The outsiders fandom and shipping (specifically gay ships and why I think hating it is stupid)

 DISclaimer: If you don't ship the outsider's characters simply because you don't care for the ships, you only see them as brothers, or simply don't vibe with them that's perfectly fine! I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about people who bash/hate on other people who ship the characters or use all of their time to hate on that one aspect of the fandom. also if you ship underage characters together or do incest ships please know I am not defending that and I think that people who do that in any fandom are disgusting.

1. Why do people hate shipping within the fandom? 

Well, there are many reasons (only seeing them as brothers, they are teenage boys in a gang so they can't be gay, there are already some set couples, etc.) but the one I personally see the most is "it was the 60's, they wouldn't have been gay" or "It was the 60's, they would've been homophobic" as excuses to hate on the (LEGAl) ships and people who ship those characters (main ex. being johnnyboy, jally, and stevepop) and use their hatred for them to be rude or call people who ship them "weird". they will also use the excuse of "S.e. Hinton doesn't think they're gay"

2. Why are those excuses (listed above in bold) invalid reasons to hate on ships/ real people who ship those things?

Those are invalid reasons to hate on people because first of all, gay people existed in the 60's. (stonewall happened in 1969 if you weren't aware) so saying that they couldn't have been gay because it was the 60's or that they would've been homophobic (which in it of itself is a weird thing to headcanon characters as) is completely erasing the fact that queer people have always existed, even during the 1960's. 

The excuse of saying that s.e. hinton doesn't think they're gay brings me to ask a question: When has fandom never, ever diverged from canon or fully listened to the author's story? because if we didn't, not only would shipping not exist, but neither would fix-it fics or headcanons. If you want to strictly stick to canon and not read or do anything that would be different from the creator's work, then be my guest! no one is stopping you. just don't get mad when you see people doing things that every single fandom has done since fandom was created. 

Also, no one is forcing you to consume shipping content or content you don't like. it will always take less energy to scroll away or click the disinterested button then it will be to make hateful comments on every single post you see or get mad at every post you see. It's also more fulfilling because then you can consume content you enjoy instead of getting mad seeing content you don't. In the words of drew gooden, "if you are consistently consuming media that you don't like in the year 2024, that's a skill issue"

3. Conclusion

thank you for listening to me rant! i know this is long, it had just been rattling around my brain because I've been very disheartened by the hate that is starting to spread in fandom in general. again, read my disclaimer, and thank you very much for coming to my ted talk!