Below are the 3 most recent journal entries recorded in prettysock's InsaneJournal:

Thursday, November 26th, 2009
3:29 am	Adult Privilege Online Over at Dreamwidth, elfwreck has done a few linkspams on the topic of adult privilege, here and here. And there's a lot of great stuff in those links, especially about child-bashing and discrimination against children or people with children. And I had this nice long comment ready to post there, then my computer glitched and I lost it. I've chosen to take that as a sign to make a post instead. The area where I am most familiar with adult privilege is the online community. So below is a short list version of the adult privilege checklist, from an internet perspective. Some apply to situations beyond the internet as well. 1. Because I am not an adult, I am regularly told that the internet is invariably an unsafe place for me to socialize. Instead of encouraging children to protect their personal information, scare tactics and horror stories often dominate discussions of child internet safety. Society would not see it as unreasonable for my parents to prevent me from going online at all, simply because of my age. 2. If I reveal my age, it is likely that people will make assumptions about my intellectual, emotional, and social maturity. At best, I can expect to be condescended to or treated as a novelty. 3. Thanks to the government and the COPPA, if I am under thirteen I must either get parental approval for every website I want to join or lie about my age. (I cannot vote for representatives who might change this.) 4. Adults may compare each other to people my age as an insult. ("Acting like a twelve-year-old girl".) 5. When discussing or debating political, social, or other issues, I can expect to be taken less seriously if I do not hide my age. 6. If I express myself well, it will be surprising to many people. If I do not express myself well, it will be seen as "proof" that the young are inferior members of the internet community. I may not feel comfortable ever using casual grammar in spaces where my age is known for fear that it will be seen as evidence of immaturity or unintelligence. In any space where my age is known, I will most likely be representing my entire age group. 7. People my age are often discussed online as if we have no agency, and as if no one who is reading the discussion is young. 8. Others regularly decree what is appropriate for me to read. If I am interested in any topic not deemed age-appropriate, I must lie to access material related to it. 9. Information about many issues in my life will be directed only to my caregivers. Pediatric health information, information about education and educational options, information about political issues affecting youth, and discussions of parent-child relationships will all be almost exculsively addressed to adults. There are other examples, these are just a few that came to mind. But I really think it's an important issue to talk about. So, yeah. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, May 31st, 2009
9:15 pm	Thinky Thoughts on Age and Fandom I had only intended to use this journal once, to post the previous entry. Honestly, I'd forgotten I had this account. But I came back across it, and thought it might be worth posting one more time. When I last posted, I was fourteen, almost fifteen. As I write this entry, I've just celebrated my sixteenth birthday. It's a very strange experience for me now, realizing that I'm finally of a somewhat "legitimate" age to be actively involved in fandom. Of course, most sixteen year olds in fandom are new to the game, and I now have almost five years behind me. I'm still maintaining my total separation between my fannish life and my personal life, but I'm beginning to realize that I wouldn't have to do that if I were to create a new account today. I believe teenagers and preteenagers are far, far more capable than we give them credit for. ("We" as society and "we" as fandom.) I still see young fans, here used to mean younger than sixteen, stereotyped and generally disparaged, and it's disheartening. I think young fans have valuable contributions to make in all areas of fandom. And while I understand that the unchanged legal climate in regards to minors and sexually explicit material will continue to prevent young fans from being able to be completely or exclusively open about their ages, I think there are other problems that contribute more significantly. There are two important things I think adult fans could do to make fandom as a whole more welcoming to young fans. First, stop using age as an insult and an indicator of maturity or ability. Age grouping doesn't take into account individual differences and assumes that everyone born near a certain time will behave in the same or at least a similar manner. I simply don't think that's true. A person's age, like their race or gender, is innate. I can't change my date of birth. I don't want to, and that shouldn't limit my opportunities or allow others to dismiss my ideas. Speaking only from personal experience, seeing the term "twelve-year-old fanbrat" used as an insult can majorly influence a young fan (twelve or not) to hide the fact that they're young, or not to speak up in a discussion at all. Second, if you encounter a fan of any age who is new to writing fic, and who is "doing it wrong," from spelling and grammar to netiquette? Instead of passing them over or writing them off, link them to a relevant article. Suggest they find a beta or two. Tell them what the issue is, and why. Yes, some will ignore you or take it personally. But I would still be making the same mistakes I did when I was twelve if it weren't for the people who left comments on my fanfic and messaged me when I was being stupid. If it weren't for the friends I've made. So don't think of them as a clueless teenager; just think of them as another new fan who needs to learn the ropes. They may well surprise you. One thing I think is true of both fandom and society in general is that our youth are what we expect them to be. Only modern society places the age of adulthood at eighteen - and sometimes higher. And if you expect childishness and incompetence from a teenager, a teenage fan, that's probably what you'll get. But it's not because they're not capable of more, it's that nothing more is expected of them. So don't put them down; help them learn the ropes. One of my main motivations for writing this post is the parallels I've seen recently between events in my real life and my history as a fan. Last fall I started attending college at fifteen, after many tests, interviews, and evaluations. And as I sat in class my first day, surrounded by students much older than I was, I was reminded of fandom. And I realized fandom helped prepare me for that environment better than anything else in my past. So that's the other thing I wanted to say: Fandom is good for young fans. I've learned more practical grammar from studying good and bad fanfic, from reviews, and from fanfic guides than from anything I took in school. I've learned vocabulary and critical reading skills. Through fic research, I've learned about science, history, and medicine. All on my own time, because I wanted to, because it would help me do what I love: Read and write fic. The academic things I've learned seem almost irrelevant in light of the ways I've become a better person by being a fan. At twelve years old, I was well on my way to