The Guardian's Article on Stan Culture

[gag 22,449]

I agree overall with the points they were making. Yes, stan Twitter is a mess and there are extremely toxic elements to it. Gay male misogyny is an extremely important that needs to be discussed more within the community because it's so harmful.

But like... so is every other fandom?

You have straight male sports fans out here LITERALLY rioting, committing arson and destroying property when their favorite football team WINS. There's a demonization and antagonism of every element of queer culture that just seems... uncomfortable to me. It seems to be a wider issue of fan culture as a whole, beyond 'gay stans'.

[ryanripley 86,575]

1 minute ago, gabrielflorin01 said:

I'm in a deep what? Should I stop supporting Gaga because some of her fans make awful harmful jokes? No.

welp, the point just FLEW over your head

[IAmNotHere1997 25,824]

Can SJWS get a real job and stop ruining everything?

[BornSimon 4,818]

7 minutes ago, gabrielflorin01 said:

Just because some of them are like that doesn't mean we gotta label and admit that all the stans are like that.

It is not. You're telling me stan culture is worse than sport fans? Lol.

I'm in a deep what? Should I stop supporting Gaga because some of her fans make awful harmful jokes? No.

This article is literally about stan culture. The culture that takes things to the extreme. I don't understand what you're trying to defend here. They are talking about the sexism and the cruelty in the jokes and the cheerfulness around other people's 'failures'. And they say that if one of these popstars doesn't follow the rules she is dragged to the pits of hell. Are you telling me that isn't exactly what happened to Gaga when she released Joanne? That is stan culture.

Sport fans are ****ing disgusting too but one doesn't exclude the other.

[BornSimon 4,818]

1 minute ago, gabrielflorin01 said:

Can SJWS get a real job and stop ruining everything?

Oh dear, forget I even bothered.

[IAmNotHere1997 25,824]

2 minutes ago, BornSimon said:

This article is literally about stan culture. The culture that takes things to the extreme. I don't understand what you're trying to defend here. They are talking about the sexism and the cruelty in the jokes and the cheerfulness around other people's 'failures'. And they say that if one of these popstars doesn't follow the rules she is dragged to the pits of hell. Are you telling me that isn't exactly what happened to Gaga when she released Joanne? That is stan culture.

Sport fans are ****ing disgusting too but one doesn't exclude the other.

Yeah, I got it. I only defended the harmless stan culture that does not include cruel jokes or anything. just supporting your favouritr artist. I did not defend the disgusting others. also, Gaga still gets dragged and cancel left and right, everyday.

[melon 3,593]

good article!  I think we as gay men need to remember that we can still be homophobic, misogynistic and racist.

just because we are gay doesn’t give us a licence to be c**** to everyone and pass it off as sarcastic dragging or shade.

[Jinzo 9,639]

11 minutes ago, gag said:

 There's a demonization and antagonism of every element of queer culture that just seems... uncomfortable to me. It seems to be a wider issue of fan culture as a whole, beyond 'gay stans'.

Mte. The title should be "The dark side of Stan culture". 

[iCpro 14,846]

The article makes some valid points about certain aspects of stan culture, ie the ‘jokes’ about Manchester, Demi’s overdose etc are completely unacceptable and need to stop. 

However it makes a number of assumptions and generalisations, and paints all of stan culture with the same brush. I’d bet that the majority of those who participate in stan culture, like myself, just do it as a lighthearted activity where we can share squidward and Gretchen memes and discuss our faves with eachother. 

Its unfair to say that stan culture is inherently bad, when people are respectful to others it can be very entertaining, even for the pop stars themselves (eg Katy lmao). However it would also be incorrect to say that there aren’t toxic aspects of it that need to be addressed.

[thatfoxyfeeling 13,037]

Gays on Twitter are like a new breed of gays. They're so hateful. 

[Bebe 17,106]

Wow the tea - honestly I never said this, and I'm probably going to get flamed but I stepped down from moderating (I'm Bebe for those that recognise that name rather than the name I took after stepping down) in some part because I started kinda really noticing and disliking how toxic even this fan site can be.

People here have "opinions" that aren't necessarily warnable, and I don't think they should be, but I just think some opinions are sometimes rooted in either misogyny or as some kind of reflection of a deep personal insecurity. The joy some people have over an artist not getting the #1 position on the charts, the dragging and laughing at artists who may not have sold out one stadium on their worldwide tour, the desire to constantly drag an artist they don't like and pick apart their weaknesses, jumping on bandwagons to "cancel" an artist that said something potentially shady about their idol... It's just toxic.

There are artists I don't like, but they can also release 15 #1 singles this year and that's cool  I just don't check for them because I'm not personally interested. If that artist doesn't get a #1 single, album or have a sold out show then I don't feel anyway about it either...

I get that "stans" are interested in pop culture, they are going to have opinions about people in pop culture... That's fine, you don't need to like everything and everyone and you can be critical of their work... Sometimes it just feels OTT though and like people are rooting for some women to fail, are trying to pit women against each other and are hyper critical of imperfect women.

I think stans can sometimes hide behind the excuse of "Umm how can I be sexist or misogynistic when I stan a powerful female??" and use that as a reason to be uncritical of their own thoughts and behaviours... The reality is some "stans" are only comfortable with certain expressions of femininity, sexuality and womanhood and/or are very "There is only room for one Queen and these other girls I don't like don't deserve success".

[Shipper 13,088]

You should read this article with one of those Animal planet or Discovery channel voices describing something they observed out in the wild. 

Im laughing so early in the morning. 

[gagzus 16,060]

Misogyny's a BIG thing in stan culture, and even on this website it happens to Gaga from her own stans. It’s a big thing all over so it doesn’t surprise me at all

[RAMROD 109,946]

OMG, EXPOSÉ! **facepalm**

[Glittertinks 12,466]

I agree with this article in some parts. I mean, just look at how some people over here drag Christian for his looks etc. even tho it is not our business. There was so much hate during the Joanne era on this site and there is this unhealthy expectation for LG6 going on. We all have our wishes and hopes and favorite eras but if LG6 doesn't turn out how some stans want it, then they are going crazy as hell. On the other side, when others post fun ideas or theories they get dragged. Lines are crossed and people don't know anymore where the limits are imo, which is the biggest problem. Not knowing when they have crossed a line with a joke. It creates a toxic environment for the star and their fans as well as fan to fan.

Not everyone is bad of course, but let's be real, the ones that are bad usually paint the rest in a very bad light and this is not different at all Black sheeps are ruining the party for the fans that want to enjoy talking about their faves, sharing thoughts and having good discussions and share art etc., and respect their faves all the time.