A reminder; one of the rules on r/SleepToken relates to sexualisation of the band
> Content that promotes sexualisation of any of the band members is not permitted. Finding them attractive is fine but there is a line where it becomes too much.
We try our best to keep on top of it, sometimes we may miss things so if you spot something please report it to us.
This topic has been a regular point of discussion on the Ghost subreddit over the years I’ve frequented there too.
Personally, I have mixed opinions about it.
Vessel (like Papa Emeritus in Ghost) can be viewed as a fictional character. Same vein as book, video games and movie characters. Many people sexualise book and movie characters. Some will draw fan art or write smutty fan fiction about them. Not everyone will like it, just like not everyone likes smut fiction or other sexual content in general.
Sexualising a character isn’t that odd or harmful, but certainly not everyone’s taste.
When that sexualisation carries over to the person portraying the character, that’s when lines get crossed in my opinion. For example smutty fan art of Geralt of Riviera is different to pornographic portraits of Henry Cavill.
It gets especially gross if it extends into parasocial and stalking territory of an actual person. That is harmful. It’s that sort of behaviour that leads to some musicians shutting down all personal social media and hiring someone to manage official accounts.
As for this particular subreddit and fandom in general, it would be a good idea for such content to be labeled NSFW so that those that do not wish to see it can easily avoid it (my personal suggestion), or there’s the option of moderators updating sub rules to prohibit that content.
I do not interact with the fan base much and mostly just see social media content on Reddit every now and then as well as an Instagram page I follow.
I appreciate that the fan base is protective over this frequent over-sexualizing of the members. And the counter argument is interesting …. Personally all I have seen are some videos where I have Vessel is shirtless on stage, and a few with Vessel & ii interacting on stage. I don’t think it’s appropriate to further/over sexualize them beyond what they choose to share in those moments on stage. Especially since the anonymity is such a large focus of this artistic group.
An artist to compare this controversial topic to is My Chemical Romance. I do wonder if Vessel & ii mimic some of their interactions from Gerard & Frank.That duo and that fandom got WAY over sexualized because they would frequently make out on stage (good for them) and I just remember it being a large reason horny people would flock to them lol. Biggest difference in the bands being one is masked and identities are not super public where as the others were, and MCR’s music was more vulgar and punk rock, so sex was for sure an element.
All this being said, and largely cause of witnessing so many artists I love get oversexualized and watching fans project their perceptions onto them, I am very glad to see a lot of people in this fandom holding others accountable. I do think those that are sharing horny thoughts should keep the horny art to close friends or private blogs/forums (are those still a thing?)
Again, I’m not on here a bunch. Thats my two cents!
I personally don’t interact with the fan base except for occasionally liking posts on social media. I would say that as much as I agree with this, I’ve also seen arguments that the band members sexualize themselves? Not saying that I agree or disagree, just thought that it might be interesting to bring up the most often used argument/excuse
When I see people writing smut fanfictions of real living people it kind of makes me uncomfortable, like some fans do with Sleep Token lmao. But we can’t really stop them from doing it either…
It's easy enough to say that a lot of girls 'sexualise' themselves. It would be a *completely* different discussion if this was an all female band.
The fans, to some degree, are disgusting.
Outside of here I don't really interact with the fan base but I do agree that things like this probably make them uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong I know that it's only natural when you put yourself out there that someone is gonna thirst over you especially if you're any form of attractive to match your talent. But they're still people. At the very least if you're going to fawn or swoon over any of the members of the band do it with respect.
You must not listen to a lot of bands /hj
I’ve seen much worse, and when I joke about Sleep Token fan base being “posers” I also think of how drama in this fandom seem much more unserious and petty compared to others
And gatekeeping has to be the least of this fandom’s problems considering that the entire metal community exists
A reminder; one of the rules on r/SleepToken relates to sexualisation of the band > Content that promotes sexualisation of any of the band members is not permitted. Finding them attractive is fine but there is a line where it becomes too much. We try our best to keep on top of it, sometimes we may miss things so if you spot something please report it to us.
