Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 12:52:38 -0500
From: thaughey <thaughey at acnet.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: SF fandom- this has been interesting
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

Everyone will have to wear their star trek uniforms and pipe her
aboard.  --Tom Haughey

Drew Bittner wrote:

>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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