It’s Actually Really Annoying When Men Like This Declare Themselves the Best ‘Star Wars’ Fans

Yet another man thinks he has some kind of say over who is and isn’t the right kind of Star Wars fan.

On his Star Wars Theory YouTube channel, creator Nia D has continued to push a narrative that women are not important (in one way or another) to the franchise. His biggest “gripe” is that the Disney era has pushed a female narrative that he, as a “fan,” doesn’t like.

Fan is in quotations because you cannot be a fan of Star Wars and think to yourself that women do not play an important part behind the scenes, or that we weren’t fans of this series at all until we suddenly were. First of all, who cares when someone realizes they love something? Why would it matter if women came to the Star Wars franchise after Disney bought it? Second, dictating that you think you’re better than someone else in a fandom is punk behavior.

The recent issue stems from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s comments on being the first woman to direct a Star Wars movie. Simply pointing out that a woman hasn’t directed a Star Wars film and making it clear that she is ready for a change in the franchise sparked backlash from people who pretend as if they care about Star Wars. Like Star Wars Theory and Fox News.

Instead of letting the issue go after many pointed out that saying women are not fans of Star Wars is just false, Nia D doubled down by bringing on psychologist Sadia Khan, who said that “Women don’t even watch Star Wars” before sharing some other incredibly sexist and outdated ideas. Khan told Nia D that women just want to be victims in Western society and that none of the women who claim to love Star Wars actually like this franchise.

These men do not define who gets to be a fan of Star Wars

The fact that people like Nia D have millions of subscribers on YouTube and thousands of followers on Twitter and Instagram highlights my issue: There are many people who agree with this man. In fact, if you try and push back, a sea of disgusting “fans” of this franchise (mostly men) will tell you that you aren’t enough of a fan.

While I pride myself on knowing more than most of those dudebros about Star Wars, it is truly infuriating that we’re still having this conversation. What are we doing? It feels like we’re still in grade school, when boys thought girls didn’t like their space opera. What do women have to do to prove we like Star Wars? Do we have to fight them constantly only for them to turn around and hit on us when we prove we do know as much—if not more—than they do?

This game is exhausting. I am not alone in my fandom of Star Wars as a woman. Far from it.

At the end of the day, Star Wars belongs to everyone. These men who think it was theirs to begin with and should only be theirs are not fans. They are woefully ignoring the history that is on display. We would not have Star Wars without Carrie Fisher and Marcia Lucas, who both played a major part in bringing the original trilogy to life.

Throughout the years, women have looked up to Princess Leia, Mon Mothma, and later, Padmé. If you want to get serious, we have Mara Jade, Jaina Solo, and more in the EU that existed before Lucasfilm was sold to Disney. And now that we’re getting more of Star Wars, that means we’re getting more women.

To act like we haven’t been here and been a part of this story is foolish, and I refuse to allow men like this to dominate the conversation any further.

(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)