Let's Discuss Gatekeeping on Booktube

WHERE TO FIND ME:

[KarpAlexK]

“I might have cornered him in the produce section to talk about Sanderson.” — Merphy Napier, 2021. Perfection.

[sernoddicusthegallant]

Produce guy: "Hes kind of a niche author his name is Brandon Sanderson"
Ah yes I like to read his work while listening to the underground indie rock band Nirvana

[ltrebach]

We need to normalize saying “that’s not for me” instead of saying everything we dislike is trash. We can dislike things and let people like the things they like.

[christianschwietzke]

Why do I never get cornered in the produce section by a wonderful book nerd? Why does this only ever happen to other people?

[Feferedon]

Gatekeeping gatekeepers from gatekeeping is the only acceptable form of gatekeeping.

[katruth]

"AND THEY ALL SUCK"
that little skit made me chuckle

[ninjasonic]

I often catch myself thinking stuff like "ugh, ofc they are a romance reader" or "ofc they only read self help books"
and then I pause and have to hold _myself_ a lecture about how everyone should read what they like

so, a lot of internalised "gatekeeping" I think

[carahamelie]

One of the saddest things I see with this topic is people having to apologize for liking something. I see this with SJM a lot.... People think they have to because of the judgement that comes with it. I love SJM and I refuse to apologize for it.

[dominishbooks]

"If you haven't read / If you didn't love LOTR, you're not a real fantasy fan" is the one I tend to see most. I just wish everyone could get along with everyone else's opinions.

[CallumRickard]

Another form of Gatekeeping I've discovered within reading communities:

"I've read 4627362746 books, You? Oh, only 30 books this year?" *judgmental glare*

Seriously? As a 38yo that only starting "getting into" reading / collecting pretty books 📖 a couple of years ago... any goal that's higher than 0⃣-books I think is an achievement.

In 2021 I'm aiming for 24+ (basically 2 books a month) and they're usually BRICKS because I tend to like the epic/High Fantasy stuff.

Why is reading 24 bricks better/worse than reading 100 novellas? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Shouldn't it be about how much we ENJOYED whatever it is we've chosen to read, than the sheer NUMBER of books?

[blobbypanda]

Gatekeeping is the death of hobbies. I hate it to its core. Things should be open to anybody (in my humble opinion).

[korgaupisc]

I noticed a lot of internalised gatekeeping behaviour within myself, don't know why, but I always make very sure to not let it determine my actions, because it's just not nice and very disrespectful

[Mai]

Readers can be pretty snobbish. They look down on people who don’t like to read, people who read less than them, people who listen to audiobooks and people who read different genres/authors. Most of them are nice, but it can be a pretty gatekeeping community in a way.

[tarnim]

One of my "favorite" types of elitism is when you say you didn't like something and the first reply is basicly "oh, you just didn't GET it. If you were as smart as me you would have understood it better and then you surley would have liked it as much as I do. Let me explain the obvious symbolism that you clearly missed."
And you're there lisening going "no no, I absolutley understood all that. Still didn't like it though."

[darwinwinchester]

When I think about gatekeeping I always wonder what uncle iroh would say: "Zuko, don't be angry because people are showing interest in what you've always liked, rather than thinking they are here to poison a community, see that now there's more people to share and talk about the joy of loving something together. You don't need to be an expert to find the beauty in art."

[Thegirlnamedsomthing]

One of the benefits of not engaging in online communities is avoiding stuff like this. I'll read a classic from the 1600's and afterwards I'll pick up some Glee fanfiction, and nobody cares.

[adrija]

Merphy's acting skills are GOD LEVEL! Not even kidding 😂😂😂

[DryBooks]

"And THEY ALL SUCK" is now a gif that I will be overusing. Thank you for that lol

[isacami]

"hobby police" lol. my 15yo self needed this video so badly. i was such an awful fan back then. all the time i was like "that's not a real book" "that's not actual music". thanks Merphy

[MrMerlin]

"Unfortunately, he talked to me." XD Been there