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Description
Okay, let me see if I can explain this in a way that'll keep me from getting flamed.

Fandom---or maybe it's just some fandoms, but most from my experience---seem to be predominantly female. Which is not necessarily a bad thing; I'm not here to blame the girls. But I've started to observe that it makes things kind of hard for those of us with a Y-chromosome. Because, generally speaking, men and women seem to like different things; and, unsurprisingly, when a fandom is mostly female, things women like tend to be around a lot more.

Now, I really don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill; I'm not accusing any girls reading this of being part of some kind of Feminazi conspiracy to keep the men out, and I'll admit that most of the problems I'm talking about are subtle and minor on their own. They're little things, like:

A guy finds a great stamp or Plz account of their favorite male character---with little hearts surrounding his face. Needless to say, this might be awkward to display in one's profile. (Has happened to me a few times, for example, in the Invader Zim fandom.)

A guy finds the dA club for his favorite character, and even if it doesn't have an icon like that, it's name is "I-luv-(blank)" or something similarly girlish. Do you join? (A dilemma I'm facing now.)

A guy tries to find a good fanfiction or fanart, but all they can find is romance, and most of that is slash, which guys, in general, aren't interested in. They can make their own stuff, sure, but they still want to see others' work on topics they enjoy. (Out of all my fandoms, South Park would have to be the biggest offender for this one.)

A fandom becomes all about a certain male character or characters, just because fangirls tend to like that character more. (Twenty-two campers on Total Drama Island, and half of the fandom is just in it for Duncan. *sigh*) Conversely, this can be a character guy's like too, but most of the work will be geared towards girls, for example, pictures of the character half-dressed or whatever.

Again, I know I'm speaking in generalities; for example, I know there are some guys who like slash (...theoretically, anyway), and I know some girls who don't. And no, I'm also not really intending this to be another anti-yaoi stamp or something like that either, arguing that girls should stop doing these things or whatever. But what I am doing is inviting my brother fan-geeks, if they have also felt awkward in their fandoms sometimes, to use this stamp for themselves, preferably with a comment and/or fave so I know if others really feel the same way. And maybe even more, I'd like to hear from the girls, too: do you ever feel this way in your fangirl life? Most of the fandoms I'm involved with seem disproportionately female, but are there any others where this isn't the case, and you feel awkward because of it? I'm sincerely curious. (And heck, if someone wants to make a version of this with "girls" instead of "guys," feel free. )

And remember, girls: you can express yourselves without accidentally barring us boys out. Draw that badass character with his shirt on, maybe even pair him with a girl once in a while. Little steps like this can go a long way in advancing men's rights in fandom.

(P.S.: About the stamp itself: not sure about the colors. Should I have made all the words green, or all blue? This, too, is probably something the girls could be more helpful with. )

(P.P.S.: Oh yes, and I used this to help me make the stamp: [link] Thank you, O Great ~kabrotti , Maker of the Template!)

Description
Okay, let me see if I can explain this in a way that'll keep me from getting flamed.

Fandom---or maybe it's just some fandoms, but most from my experience---seem to be predominantly female. Which is not necessarily a bad thing; I'm not here to blame the girls. But I've started to observe that it makes things kind of hard for those of us with a Y-chromosome. Because, generally speaking, men and women seem to like different things; and, unsurprisingly, when a fandom is mostly female, things women like tend to be around a lot more.

Now, I really don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill; I'm not accusing any girls reading this of being part of some kind of Feminazi conspiracy to keep the men out, and I'll admit that most of the problems I'm talking about are subtle and minor on their own. They're little things, like:

A guy finds a great stamp or Plz account of their favorite male character---with little hearts surrounding his face. Needless to say, this might be awkward to display in one's profile. (Has happened to me a few times, for example, in the Invader Zim fandom.)

A guy finds the dA club for his favorite character, and even if it doesn't have an icon like that, it's name is "I-luv-(blank)" or something similarly girlish. Do you join? (A dilemma I'm facing now.)

A guy tries to find a good fanfiction or fanart, but all they can find is romance, and most of that is slash, which guys, in general, aren't interested in. They can make their own stuff, sure, but they still want to see others' work on topics they enjoy. (Out of all my fandoms, South Park would have to be the biggest offender for this one.)

A fandom becomes all about a certain male character or characters, just because fangirls tend to like that character more. (Twenty-two campers on Total Drama Island, and half of the fandom is just in it for Duncan. *sigh*) Conversely, this can be a character guy's like too, but most of the work will be geared towards girls, for example, pictures of the character half-dressed or whatever.

Again, I know I'm speaking in generalities; for example, I know there are some guys who like slash (...theoretically, anyway), and I know some girls who don't. And no, I'm also not really intending this to be another anti-yaoi stamp or something like that either, arguing that girls should stop doing these things or whatever. But what I am doing is inviting my brother fan-geeks, if they have also felt awkward in their fandoms sometimes, to use this stamp for themselves, preferably with a comment and/or fave so I know if others really feel the same way. And maybe even more, I'd like to hear from the girls, too: do you ever feel this way in your fangirl life? Most of the fandoms I'm involved with seem disproportionately female, but are there any others where this isn't the case, and you feel awkward because of it? I'm sincerely curious. (And heck, if someone wants to make a version of this with "girls" instead of "guys," feel free. )

And remember, girls: you can express yourselves without accidentally barring us boys out. Draw that badass character with his shirt on, maybe even pair him with a girl once in a while. Little steps like this can go a long way in advancing men's rights in fandom.

(P.S.: About the stamp itself: not sure about the colors. Should I have made all the words green, or all blue? This, too, is probably something the girls could be more helpful with. )

(P.P.S.: Oh yes, and I used this to help me make the stamp: [link] Thank you, O Great ~kabrotti , Maker of the Template!)