Beginning in the mid-2010s and continuing into the 2020s, significant discourse emerged in online fandom spaces around the ethical implications of taboo and abusive content within shipping. The disagreement primarily centers on the degree to which fictional works depicting such content affect real-world behavior and attitudes.
๐ Origins of Shipping
The term “shipping”, derived from “relationshipping”, initially emerged in the mid-1990s within the X-Files fandom. Supporters of romance between the two characters titled themselves “shippers”, seeing it as the inevitable resolution of the show’s unresolved sexual tension.
The term later broadened to include supporters of any fan pairing of fictional characters. Such dynamics paralleled far older romantic pairings depicted in slash fanfiction, a term originating in the early 1970s Star Trek fandom.
โ๏ธ Rise of Anti-Shippers
By the early 2000s, anti-fans opposed to certain ships came to be known as “anti-shippers”. This term can include both fans who lack interest in the ship and fans who oppose the plausibility or morality of the relationship.
Anti-shippers take the view that such fictional portrayals normalize harmful dynamics and behaviors, and pose a risk to children and sexual abuse survivors. Fanfiction depicting underage characters in sexual contexts is often characterized as child pornography.
๐ก๏ธ Pro-Shipper Response
As a backlash to anti-shippers, pro-shippers oppose censorship and generally reject the notion that works including such themes influence the behaviors of their readers and writers. Pro-shippers have also faced criticism for minimizing other critiques against fan works, such as anti-racist criticism.
The question of whether fiction affects reality is a central point of dispute between anti-shippers and the opposing camp of “pro-shippers”. Pro-shippers disagree with anti-shippers for a broad spectrum of reasons.
๐ Platform History
The Internet allowed fans to share their works freely and anonymously, enabling them to depict disturbing content such as sexual abuse, rape, incest, and pedophilia. In 2007, a pressure campaign to remove extreme sexual writings was launched by an American group named “Warriors for Innocence” against LiveJournal.
The “destruction of LiveJournal communities” and ongoing censorship from Fanfiction.net led to the creation of the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) and the Archive of Our Own (AO3). AO3 implements a tagging system which allows authors to disseminate the work to particular fandoms and mark works containing triggering or upsetting content.
๐ฅ Key Conflicts
Tensions over pairings between characters within the 2016โ2018 television series Voltron: Legendary Defender contributed to a large-scale expansion of shipping discourse in fandom spaces. Opponents of the romantic pairing of the characters Keith and Shiro characterized that relationship as pedophilic in nature.
In Chinese fan communities in 2019, conflict emerged over a real person fiction ship between Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo. The Chinese government banned AO3 in February 2020, which many fans believed to be the result of the controversy over the ship.
๐ Core Beliefs
Anti-shippers oppose depictions of rape, incest, and pedophilia, as well as power imbalances in relationships and the perceived fetishization of homosexual relationships. Depictions of pedophilia are a major focus of anti-shippers, who argue that sexual content involving underage fictional characters is child pornography.
Anti-shippers generally view an author’s inclusion of such harmful content or themes in a work as a reflection of the author’s personal views and desires. Legal restrictions on such material vary greatly between different countries and jurisdictions.
| Topic | Anti-Shipper View | Pro-Shipper View | Platform Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiction affecting reality | Believes taboo content influences views and actions | Rejects notion that works influence behaviors | Central point of dispute |
| Depictions of pedophilia | Considered child pornography and a grooming tactic | Opposes equating fictional content with real-world abuse | Legal restrictions vary by jurisdiction |
| Authorial intent | Views harmful content as reflection of author’s personal views | Defends harmful dynamics when properly depicted as abusive | DNI notices used by some fans |
| Platform response | Opposes OTW policies allowing such content | Opposes censorship of taboo works | AO3 created as non-censoring alternative |