Pushed and Pulled
1) I was reminded of my recent Author's Notes poll when I saw this: On Epigraphs and Epilogues. The fact that so many people also cited the pro forma baby epilogues reminded me of yet another conversation on that as well.
2) Came across two articles of interest about music fandom recently – the growth of Bohemian Rhapsody fandom and an Interview with Nancy Baym:
"Historically (and in many places and events now) music was an activity people did together as part of ritual or communal events. You can think of religious rituals, parades, or laboring together in fields. In these contexts, it didn’t make much sense to think of some people as audiences and others as musicians because the roles were more malleable and because the music was not the point of the event but part of it. Once music becomes a rarified activity that experts at work perform for paying people at leisure, the concepts of audience and fan start to make sense. And once those people are cut out of the interaction loop when mass media make the performers inaccessible, audiences turn to each other, continuing the communal ritual engagement, but without the musicians in the community. "
Also from Part II:
"Q: What forms of audience engagement and participation created the most anxiety for the performers you interviewed? Why?
A: Nearly everyone I talked to regardless of sex had dealt with stalkers. While some took it in stride, it was quite upsetting for others. The hard part is that they can’t just go online and talk to an adoring audience, they have to deal with criticism, they have to deal with people who think it’s fun to be mean to them, they have to deal with harassment. That creates a lot of anxiety. But there’s a quieter, more pernicious anxiety, which is just keeping up with the learning curve it takes to know what sites people are using, what apps are in, what terms of use have changed, what algorithms seem to be doing now, what metrics – if any – matter, which topics they can safely discuss, and so on. Relationships take work even in the best of circumstances. Maintaining one with diverse crowds who want different things, and doing it in real time, in public, all the time, can be stressful even if you’re good at it and enjoy it.
Q: How might the conflicts which arise around fans “gatekeeping” other fans fit within your model of relational labor?
A: One of the stressful things for some of the artists I talked with was that they saw fans create internal hierarchies and felt alienated by it. They didn’t like it, they wanted it to be easy for anyone to enter their fandom and they didn’t want any elitism or favoritism within it. And then they’d see how fans were treating one another - whether through gatekeeping or elitism or bullying - and know that if they were to intervene, they’d only make it worse, so they felt kind of agitated and helpless. Figuring out how, if at all, to confront and manage this as an artist is very much an issue of relational labor."
3) When in a store recently I started to wonder – what is your favorite item(s) of wearable to shop for?
Mine is definitely winter wear, particularly fleece tops. A lot of what I have are probably intended as outerwear but I just wear them as tops. Because why wouldn't I want something that comfortable next to my skin? I also have accumulated more winter coats than I need because I like coats as well.
My least favorite is stuff that is designed for fall or spring – first, because those seasons are so erratic that anything but light summer wear would suit, and second that it seems we have 2 weeks of each of those seasons these days so it doesn't seem very cost effective. I've found I've given a way a number of long sleeved tops in the past years because I find I hardly ever wear them. They're too warm for summer and not warm enough at any other time of year other than for scattered days here and there.
One thing I would like to come across more often is fleece pants – not sweatpants but just the pants version of the microfleece tops and such. They're probably not available because it's more difficult to cut them than for jacket-like tops. But that's what I'd want, especially if they're also not low waisted. I'm long waisted and that stuff if just useless for me.
4) Given what's happening in different African countries as well as the broad censorship in China, one wonders how long it will be until similar policies are enacted in the U.S. as a combination of revenue source and social control.
5) I liked the approach of discussing how writing for fandom prepared a new pro author for her career. It's curious how the focus on fanfic writers gone pro has evolved, as this article in the Atlantic focuses on a different team talking about how they manage their writing partnership.
Comments at Dreamwidth
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2) Came across two articles of interest about music fandom recently – the growth of Bohemian Rhapsody fandom and an Interview with Nancy Baym:
"Historically (and in many places and events now) music was an activity people did together as part of ritual or communal events. You can think of religious rituals, parades, or laboring together in fields. In these contexts, it didn’t make much sense to think of some people as audiences and others as musicians because the roles were more malleable and because the music was not the point of the event but part of it. Once music becomes a rarified activity that experts at work perform for paying people at leisure, the concepts of audience and fan start to make sense. And once those people are cut out of the interaction loop when mass media make the performers inaccessible, audiences turn to each other, continuing the communal ritual engagement, but without the musicians in the community. "
Also from Part II:
"Q: What forms of audience engagement and participation created the most anxiety for the performers you interviewed? Why?
A: Nearly everyone I talked to regardless of sex had dealt with stalkers. While some took it in stride, it was quite upsetting for others. The hard part is that they can’t just go online and talk to an adoring audience, they have to deal with criticism, they have to deal with people who think it’s fun to be mean to them, they have to deal with harassment. That creates a lot of anxiety. But there’s a quieter, more pernicious anxiety, which is just keeping up with the learning curve it takes to know what sites people are using, what apps are in, what terms of use have changed, what algorithms seem to be doing now, what metrics – if any – matter, which topics they can safely discuss, and so on. Relationships take work even in the best of circumstances. Maintaining one with diverse crowds who want different things, and doing it in real time, in public, all the time, can be stressful even if you’re good at it and enjoy it.
Q: How might the conflicts which arise around fans “gatekeeping” other fans fit within your model of relational labor?
A: One of the stressful things for some of the artists I talked with was that they saw fans create internal hierarchies and felt alienated by it. They didn’t like it, they wanted it to be easy for anyone to enter their fandom and they didn’t want any elitism or favoritism within it. And then they’d see how fans were treating one another - whether through gatekeeping or elitism or bullying - and know that if they were to intervene, they’d only make it worse, so they felt kind of agitated and helpless. Figuring out how, if at all, to confront and manage this as an artist is very much an issue of relational labor."
3) When in a store recently I started to wonder – what is your favorite item(s) of wearable to shop for?
Mine is definitely winter wear, particularly fleece tops. A lot of what I have are probably intended as outerwear but I just wear them as tops. Because why wouldn't I want something that comfortable next to my skin? I also have accumulated more winter coats than I need because I like coats as well.
My least favorite is stuff that is designed for fall or spring – first, because those seasons are so erratic that anything but light summer wear would suit, and second that it seems we have 2 weeks of each of those seasons these days so it doesn't seem very cost effective. I've found I've given a way a number of long sleeved tops in the past years because I find I hardly ever wear them. They're too warm for summer and not warm enough at any other time of year other than for scattered days here and there.
One thing I would like to come across more often is fleece pants – not sweatpants but just the pants version of the microfleece tops and such. They're probably not available because it's more difficult to cut them than for jacket-like tops. But that's what I'd want, especially if they're also not low waisted. I'm long waisted and that stuff if just useless for me.
4) Given what's happening in different African countries as well as the broad censorship in China, one wonders how long it will be until similar policies are enacted in the U.S. as a combination of revenue source and social control.
5) I liked the approach of discussing how writing for fandom prepared a new pro author for her career. It's curious how the focus on fanfic writers gone pro has evolved, as this article in the Atlantic focuses on a different team talking about how they manage their writing partnership.
Comments at Dreamwidth