Our wise and lovely moderators have decreed that the topic for this month is hobbies. I have had various hobbies throughout my life, but the one that has been more or less for the last 28 years consistent is fandom. There are all kind of fandoms today, but the one that started it all, or at least first called itself fandom, is science fiction fandom, beginning in the 1930s with fanzines and conventions. People who loved the books. That is the fandom I mean when I use the word by itself.
I was a science fiction fan from about the time I was 8 or so, reading the SF from amongst the all different kinds of books my mother read. I didn’t become involved in the organized sub-culture of fandom, as such, until I was 15. One of the first SF books I read was Robert A. Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. The computer that comes to life in that book calls the people that he finds affinity with Not-Stupids. I remember going to my first Birmingham Science Fiction Club meeting in 1980 and finding those very same people. Obviously there are lots of Not-Stupid outside of fandom, and I know quite a few these days, but back then I was pretty insulated and this was a whole world of people who were smart and fun and liked the things I liked and talked about the things I liked to talk about.
There are lots of acronyms in fandom, as elsewhere in our modern life. Two of the most famous are also antonyms of a sort (is there a word for sayings that are antonyms?): FIAWOL (Fandom Is a Way of Life) and FIJAGDH (Fandom Is Just a God – or Ghod –Damn Hobby). It has been both for me. I’ve met people from all over the world, people I never would have met without fandom. All of my oldest and best friends I have found through fandom – or else I’ve dragged them there. I’ve traveled a lot of places I would have never been and I’ve learned a lot, running and helping to run conventions, things that have no doubt helped me in Real Life. Fandom has defined a lot of my life, and so, in that sense, it is a way of life for me. On the other hand, I have also been involved in fan feuds and a good bit of drama – a good bit of yelling and crying. I’ve felt obliged to do fanac that I didn’t necessarily want to do. And, let’s face it, there are creepy people in fandom. In part just because of the subject matter and in part because most of the fandom I’ve been associated with tries to be tolerant and inclusive, you have to put up with some people that you wish you didn’t. But, I guess that stuff is defining, too. So, even though for a while I actually had a license plate that said, FIJAGDH, I guess I’m more of a FIAWOL gal.
I had NO IDEA what these acronyms were until I read this. You'll have to tell me about some of your organizing experiences!
Posted by: Emily | May 14, 2008 at 03:22 PM