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In lugnet.general, Stephen Wroble writes:
> OK, I'd like to keep writing, but I have to at least LOOK like I'm working
> today. :)
Haha! I love it.
Now, I really am enjoying this entire thread, but my line of thinking is
diverging a little (thus the change in subject line). A question comes to
my mind about how we refer to ourselves within the "community". Why do we
need to include the word "adult"?
Here in the online community and in those clubs connected to it, we tend to
refer to ourselves as Adult Fans of Lego (AFOL), and there are a few younger
members who call themselves Teen Fans of Lego (TFOL), or some variation.
But are these really the correct terms?
I personally do use the abbreviation AFOL in my posts, mostly because it is
easy to type. But whenever I read the words "adult Lego community" or hear
the phrase "adult Lego hobby" or speak the terms "adult Lego fans online" a
part of me always flinches just a little. Somehow starting a phrase with
the word "adult" reminds me of other such phrases that have a totally
different connotation than what most[1] Lego fans would want. Throw in the
word "online" in the phrase somewhere, and you can imagine where my mind
goes...well, maybe you shouldn't... My point is that I don't really like
the use of these terms sometimes.
In fact, prior to me becoming an active member of r.t.l. and then Lugnet, I
never would have used such terms. Not once in the previous 25 years did it
ever really occur to me that a distinction had to be made as to what age
group I might be in while hobbying with Lego Toys. I always compared it in
my mind (and to curious outsiders) to people of all ages who hobby with
model trains. Now, I have not been to any train hobbyist newsgroups, but I
don't recall anyone ever using the term "Adult Train Fan" before. Either
you're a fan, or you are not. Does it matter whether you are adult or not?
If it does, why?
I believe a similar question once came up before here, although if I recall
correctly it was about the use of the term "Fan" versus "Hobbyist" or
"Enthusiast", etc. But I thought I would bring up my thoughts on "Adult"
since the recent discussion about community made me think and question the
terms we are using and how I feel about them.
Like Tim did with the word community, I would love to hear ideas and
thoughts of what others think about the topic of "Adult"...
-Hendotron
[1] I say most because there are some people who use Lego for pornographic
art[2] and other such not-for-minors kind of items.
[2] I use the term art here even though not everyone sees it that way, but
also because I have never used numbered footnotes[3] in a post before, and
that gave me an excuse.
[3] Woo-hoo, I just did!
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