why did you leave the 1D fandom?
I didn’t necessarily leave, so much as carve a little corner out for myself a good distance away from the majority of its contributors.
The more I settle into my mid-twenties, the less patience I have for the sort of hairsplitting, coldcut, hateful misogyny, racism, and classism that is virile at the core of the One Direction fandom. It infected almost every branch of the family that used to bring millions and millions of people incandescent joy; it’s a black, spidery vein running through something that should have been almost revolutionary. It could have been so GREAT. And so much of it was, which is what makes it so fucking sad that it just rotted into what it is now.
Like these people are SO full of anger and spite and it just made me so anxious all the time. Like, I rarely saw anyone posting about how much fun they were having; all they cared about was the stunts and the infighting and the who tops or bottoms like those aren’t actual fucking human beings you’re talking about lmao. There’s a very severe detachment from reality and a very sickening level of homophobia at the heart of the way they interact and I’m like... sorry, it’s just not for me.
And I’ve found that it’s reignited a deep love inside of me for the boys and their music. I had so so so much fun watching Louis’ concert and Harry is still all over my walls, his LP is still propped up beside my record player, Niall’s albums are still played every day on my morning commute, I listen to Liam’s EP when I’m filing because it makes me forget that I am literally reading through dead peoples hospital paperwork.
I love love love being a 1D fan these days. I just don’t love the way the 1D fandom behaves.
