who might not understand, or even hate you for it??
Okey, now this is a very interesting question, yet also quite complicated to answer. But i will try my best.
Since my hyperfixation for the tauromaquia and certain characters from this world is ongoing for a while now, of course i ended up in various situations, where people asked me "Why?". Bullfighting over all is an incredibly delicate and controversial topic itself, and then there is also this thing that i am German – i did not grow up with this tradition and therefore have literally no cultural or nostalgic connection towards this. However i think that this plays a big role here.
I am not a usual aficionado, i do not feel attacked by people being critical about bullfights. It is controversial, yes. And because i researched and read a lot about it, i am well aware about the arguments from both sides and usually do not argue against anti-bullfighters since – let's be honest here – they are right. Bullfighting is cruel. The bull dies, always (the handful of pardoned ones are nothing compared to the number of bulls dying). I accepted this very obvious fact and also that people rightfully point it out. And if people do not want to hear more about the nuances, which i offer to explain to them, i can accept this too. Why trying to push a topic to someone, who is not interested or even worse – why fighting about it? If people hate me for being interested in bullfights, i can live with that. Usually you could argue about their own 'cruel' life choices – e.g. wearing leather or fur, eating meat, owning clothing made from child-labour, etc. – like... show me one person, who is free from any stuff you could kick-off a full on discussion about. But why wasting time with pointing fingers and circling in a never ending spiral of "You are worse!".
So yeah, i don't argue about bullfights at all and only talk about it with people, who are showing an interest in understanding the appeal. Even though it means, that i am quite alone with my "fandom", but that's fine. And luckily, i have a lot of wonderful friends, who tell me in all honesty, if they dislike it. Then i say, "It's fine, no worries", and they can accept that i keep my interest. And some listen about my rambles and powerpoint presentations – although they won't become fans, they at least try to understand, why i am interested in bullfights and i am just very thankful for it. I love my friends.
So speaking about: "How do you explain your love of bullfighting to others". If a person is open to listen, i usually start with the story how i got into this whole topic in the first place: I searched for character inspiration for some drawing practice and stumbled over Juan José Padilla (the one-eyed matador). And because he looked so interesting, i wanted to hear his story. It was inspiring how he – despite his severe injury – did not give up and kept his bravery alive until he was facing bulls in the arena again. And all while having great respect about the animals, with no feeling of anger towards them and not even for the one, who took his eye. It kinda impressed me and once again it was the fault of one human's story that dragged me into the bigger picture (just like a biography of Che got me into the Cuban Revolution rabbit hole!). And this is one thing i love to do: Reading about matador's stories, their wild lives, their shortcomings, their crazy antics and funny anecdotes. I tell those stories and show people pictures of the men (and women) in handcrafted, embroidered traje de luces, the brave rejoneador horses and the beautiful, majestic toro bravos. All of this usually gets people hooked, even if the corrida itself is the reason they won't watch it ever in their lives. And this is okay!
Bullfighting is a difficult and controversial topic. But it is not black or white either.
Feel free to hit me up with a private dm, if you want to talk about this further :)
