Why It's Alright to Be a Hater

TW: 1 mention of r*pe in the section "Why hating isn't bad"

Yes, I know. This is a spicy take. I believe being a hater isn't a bad thing at all, and people shouldn't be judged for having a negative opinion. Many #booktok or Booktube content creators express negative opinions of books they've read and didn't like, and they will be attacked by that book's fanbase.

 

But the question is: why? What's wrong with saying you didn't like something?

 

The criticism could be objective, such as saying the book was racist, misogynistic, or homophobic, and the fanbase will attack the creator despite them being correct. Or the criticism could be subjective, only saying they didn't like the writing style.

 

Despite all of that, the fan base will continue to attack the creator. The people in the fanbase could say, "You're weird for not liking this book. Stop saying other people can't read this. Your opinion is stupid." The content creator didn't say anything about other people reading the book and liking it; they just expressed their own opinion, yet they got attacked.

What is a hater?

According to Wikipedia, "hatred is an extreme negative emotional reaction to particular persons, objects, or concepts; it is typically associated with disgust or resistance. Strong emotions of rage, disdain, and digestion are frequently linked to hate."

That's certainly one way to put it.

Why hating isn't bad

In my opinion, being a hater and calling out problematic elements in books, movies, and/or TV is a good thing. It's good to let others know something is in a piece of media that shouldn't be (as I mentioned above).

Why should we ignore a man stalking a woman in a book and play it off as sexy? Why should we allow romanticization of teacher-student relationships, r*pe, kidnapping, and toxic relationships? These "tropes" shouldn't be read as good things, and haters do a good job of bringing to attention how bad the tropes are. Myself included.

I Want to See Improvement

A big reason why I'm a hater is because I want to see improvement in the romance genre. This could go for any genre, but I primarily read romance and fantasy romance, so I am speaking from that perspective.

There are so many romance novels out there that are the absolute best, top-tier romances. And then, there are some that are the worst books I’ve ever read (or heard of) in my entire life.

My issue is: why are we hyping up the bad books? Why do we, as a society, allow these books to be popular? The romance genre could be so much better, yet we allow books that include boss/employee or incestual relationships to be popular. We need to raise our standards and not accept mediocre romance when the genre has proven to be so much better.

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for reading this blog post! What do you think about what I've said about being a hater? Are you a hater? Or do you love everything you read or watch? Let me know in the comments.