Anonymous asked: hey what happened to this blog it was such a great idea and much-needed in the 1D fandom
i apologize for the fact we haven’t updated in a long time! we’ve been very busy, which isn’t to say this blog hasn’t been on our mind (it has) or that we haven’t been planning a lot of posts (we have). i don’t want to make any promises on timeframes but we should have a post up within the next two weeks or so!
Anonymous asked: it also stands that none of the members of one direction have identified as heterosexual either? claiming they are straight because they have been/are with persons of the female gender is ignorant/hetero-normative. they don't default to heterosexual. there's more than one sexuality that constitutes opposite sex couplings. fans that genuinely believe harry/louis, or other band-mate/band-mate couples, are in love, are not automatically calling them homosexual. i appreciate what you're doing tho :)
I don’t disagree with the points you’re making at all. I don’t think anywhere in our post did we claim that the members of One Direction are straight. In fact, we stated that none of the members (as far as I can recall) have ever explicitly stated their sexuality. I also realize that even the members who are or who have in the past have had girlfriends doesn’t necessarily mean they’re heterosexual.
However, that doesn’t negate the fact that no matter what their sexuality is, even if one or more did openly come out, you should not call them any type of homophobic slur.
We will be doing a longer post about how fandom appropriately and inappropriately handles their sexualities, and I think some of your opinions will be addressed within that post. The fact the remains that calling anyone a slur, no matter their stated or unstated sexuality, is unacceptable.
(I apologize that I keep just having to say “we’ll get to it later!” when it comes to these post topics, but I promise we will address everyone’s concerns)
leavingnobrokenhearts asked: hi! i just want to say that i'm a huge fan of this blog already and i'd love to hear your thoughts on perrie and little mix (i'm hoping they're good ones, because i love them to death and am glad that in general she seems to get less hate than eleanor and danielle)
Actually, our next post will likely be about misogyny in fandom, and a lot of that will focus on how the girlfriends of the band are viewed. I think there’s a lot of reasons, some more malicious than others, as to why Perrie seems to get less hate then Eleanor and Danielle that I hope to address in that post.
On a personal note, I am a huge fan of Perrie and Little Mix as a whole. I think the overall message and themes their album and their existence as a band are promoting are fantastic. But I’d also like to say it’s perfectly legitimate to not be a fan of Little Mix and/or Perrie, and still be a respectful One Direction fan.
wildchildrun asked: I'm very confused. About this blog. About you goals. About everything. I don't understand.
Well. Hmm. Perhaps reading the introduction post might clear things up a bit for you.
But if you’d like me to expand on that, this blog was created to critique the biggest pop culture phenomenon at the moment, which happens to be One Direction. Here we’ll elevate the discourse beyond “Harry is sexy,” and explain why calling him gay is wrong, and why the fans’ mistreatment of Danielle Peazer, and especially Eleanor Calder, is unfair and rooted from internalized misogyny, and how calling Zayn a Mexican is racist, and— excuse me, I’m getting dizzy.
This blog was created as an educational platform for readers to learn more about, or further support the need of, feminism through the conflicting messages being upheld in the One Direction fandom.
hunter-g-james asked: Hi. Dunno-what-to-even-identify-as here. A very good friend of mine uses words like fag and pussy when referring to guys (for example, a guy pushed a female friend of ours, so she called him a fag etc) and yeah, its rather offensive. She would never use the word maliciously in reference to someone who was homosexual, but I don't think she realizes that it's offensive when you use the word /at all/. I've redirected her to your post. Thank you.
Thank you so much for this message. I think it’s a great reminder that these issues exist far beyond just this fandom, and beyond just our computer screens, and that this is an issue people face daily in real life. I truly hope your friend is able to learn from this and realize that even if she’s not referring to someone who actually is gay, that her words come from a long line of oppression and hatred, and their use is perpetuating the idea that being gay is bad or wrong.
henryskreever asked: Should/may we tweet this blog to the boys or the 1D account? Or avoid doing so?
