Why Gatekeeping Is Bad For Everything

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Have you ever wanted to get into a fandom? I’ve definitely wanted to get into a lot of things. However, there’s always something that’s going to try to stop you. There’s always going to be someone gatekeeping their fandom away from newcomers.

What exactly is gatekeeping anyways? It’s when someone tries to keep people out of being part of something in the most ridiculous ways possible. It’s present in many things such as fandoms and cultures.

Gatekeeping in fandoms is always fascinating to me. On one hand, people wish people understand the thing they are a fan of. On the other hand, they try to make sure people earn the right to enjoy something. This is prominent with stuff like comic book culture, gaming, and music. This is not good for any fanbase. For one, it makes the thing they are a fan of look bad and as a result, they don’t get the attention it deserves. Earlier this year in the gaming world, Elden Ring was released. The game plays similarly to Dark Souls except that it’s more accessible to people that aren’t used to playing them. This attracted the gatekeepers with them saying stuff like “But the challenge is what made them fun.” While I can get behind this, I also don’t get their definition of fun. Just because someone doesn’t like something that’s too difficult doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to play the games. Not everyone has the time anymore to just learn the game. People have lives outside of playing video games and the last thing they want is their entertainment frustrating them.

A more infamous example is in the music fandom. There will be people wearing Metallica and Nirvana shirts and getting told by “real fans” to name three or more songs. This one is rampant and it isn’t going anywhere. If there’s something you need to know about these kinds of people is that they also can’t name more than 10 songs. Who’s the real fan now? Another example is learning about these bands through popular media such as Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” in Stranger Things. First of all, it’s weird to gatekeep something that’s already popular. The bands are already widely recognizable. What is the point of doing this if their name is already well known? Second, people should be able to wear the shirts they want or enjoy something just because they discovered it through popular culture. There are no laws enforcing this so why are you trying to prevent this? This is popular in the metal world where people are told they’re not “real metalheads” if they only listen to modern popular stuff like Bring Me The Horizon or Bad Omens, rather than something less popular like Ceremonial Oath or Strapping Young Lad. And people wonder why the Grammys don’t treat metal well. They only nominate bands purely for name recognition such as Megadeth and Ozzy Osbourne.

A new thing has popped up where people post “I discovered this band through (insert obscure thing here). You discovered them through TikTok. We’re not the same.” I get not wanting your favourite music not to be called TikTok music. I’ve done this before as well but I don’t do it as much anymore. I know TikTok is ruining the way we listen to music but that doesn’t mean we should punish people for discovering their new favourite artists through the platform. People discover their favourite music through popular things all the time. People discover their favourite music through YouTube and Instagram all the time so what makes TikTok so different?

There’s also the case of sexism. I notice how this mostly happens when men try to gatekeep their interests from women. Men don’t like it when women like the same things as them most of the time. They especially don’t like it when it gets popular among teenage girls. This might be because they don’t want their interests to all of the sudden be perceived as feminine. They like having a masculine image and to like something that’s “feminine” does things to their self-esteem that really confuses me. This is what happens when we are conditioned to like certain things as a child.

Gatekeeping gets worse when it comes to culture. And I’m not talking about cultural appropriation. That’s a thing of its own. But rather being told you’re not truly your ethnicity because you don’t do certain things. Like being told you’re not Asian enough if you don’t have Tiger Balm in your home or not having a mom that wears a visor when it’s sunny outside. However, the worse one is when you’re told you’re not your ethnicity when you can’t speak your native language. I’m Filipino and people say I’m not just because I can’t speak any of our native languages. At least if I try to learn it they’ll be appreciative of me. But I’ve heard of some cultures where people are judged by people of their own ethnicity just for attempting to speak in their native tongue. I can’t fathom the idea around this because that would mean the language would start going away. There are languages that have been lost in time because people were shunned from speaking their native tongue as a result of colonization. But for someone to do this to their own is disgusting. They’re essentially getting rid of their own culture by not letting others carry it on.

All of this needs to stop. Things are going to die out if they don’t let others enjoy the same things as themselves. Fandoms are just going to get bad reps and cultures are going to be wiped out. If I had the power, I would make gatekeeping illegal so people can enjoy what they like and cultures can’t slowly wipe away. There will be a better world for those that want to get into something. You should be able to play that video, listen to that song, or learn that language and not be judged by others.

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