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Gatekeeping can be a pretty dickish practice… but not in every case.
Generally we see it as a social pop culture trend where older established fans of something will try and put down new people and discourage them from joining a fandom. This can stifle a fan community and really kill discourse, not to mention shutting out new members and new perspectives which is actually what a fan community needs in order to flourish and grow.
Where gatekeeping isn't a bad thing are fields where people need to submit to standards to join. ie, becoming a doctor, or plumber or electrician for example. Or where there's a limited scope: i.e. you shouldn't join a discussion based on Homer's Odyssey unless you've at least read it. Gatekeeping is more justifiable in any field that requires some reasonably objective expertise in a subject… but then lines do begin to blur and people often have a tendency to be arseholes about things.
Gatekeeping is a natural tendency that we're pretty much all guilty of perpetrating from time to time. The more you get to know about a subject or get into a fandom the more you'll be drawn to gatekeep it… Or you'll find you know so much you don't really care anymore and then you become to opposite of a gatekeeper. :)
What are you a gatekeeper about? At the end of this Quackcast we indulge in gatekeeping over Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Sell Outs - In the words of Gunwallace: Here's my somewhat lame attempt to do a ‘ska’ theme with ukulele, drums, keys, bass, and horns, as per the characters in the comic. Probably a bit tame compared with the comic, but it sort of works. - I like his description best.This tune has a light, after-hours party feel to it. Wearing your hawaii shirt and sipping margaritas on the deck in the evening.
Topics and shownotes
Links
Inspired by Tantz's Gatekeeping art newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2023/jun/23/gatekeeping-art/
Featured comic:
Tales of Omnizari - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2023/jun/27/featured-comic-tales-of-omnizari/
Featured music:
Sell Outs - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Sell_Outs/ - by Terralopod, rated T.
Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
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Quackcast 642 - Gatekeeping
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, July 4, 2023
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bravo1102 at 12:04AM, July 5, 2023
Gatekeepers often love to show off their superior knowledge. So you want in? Don't talk but get them talking. Be a sponge and you'll usually find the gate wide open. Compared to some Star Trek fans I know a lot, compared to others I know nothing.
PaulEberhardt at 1:53PM, July 4, 2023
With Star Trek fandom and some types of music I was on the other side of the gatekeeper, in front of the gate. I found it's always about how they do it. People can be arrogant jerks about it, or they can make you see in a friendly way that you've still some way to go if you want to be in - and somehow make you want to, even if you previously thought it isn't worth raising a finger. I guess character and social skill is what it's all about in the end. I think that can become very visible in the internal squabbles outlined by marcorossi, too.
PaulEberhardt at 1:48PM, July 4, 2023
"Gatekeeping is a natural tendency that we're pretty much all guilty of perpetrating from time to time." - very true! I'm no exception, although it's real life topics in my case, mostly about climate and conservation and geopolitics, all of which I majored in and teach and that so incredibly many people talk so incredibly much bullshit about that I developed a rather short fuse whenever a self-proclaimed expert whose scientific background clearly leaves a few things to be desired tries to waste my time. For teaching purposes I still need to listen to whatever myths and conspiracies I'll have to debunk next, but I'm not getting paid for liking those who come up with them. Please note that all of it is stuff I normally keep out of anything I write here on the Duck and I'd like to keep it that way.
Ozoneocean at 9:00AM, July 4, 2023
@Marcorossi- True! It's a complicated subject XD
marcorossi at 1:26AM, July 4, 2023
Even inside of fandom, I think gatekeeping is sort of a natural thing: suppose I'm a great fan of Tolkien, and I join a community of Tolkien fans. I do this to socialize with like-minded people, if people who are not into Tolkien but, say, like the actor who played the elf in the movie butt in, this is gonna ruin my experience. As fandom might have a graduation of stuff (e.g. people who like old style fantasy, peole who like new, videogame and D&D inspired, people who are in the middle) this could create some ambiguity and internal wars. Also, if people socialize because they are fans of X, knowledge about X becomes a badge of honour so noobs about X will be shunned; this also becomes "bad" gatekeeping but is on the other hand the whole point of forming a community about X.