Shipping Culture

     We’ve all seen and heard it before. Shipping culture is a pretty significant aspect of just about every fandom out there, where invested fans come together to ‘ship’ two or more characters out of pure enjoyment for the piece of media. Stemming from the word relationship, it’s a way for fans to express their opinions - and its origins are quite surprising!

     Ironically, the term “shipping” was actually coined back in the 1990s with the “X-Files” fandom. Passionate fans debated about whether the main characters, Scully and Mulder, should be in a relationship or not. Oftentimes, they called themselves “relationshippers”, which was shortened into “shipping” and later evolved into a widespread phenomenon worldwide. It came as a surprise to me that a fandom like that would’ve created something so massive.

     While there are multiple ship types in fandoms (some of the more notable ones are canon ships, non-canon ships, and crack ships), it doesn’t create any lackluster media from fans. Fanart, fanfiction, online discussions, and debates all come together to express the enthusiasm and passion of the fans as a whole. It often has a very significant impact on the media itself, as creators may consider fans’ preferences if they’re still working or expanding on the piece of media.

     Overall, shipping culture has come a long way. It celebrates and shines a light on the dynamic aspect of fan communities (which grows a lot more rampant during our teenage years) and how diverse we can be. It’s also just amazing how a single piece of work can bring together so many.