Are you the one then who gatekeeps who is allowed to be a gatekeeper, and whether something is acceptable? An example: I really like the aesthetic of upside-down 5 pointed stars. Is there some sort of meaning and history behind them? Don’t know. Am I allowed to like them? Or should I feel shame for not looking up the symbolism in everything that I like? Do I really need to educate myself on the occult in order to like something that might hold meaning to someone else?

Purity tests for fandoms are gross. No one, save for those who take these things way too seriously, cares about how hardcore you are.

Great unpopular opinion!

Damn, the apostrophe in "who're" doing some heavy lifting.

Downvoted because I agree with you.

Words have definitions. If you call yourself a member of a group, but don't meet the agreed upon term, then no... You are not part of that group.

In a dumb example - saying you are a huge fan of a actor, but you don't know anything about them or their movies. But you're a fan because you find yourself attracted to them? No, you're not a fan - you're just thirsty.

In a real example - folks who say they're LGBTQIA. But then say shit like "well except trans" or "I don't really respect bi" like MOTHERFUCKER, you ain't LGBTQIA.

Agreed in full sincerity. It's an argument I don't even make anymore because of how brain dead the counters always are

Oh I don't find it unpopular.

I think the term "poser" is what makes the term "gatekeeper" negative.

Go to an opeth show as a 20 something. Tell a 40cyear old your favorite song is grand conjuration.

You meet a real one, and you'll get a polite lecture. "Dude that song was their death rattle. That was the mandatory road runner records track. They made a music video! So lame!"

And you turn up a bit and listen

"... porcelain heart is akerfeldt apologizing to lindgren for The Grand Conjuration, it symbolized him chasing the rock star dream so hard it drove his best friend away from the project."

And there is your valuable gatekeeper. In a sentence, they turned you from a casual fan to someone deeply interested in the bands history and current trajectory. You're no longer just a fan that digs the sounds. You know something you could have never pieced together if you didn't meet this mega nerd wizard.

Then you listen to the two songs back to back and see the two songs nearly share a chorus for guitars! He recycled lindrens part!! Off by one chord! How has no one anywhere else on the internet ever brought this up beyond the tonal similarity?!

I think the art here is having both good faith, and also being a guide. If you're simply being an elitist or an obscurantist, you're merely being an asshole.

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?

Gatekeeping is good to prevent shitty people who's ideals don't align with the community they're being gatekept from. Often those are people that think they are just better and think their opinions matter more than those actually in the community.

I have never actually met/talked to anyone I could consider a "gatekeeper" IRL, or perhaps I have but their remarks didn't seem bizarre or notable. For me, the term is some post 2000, overtly sensitive internet nonsense created by those who are accurately described as misunderstanding whatever topic/media is being discussed and having an overall shallow view on it. Perhaps someone autistically annoying could be all "achtuallyyyyy" but that's less the "gatekeeping" and more the lack of proper socialization/autism.

Also, it's such a stupid term altogether, like how can I stop you from consuming media or using the symbols of something I love even if you don't understand what's behind it? I can't! The gate is wide open, just because I'm correctly side eyeing your shallow takes doesn't mean you can't pass through and do what you want, lol.

gatekeepers are often vibes-based which is basically arbitrary. i'd rather not.

Ideally your group should be about the thing and there should be no real value for someone outside of doing, finding out more about, or discussing the thing.