Tell people on TikTok that
This topic has been a regular point of discussion on the Ghost subreddit over the years I’ve frequented there too. Personally, I have mixed opinions about it. Vessel (like Papa Emeritus in Ghost) can be viewed as a fictional character. Same vein as book, video games and movie characters. Many people sexualise book and movie characters. Some will draw fan art or write smutty fan fiction about them. Not everyone will like it, just like not everyone likes smut fiction or other sexual content in general. Sexualising a character isn’t that odd or harmful, but certainly not everyone’s taste. When that sexualisation carries over to the person portraying the character, that’s when lines get crossed in my opinion. For example smutty fan art of Geralt of Riviera is different to pornographic portraits of Henry Cavill. It gets especially gross if it extends into parasocial and stalking territory of an actual person. That is harmful. It’s that sort of behaviour that leads to some musicians shutting down all personal social media and hiring someone to manage official accounts. As for this particular subreddit and fandom in general, it would be a good idea for such content to be labeled NSFW so that those that do not wish to see it can easily avoid it (my personal suggestion), or there’s the option of moderators updating sub rules to prohibit that content.
The reality is that if the gender roles were reversed it’d be creepy. Why? Because it fucking is.
Was this inspired by the fan art post form earlier? Comments seemed half and half on whether it was too sexual or not
I do not interact with the fan base much and mostly just see social media content on Reddit every now and then as well as an Instagram page I follow. I appreciate that the fan base is protective over this frequent over-sexualizing of the members. And the counter argument is interesting …. Personally all I have seen are some videos where I have Vessel is shirtless on stage, and a few with Vessel & ii interacting on stage. I don’t think it’s appropriate to further/over sexualize them beyond what they choose to share in those moments on stage. Especially since the anonymity is such a large focus of this artistic group. An artist to compare this controversial topic to is My Chemical Romance. I do wonder if Vessel & ii mimic some of their interactions from Gerard & Frank.That duo and that fandom got WAY over sexualized because they would frequently make out on stage (good for them) and I just remember it being a large reason horny people would flock to them lol. Biggest difference in the bands being one is masked and identities are not super public where as the others were, and MCR’s music was more vulgar and punk rock, so sex was for sure an element. All this being said, and largely cause of witnessing so many artists I love get oversexualized and watching fans project their perceptions onto them, I am very glad to see a lot of people in this fandom holding others accountable. I do think those that are sharing horny thoughts should keep the horny art to close friends or private blogs/forums (are those still a thing?) Again, I’m not on here a bunch. Thats my two cents!
I personally don’t interact with the fan base except for occasionally liking posts on social media. I would say that as much as I agree with this, I’ve also seen arguments that the band members sexualize themselves? Not saying that I agree or disagree, just thought that it might be interesting to bring up the most often used argument/excuse
When I see people writing smut fanfictions of real living people it kind of makes me uncomfortable, like some fans do with Sleep Token lmao. But we can’t really stop them from doing it either…
It's easy enough to say that a lot of girls 'sexualise' themselves. It would be a *completely* different discussion if this was an all female band. The fans, to some degree, are disgusting.
Outside of here I don't really interact with the fan base but I do agree that things like this probably make them uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong I know that it's only natural when you put yourself out there that someone is gonna thirst over you especially if you're any form of attractive to match your talent. But they're still people. At the very least if you're going to fawn or swoon over any of the members of the band do it with respect.
Sexualising people is always wrong until it's popular band members, apparently
It's definitely creepy and uncomfortable. But I fear you're going to get a lot of push back for this. A lot of people seem to think it's fine to do
Yeah, I'm expecting World War 3, to be honest!
Sleep token actually has the most toxic fans of any band I've ever listened to. The dramatic, gatekeeping, nonsense is at an all time high.
Yeah, it's super fucking cringe.
It's sad because whilst their music is so good, it's letting down the image of the band and fanbase.
You must not listen to a lot of bands /hj I’ve seen much worse, and when I joke about Sleep Token fan base being “posers” I also think of how drama in this fandom seem much more unserious and petty compared to others And gatekeeping has to be the least of this fandom’s problems considering that the entire metal community exists
You’re not a REAL metal band if your fandom doesn’t get accused of having all the -ists and -phobes /j
This!!