being a right little jerk. Certain that my experiences were universally valid, that my intentions were blameless, and that my parents and their beliefs were infallible. And in fandom? That doesn't fly long. One of the most important things I learned is that I am very often wrong. I learned that people I had been unconsciously taught to distrust and objectify were very often wonderful beyond the telling of it. I had my political, religious, and social assumptions strongly challenged on a weekly basis. I'd never had that before. And that's important, I think. My life had been shaped by basically just one perspective, one type of life experience. And fans are nothing if not different from one another. We have our issues, huge issues sometimes. And those huge problems aren't somehow "worth it" just because they might help someone ignorant learn. But while we work to fix our issues, we're making people aware that they exist and that they are problems. The adult will always be what's "normal". You - soon to be "we" - will always have the power. And so it's going to be our responsibility to treat kids like what they are - people, not extensions of their parents, not people-in-training, and not small adults. And fandom, to me, is as good a place as any to start. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, March 28th, 2008
12:42 am	Minors in fandom, prompt three, for meta-fridays. I think I may be early. It's Friday on the east coast, and I don't want to wait. I've only written a slight bit of meta before, but this prompt seemed as if it was written for me. Minors in fandom, and their place in fandom, is a subject very near to my heart. A little background on myself may be useful to help you understand the perspective I am coming from. I entered the magical world of fandom at the wonderful age of eleven years old. At that time, I decided for myself that I would choose to read PG-13 fic, and no higher. I knew that whatever might lie within the world of R/NC-17 fic, it very probably held no appeal to me. Another very major reason was that it would appall my parents, should they ever find out. My first two smut fics, I found by accident; I believe I when was twelve. The first was a very, very mild sex scene in a PG-13 fic. I stopped for a moment, and asked myself, "did they really just write that?". But I moved on and forgot it rather quickly, as it was a very small part of the story, and not especially graphic. The second was very different; a PWP. It was on a forum, and gave no rating or warning. I skipped to the end, and asked the author to add a rating. They did. That was the extent of my experience with sex and fanfiction for almost another year. I read one light-R story by my own choice, because it was literally the only story that contained a certain pairing within my then-fandom of choice. On the whole, I much preferred to stick with my G-PG-13 fic. It was where I felt comfortable. Over time, I've perhaps become desensitized to it. I certainly don't seek out smut in any way, but I won't avoid it if it reasonably occurs within the course of a story. That's essentially a rough version of my history with fandom. I'm currently fourteen years old, but I do not share that information within fandom under any circumstances. That's why I'm using a sockpuppet to post this entry, because I can't link myself to my fannish account. The reason is twofold. One is for my own protection. I'm bolder on the internet than many others my age, in that I willing talk to and form close friendships with strangers over the internet. However, I also know well the risks I accept by doing so. For that reason, my true name, age, and location aren't things I'm willing to divulge in fandom. The second reason is for the protection of my friends. If they legitimately do not know that I am a minor, then I have given them protection, as far as I can tell. The responsibility falls to me, and I accept it. They have no way to know, and that is how I want to keep it. Not only to protect them, but to protect our friendship. I don't believe I fall into the normal stereotype of the "annoying teenage fanbrat". However, I don't think it's hard to imagine how hard it would be for an eleven-year-old to form serious friendships within fandom with that stereotype being so predominant. To make sure I've covered all the questions from the prompt: 1. Do you expect minors to not read fics labeled "adults only?" No. People, regardless of age, will do what they want to do, to the extent that they're able. That includes reading whatever stories they like. 2. Do you think such fic is actually bad for them, or just potentially legally risky for the author? It can be bad for them, perhaps. I think it could be bad for some people who are over eighteen. It depends far more on the person than their age. Age is relevent only to author liability. 3. Would your opinion change if their parent(s) actively approved of fanfic? Not really. I sort of believe that the appropriateness of certain material for any given person is fixed, regardless of what others think. Parents could approve, and it could still be wrong for their child. Or, they might be totally able to handle it, in spite of their parents' disapproval. 4. How do you decide what's appropriate for kids to read--especially if you don't have any? I generally don't worry about what's appropriate for kids to read. I know everything I've written falls well short of coming into doubt, and as for myself, I look simply at what I think is appropriate for me, not kids. 5. Are there concepts you believe kids should be protected from--and if so, when and how should they be introduced to those concepts? It depends on the maturity, and to some degree, the age of the child. I think sex, language, and violence are all concepts that parents should discuss with their children first, before they're exposed to the information in the real world. Kids will learn everything we try to shelter them from, one way or another. We can't control that. It's up to us to control how and when it happens, and help them feel comfortable discussing them when it does. 6. Can fanfic be a way to face those concepts: not only "this is a fictional world" but "this is a fictional derivation of a fictional world," two layers of not-real to help buffer the shock? Most definitely. I adore my parents, and I don't hold any resentment toward them over this, but my house is not one where I feel comfortable asking about or even mentioning the controversial. (Which, in my area of the US, includes homosexuality.) Fanfiction is a safe "sandbox," so to speak, in which I learned to try out new ways of viewing the world. I've seen the dark and the light in fanfiction, but at the end of the day when it was time to return to the real world, it was as simple as shutting off the computer. That's not to say that fanfiction hasn't affected me in real life; it has in more ways than I can list. But I always knew I could leave if I wanted, that I only had to look at what I wanted to. It was a safe space to learn, to think. I don't know if any of this has made any sense, or if anyone even cares. (Some of you may recognize my story; I've done just a speck of meta-ing on LJ in the past, under a different puppetname.) I just felt like the prompt was calling to me. If anyone has any questions for me about anything, or if you'd like me to elaborate on a point I've been unclear on, just ask in the comments. (7 Comments |Comment on this)