Shipping Discourse

“If it's fictional, l'll mind my own business”

Proship (/prö' SHip/; also referred to as “pro-fiction” or “anti-anti”) is an anti-harassment stance regarding fiction.

History

In the old days, fandoms were divided into niche subsets. However, the establishment of a more centralized web has destroyed many of the barriers that once separated rival factions; socmed sites thrive on outrage culture and actively discourage content curation.

Circa 2016, Tumblr users created the anti-ship tag as a means of content curation. This "anti-[insert ship name here]" tag was used to keep "ship hate" out of the main ship tags, as a courtesy to the shippers (and a convenience for non-shippers).

Over time the anti-ship tags became a nest for puritanical sentiments. "Anti-shippers" insisted that some ships were morally corrosive to the minds of fans, or that they reflected fans' hidden real life desires. "The type of fiction you consume reflects your ethics, betrays your deepest truths, and erodes the morality of at-risk individuals." In this environment everyone was a secret predator, betrayed by the most tame ships and fan art. The subsequent McCarthyist meltdown still blazes to this day, with a fandom culture plagued by constant callouts and harassment campaigns.

Anti-shippers (soon shortened to "antis" for ease of use) became notorious within fandoms like Voltron for their harassment campaigns against fans and creators alike. In renouncement of the anti movement, certain fans adopted the "proship" label as a marker of solidarity with harassment victims. Many fans still carry this label as an act of defiance or as a signifier of their stance.