Paul's Passing Thoughts

A fandom makes a hobby out of something people are a fan of. It’s very much like a fan club. For example, people who like Ford Mustangs might join a Mustang club or some other kind of car club. I once knew a couple who owned two Huskies and were members of a Husky club. Fan clubs concerning sports figures and movie stars are myriad.

The Furry fandom is a fake fandom; it’s a cover, which is why “fake fandom” will be a major theme of the book I will be publishing on the Furry “fandom.” The introduction will preface the use of  “the Fandom” in the book with the author’s acknowledgment that it is a fake fandom.

Before we discuss what the Fandom really is, we need to pause and discuss Bridget Gabriel’s “irrelevant majority” argument. Gabriel is knowledgeable about radical Islam and called on often to speak about it at conferences and seminars. Her argument follows: most movements and ideologies are driven by the minority within. If a group’s actions are driven by the minority, which is usually the case, the virtue of the majority is irrelevant because the majority is not driving the actions of the group. For example, most Germans during WWII were good people, but the Nazi’s were driving the actions. Hence, the “good Germans” were irrelevant.

Though this is usually the case Fandom is unique because the majority of the group drives its actions while they point to the minority as a defense. True, there is a minority within the Fandom who think it is a harmless fan club. Hence, supposedly, the Fandom should get a pass lest we “paint the movement with a broad brush.” Gabriel exposes the folly of this argument because what really matters is the actions of any given group. If the minority are driving its actions, the majority are irrelavant. However, as we shall see, the majority within the Fandom is what’s driving its behavior.

What is the Fandom? We will delve into the psychological studies that have been done in the next parts.