Somewhere Different Now

Some people in tumblr fandom have declared July 1 polyshipping day, a celebration of all sorts of ships involving more than two people.  I wrote some meta to post over there, but I thought I'd post it here too to take advantage of LJ's ability to have a conversation in the comments.

( My favorite underutilized polyshipping trope: sedoretu marriage! )

Tonight I went to a concert of old-time music by Evie Ladin and her band, part of a local concert series in an old barn converted into a community center.  The music was excellent, able to set feet stomping or move my heart.  In addition to the usual bluegrass instruments like her banjo, the group also did body percussion, and at one point the string bass player pulled out a bass harmonica.  I had no idea that harmonicas came in bass, but apparently they do.  It was a lot larger than a normal harmonica; you wonder if bass harmonica players get teased about compensating. 

Most of the music I've seen live in the past few years has been in really small venues like this, like coffeehouses, contra dances, free community outdoor concerts, etc.  Though the music I listen to at home includes plenty of genres like alternative, pop, and rock, the large majority of the live music I hear is folk and traditional music.  While at the concert tonight, it occurred to me that there's a certain similarity between this niche of music and what we do in fandom. 

The emphasis in traditional-style music is not producing something staggeringly new.  Artists play plenty of covers of tunes that have been around for centuries and songs written by other contemporary artists, and even when they write original tunes they are working with a set musical vocabulary rather than trying to make something utterly unlike anything that came before.  However, there is still ample room for individuality in old playing styles, and there's tremendous artistry involved in making an ancient tune one's own.  Fandom is also not about creating something never before seen, but there is still plenty of creativity in making someone else's characters shine in a way unique to the fic writer. 

Both fandom and traditional-style music emphasize community and participation.  The concert I was at tonight featured an open jam session before the main performance started.  Other community members participated by organizing the event, doing the sound, or arranging refreshments, and everyone in the audience gave feedback directly to the artist with our tapping feet and applause or talking to band members during the intermission.  At a contra dance, the musicians and the dancers collaborate to create the beauty of the dance.  In fandom, everyone is encouraged to pick up a metaphorical fiddle by writing their own fic if they feel like it, but they can also participate by making vids or fanart, hosting comms, etc., and even those who don't create or organize can still interact directly with authors in a way that TV and mainstream literature don't allow. 

The point is making something that people enjoy, not money.  Of course, many musicians, unlike fic writers, are trying to earn a living through their art, and I try to put my money where my ears are in support of them.  Still, they know they could probably be making more money doing something else.  Some of them have day jobs.  It's about love of the creative process, love of the audience appreciation, love of listening or reading. Sometimes the songs and stories have a larger purpose, like protesting for social change or empowering a character neglected by canon, while other times they're just fun tunes to dance to or fun stories about favorite characters having sex.  It's all part of the community.

People have made music and told stories since long before there was any way of recording them.  It's in our souls.  There is value in a well-played tune or a well-told tale: original or derivative, high art or low, for an audience of millions or a dozen.  Capitalistic society has tried to convince us to follow a large-scale, top-down approach to stories and music, and the money mobilized by this approach allows for some pretty impressive creations.  That's great, but it's not the only worthy way to create or enjoy other people's creations.  The community of fandom is as grassroots as bluegrass and just as full of life and beauty.

I just read an article about females in fandom that brings up some interesting points but also frustrated me.  Media powers are now realizing that women are sometimes interested in geeky things too!  Wow, girl geeks!  Who could have guessed?  *eye roll* 

Some people in the article talk intelligently about things that we in fandom generally already realize:  men and women are sometimes fans of the same things but not for identical reasons, with women typically being more interested in emotional connections with the characters.  As a generalization, this is true, although there is a LOT of variation within both sexes.  I like a tightly written plot and a thrilling action sequence too, I just won't get really into a story unless I care about the characters.

What frustrated me about this article was its focus on Twilight as some epicenter of female fandom, with some idea of males being universally anti-Twilight and females all being screaming fangirls about it.  Women in fandom existed (more commonly than many acknowledged) long before Twilight, and many of us couldn't give a damn about teenage stalker sparkly vampires and the disempowered Mary Sues who love them. 

Also, how can you write an article on female fans (actually, three articles, although the first two really don't add much to the one I linked) and not once mention fan fiction?  They are ignoring a big part of how a lot of women and girls relate to the books, tv shows, movies, etc. that they love.  Instead, the article is focusing on the screaming teens who follow hot actors around at conventions.  Fic's a way that fans are creative, really engaging mentally and emotionally with the original works.

I did like the quote from Kevin Smith in response to his audience's booing of Twilight:  "That's the next generation of fans!  That's what I love about a comic book convention. People will come to a convention, stand there in a Spock costume, look at someone in a Chewie costume, and say, 'Look at that f__in' geek. How dare you pass judgment on those 12-year-old girls who like vampires!"

Oh, interfandom judgment.  Really, as much as I will criticize Twilight and its less sane and/or mature fans, I hope the books' success can ultimately be a good thing.  Some of those girls will go on to a better quality of sparkle-free vampire fiction (Buffy, Robin McKinley's Sunshine, Tanya Huff's Henry Fitzroy books), and from there to the rest of fandom.  At my local borders, they have moved the Young Adult section to the front of the store.  I hope that's an indicator that a lot of younger readers are buying books.  Admittedly about half of it is Twilight and its ripoffs, but surely some of the girls who go there will get into a habit of reading fantasy and sci-fi.  (Incidentally, a RL friend of mine who works in publishing keeps a blog reviewing YA books from an adult perspective, focusing on quality works. Her reviews are excellent reads in themselves.  There are tons of really good books for teens to move to when they start to tire of Twilight.)

Finally, I have a random question.  I know male fans are out there since I see them at conventions.  However, the aspects of fandom I participate in (fic, LJ) are very heavily female.  What do the male fans DO when they aren't at cons?