It's My Fandom – Why Explore Inclusivity?

There is no beating around the bush; we live in a world of exclusivity.

Every news headline strives to be an 'exclusive'; the restaurants, nightclubs and private parties we dream of getting into are 'exclusive'; so many products are sold with ad campaigns designed to make us think they are marketed 'exclusively' for people like us – and there's something to be said for exclusivity. Everyone wants to feel special, to feel unique in some way - it's about halfway up that infamous pyramid of self-actualization. Feeling special is a great thing.

One of the many examples of exclusivity. 

In fact, that's one of the things that drew me to the worlds of make-believe and fiction – both reading and writing – over the course of my childhood; it was wonderful to disappear into the pages of my newest book (or notepad, or game, or show) and feel like I was off on a grand and special adventure. It was an important part of my growth as it was an important part of life and growth and learning for thousands upon thousands upon thousands of 'nerds' just like me.

And then we all discovered the internet, where we had instant access to a seemingly endless number of people who shared those interests. For many of us (and for our friends and family who no longer had to try and keep up with the strange language we tried to speak to them) this discovery was an enormous relief. Here, finally, were other people who understood just how much we loved these stories and worlds and characters because they loved them just as much, had benefited just as we had from that chance to feel special.

We've come to call ourselves 'fandom'.

Now that word has different meanings to different people and of course there are individual fandoms that fall under the umbrella – if you think right now of your favorite book, movie, tv show and video game off the top of your head, you'll have listed four fandoms that have at least some palpable presence on the internet, it's almost guaranteed – but for the most part, anyone who participates in one or more considers themselves to be a part of 'fandom' in general.

So why, you might wonder – in a venue where membership originates from enjoying something that successfully made you feel special, unique, exclusive – should we bother exploring inclusivity? After all, fandom (and, it could even be argued, the internet in general) is about 'me'. It's about what I like and what I think and what I feel and what I believe. That's what got us hooked, right?

There is no simple answer to the entirety of that question.

I know, I know, not what you want to see at the end of any entry. The closest to simple I can give you is that the world is getting smaller. We no longer live in an environment of homogeneous stasis, where we can comfortably hold our own views and those like ours as the only reasonable possibility. In this way, fandom is a fascinating microcosm of the wider world. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be presenting a series of in-depth looks at some different aspects of fandom in this regard and its impact on the individual as well as the wider world. I hope to present information that will inspire those of us who participate in and take joy from our fandoms to think deeper about how we view and interact with our various worlds.

#keepitnerdy

Hi, I'm Bitsy and I will be your exclusive nerd on this inclusive endeavor.