Um, if you feel so inclined to tweet this at them, you can. I’m doubtful they or anyone intimately associated with them will see it, but I don’t have any of my persona info on here for a reason, so if they did happen to see it I would be fine with that.
shimmerynights asked: I just want to say that I think this blog is a brilliant idea and I really like and agree with the posts you have made so far. The fans are incredibly supportive and have brought the boys a lot of success, but it is madness and a lot of ugly stuff goes down that needs to be addressed. So thank you for stepping up and doing so. An issue I was thinking about the other day was racism in the fandom, like calling Zayn Mexican or making "jokes" about him doing drugs and being a "te
Thank you so much for your kind words!
Racism is definitely a huge problem within in this fandom, and is definitely a topic we’re going to address shortly, both specifically for Zayn but also within the fandom context as a whole.
lovemeorleavemebe asked: hi. so um im a straight guy and i admit i have made a few post using the words "gay" but strictly not "fag" of some sorts cuz i now its like its ok to say nigga and not nigger. but anyway. also i never really meant the posts to be in any way a diss or somewhat hurt the gay people and thx for posting that. so i thank you :)
I’m glad you were able to learn something from the post! I realize a lot of people are unaware of the effect their words can have on others while having no malicious intent, and I hope now people can realize why they might only be doing something as a joke it can have very negative consequences.
(However, I don’t think it’s acceptable for anyone other than black people to use the word n*gger or any of its variations. Obviously I don’t know your race and will make no presumptions about it, but the n word has systematically been used by white people to dehumanize and degrade black people, and only those oppressed in this situation have the right to re-appropriate that word and any of its forms, which in this case would be black people)
The Problem with Homophobic Slurs
I intially wanted to make my first post about misogyny in fandom, because I think that’s a topic that’s often ignored, but with what’s happened in the past few days, I thought delving into the use of slurs, specifically, homophobic, might be better.
Here’s the deal: It is never okay to refer to any member of One Direction using a homophobic slur. Ever.
It should seem like common sense that you shouldn’t refer to anyone using a slur, but common sense tends to evade this group of fans so I guess we need to start with the basics.
What is 1D Feminist Agenda?
On one drunken summer evening of 2012, I decided to embark on a mission to turn the members of One Direction into feminists. Contrary to popular fandom belief, none of the members publicly identify as feminists, and I feel praising them for beliefs that they have not explicitly expressed to identify with or support does a disservice to all those people out there who do identify as feminists, and/or are actively working to promote women’s equality. Regardless, my true dream is to give each of One Direction a copy of “Feminism is for Everybody” by bell hooks, and then help them slip subliminal messages about smashing the patriarchy into their songs.
In the mean time, I think you, fandom, all need to take a look at yourselves. While my goal isn’t to turn every One Direction fan into a feminist, but what I’d ultimately like to do is to shed some light on some of the pervasive problems that are embedded within this fandom’s culture. On this blog, I will do my best to illustrate why so many of the statements, comments, and “jokes” people, inside or outside of the fandom, make are problematic and offensive.
Before I dive into these issues, I’d like to make a couple of points:
- I realize that “feminism” tends to be a dirty word for a lot of people, and often for unfair reasons. I also realize that there are many legitimate reasons to not identify as a feminist. Not identifying as a feminist because you think they’re all ugly, bra-burning-man-haters is illegitimate, and sheds light on your ignorance. Not identifying as a feminist because of the movement’s history of ignoring and dismissing the issues of women of color, LGBTQ women, low income women, and disabled women is more than legitimate. I realize feminism means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but I’d like to be using it in a way that is as inclusive and broad as people.
- When I say “feminist agenda,” I want to point out that I do not want to only talk about women or gender issues, but also touch on issues of race, sexuality, and class. I feel that talking about feminism, or any type of inequality, without considering the factors that lead to oppression is useless. Intersectionality is a key part of this conversation.
- Finally, I’d like to make it known that I am a white, straight, cis-gendered woman, which makes me incredibly privileged. While I like to think I am well-informed, I understand there are definitely things I can’t talk about because I have no idea how it feels to experience those things. There is always the possibility that I’ll say something out of line, and I want to be called out on that. I don’t want this blog to be me talking at my readers. I want to hear, and share, other people’s opinions and experiences. While I certainly have a lot of views and opinions on how this group of fans functions, and how the band is viewed, I don’t just want this to be me preaching at you. Please join me in making this an open forum to share all the idiotic, offensive, and downright malicious things you’ve witnessed in the One Direction fandom, and maybe we can work together to try and stop it.
