The problem with gatekeepers, is that their reputation is trashed by people who take it to the extreme. I still feel that gatekeepers in general are important to have for communities and fandoms. But the kind of gatekeepers we could use more of, are ones who’re actually not just weeding out the fakers from the authentic types, but to actually educate a little about what a community is all about from being devoted to a basic fan.
I see too many times, people running around with wiccan stars and satanic symbols, but are only wearing them for cool-factor purposes. But if you came up to one of them to hold a brief conversation as to whether or not they even care of or know the meaning behind the symbols that they’re projecting, more often times than not, they are largely using them because they looked cool to them.
Now as a gatekeeper in that position who is asking the questions, would it be wiser to actually educate them or just scream at them crazily? You could educate them a little and if the answers still boil down to “tee hee, I just think they cool anyways, I don’t care” then you’re permitted to brand them as bullshitters and an insult to actual people who take these symbols to heart.
You just don’t simply want a lot of people misrepresenting and confusing something you care about, because it is damaging an identity at the end of the day. That’s why gatekeepers are important to have around.
This is certainly an unpopular take, I’ll give you that!
What makes someone a faker? And who gets to judge that? If someone enjoys a shape, and appreciates it, are they a faker? Probably not. But if they claimed to know everything about it (without it being naivety, after all, you don’t know what you don’t know), but don’t, people will soon figure that out, and they’ll know the person for who they are. The thing is, what they like or claim to like isn’t tarnished by them saying they like it.
For instance, let’s look at baseball. If I have pride in my city and buy a hat with its baseball team because I like the way it looks, but I don’t particularly follow baseball, am I faker? I’m not claiming to know everything about baseball, I just needed a hat and liked this one.
Now, let’s say I like to go to a bar with friends, and they always have a game on in the background. I don’t particularly follow any team, but it’s nice to watch occasionally while not paying any particular attention to the game. If I enjoy having it on in the background, am I a faker?
What if I like a team and watch the games, but I don’t really know much about them, I could tell you a name or two, but not the whole roster, maybe could come up with their number, but probably not. I definitely don’t know the stats of any of the players. Am I a faker now?
In all of these situations, people are enjoying something on their own level and for their own purpose, which should be enough to be a fan of that thing. Why is their enjoyment not valid because they enjoy it in a way that’s different from you?
If people memorize baseball stats, that’s not the game, that’s stats. They’re taking all of the fun out of it and boiling it down to numbers. Are they more of a true fan than the others?