Every so often I get asks or reblogs or tags that will say something about how it’s sweet that I tried to educate antis, but it’s not like they’ll ever listen. and they’re right that antis won’t listen. Anti-shippers have already drawn their battle lines. They have a vested interest in avoiding any information that might make them think differently because breaking from the hive mind mentality will lose them their social circle. It’s only very occasionally that an anti-shipper arguing with me or someone on my dash will bring up a point I haven’t already thought about and even more rare that they do more than sling personal attacks and block me if they feel outmaneuvered.
But I’m not running this blog with the hope that anti-shippers will change their minds. I’m running it because I need a place to detangle the recursive logic that anti-shippers employ. I need to try to understand the contradictory positions of ‘bad content in fiction is so bad it justifies suicide bait and threats.’ I need to analyze their arguments and do research to see how truthful or accurate they are, and develop my own opinion on their platform.
And I hope that my thoughts, which I share as they are developed or as I get thought-provoking asks, help people who see my posts develop their own positions, or gives them the ammunition they need to stop doubting themselves when antis (or anyone) use gaslighting tactics or logical fallacies, making everything confusing and difficult.
If an anti-shipper reads my posts and starts to rethink their position, I’m glad, but I’m not holding out hope for that. They have their own journey to follow. But my blog is more aimed at the people who get bombarded with anti-shipper arguments in their fandom spaces every day and need to analyze those arguments for themselves.
