[1] To add a facet to the "inappropriate follower" convo: I think the pushback against them is totally wrapped up in concern for the boys and I agree with a lot of what you've said about that re: strategic uses by the team and consent, but I also think part of it (consciously or not) is a feeling like those fans are being dishonest toward other fans, or, like, selling us out in some way. idk whether that's a fair criticism or not -- it's complicated -- but I do think it's an open question:
[2] Do "inappropriate followers" (and 1d's use of them) harm us, the fandom, or us as fans; irrespective of whether they harm the members of 1d ("harm" could be annoyance, etc here). And if so, what kind of response are we justified to make? I tend to lean on the side of not policing fan behavior, per se, but also not tacitly supporting things, by reblogging, that I think establish hierarchies of fans, or that TOO BLATANTLY harness fans as free labor (*sigh* i know that one's a losing cause).
Thanks for your response anon - it’s really interesting (and totally agree that the free labour issue is a very lost cause).
There does seem to be a widespread belief across fandom that being a fan is the sort of collective identity that gives you the right to police other people who share it. Antis make no sense without that belief and neither does a lot of other really normal fandom discourse.
I really don’t agree with that. I don’t feel any responsibility for what other 1D fans do - and I also don’t feel they say anything about me. I think any responsibility people have to each other that goes beyond the basic requirement to be decent - has to be explicit and agreed (ie a mutual relationship of friendship - or an agreement to work together on a political project).
I can see an argument that on issues like ‘what is appropriate behaviour of 1D fans towards 1D’ - there might be a feeling that that is an issue of collective concern. But without an ability to make collective decision about what is unacceptable - faux collective responsibility is meaningless. (I believe this very strongly - due to very specific experiences - so I don’t expect everyone to share it - but it’s still where I stand).
I think on top of the issues you identify - concern for 1D and feeling that it represents fans as bad - I do think there’s another angle to the way people who get calls when 1D members want to show where they are or do fan service get treated. And that’s the feeling it’s a shitty and unfair system. That the reward of getting to meet them goes to the wrong people. But with these sort of scheduled fan meetings it is a consistent decision by people within 1D’s team that means that happens - not the actions of fans. And to me that’s just another way that this fandom blames women who don’t have power for the decisions of people (mostly men) who do.
But then I think I’m coming from somewhere very different even than I was last year. All I can think about is that the process of calling in particular fans - this mechanism - was used to ensure that Louis had privacy and time with his Mum. While I understand that it’s been used in all sorts of other ways - I can see it’s value as a tool for them. And I think having good boundaries means that fans can be against tools that are valuable for 1D - acknowledging that our interests are separate is really important. But I guess I don’t see the harm.
