Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 10:01:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: Drew Bittner <drewbitt at yahoo.com>
Subject: [WSFA] SF fandom- this has been interesting
To: Washington SF Association <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts on this topic.
My headstrong opinion has brought forth food for
thought.
I think sf fandom has had an image problem largely
because of media fandom, as Nikki points out. The two
are conflated in the public mind. Maybe it breaks down
into the worlds of sf readership and sf fandom having
some overlap but not absolute congruence (one being a
subset of the other?).
My fiancee (Katherine, 23, graduating college next
month) has gotten very interested in sf because it's a
genre of ideas. She has no experience with fandom but
her preconceptions (before she met me) were negative,
based on media stories about Trek fans in costume,
etc.
She's come around and is very interested in meeting
everyone at WSFA, but she is rather shy-- don't be
surprised if she's very quiet at first.
Are we a welcoming community? I think sf fans can be
very welcoming or very cliquish, like any group of
people. Many of us (me included) have very strong
opinions and express them forcefully; it can get out
of hand.
But like any group, there are those to whom you
gravitate and those to whom you don't.
Everyone is a fan in their own way. With luck, through
meeting others and chatting, we expand each others'
horizons. I'm glad I've become part of WSFA and look
forward to introducing Katherine to the group in June.

Drew

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