Femslash Poll Results
Shipping polls are difficult. Having to end things early because of botting debacles isn’t fun and we regret having to do that. We’ve listened to feedback and took action when commenters had concerns, but none of that was enough to appease voters. We put anti-botting measures in place, but that caused anger because one pairing was ahead at the time. A few days ago we asked if Doccubus and Faberry wanted to reset and start over from zero with anti-botting measures in place. That was rejected. Then this morning we asked if they wanted to end it early and have a tie, reject both top ships, or to continue voting. Surprisingly the rejection of the two top ships and crowning the third place pairing as the winner was what won that poll, which also caused a lot of outcry and concern, especially from the ships that worked tirelessly for days to maintain the top two spots. We’ve received over 900 emails about this poll alone, many of which were very angry and often resorted to personal attacks, so it obviously upset a lot of people. That was never the intention of this poll. The intention was to celebrate love and female relationships, but instead it turned into anger, frustration, and multiple cases of possible carpal tunnel syndrome. That was never our intention (well, maybe the carpal tunnel syndrome). That wasn’t what we are going for. But that is what happened.
So what can we do here?
The best option is to honor everyone.
First I want to honor Doccubus and Faberry for their very obvious determination in winning the top spot. You love your pairings. There is no doubt about that. You are passionate and determined and anyone who says otherwise have obviously never had to face you in a competition. Near the end you began to see the parallels between your ships (blonds that went to Yale, etc) and that was truly what this poll was about. For those that participated for the love of their pairing and expressed that love so passionately in the comments, thank you. You’re why we did this.
We also want to honor Britanna, who voted to eliminate the top two ships and take first place. While this vote was upsetting to many people, we did offer it as a choice and it did technically win. While the decision to do this caused a lot of anger, we aren’t going to back out and not give them a mention. They worked hard, too, and had nearly 10,000 more votes than the 4th place winner. They deserve respect for their power.
And speaking of the 4th place winner, we can’t help but mention the fact that Xena hasn’t been on the air in over a decade and they still managed to make it into the top 4. Though they had no part in the final polling process that led to this early close, it felt wrong to not pay them respect where respect is due. They are one of the oldest femslash pairings and yet they remain strong and compete with these heavy hitters even today. It’s incredibly impressive and we’ve got to give them a round of applause.
Is this going to please everyone? No, absolutely not. We expect angry comments and frustrated emails with excessive amounts of exclamation points and attacks to be rolling in any moment. But there was just not going to be a resolution that pleased everyone so we are doing what seems fair for the most people involved. We won’t be holding a shipping poll for a while, but we will continue to celebrate our favorite queer pairings just like we have been since this website was founded. Queer representation and female relationships in the media are very near and dear to our hearts. We are very passionate about it.
So with that said, we hope that most of you had fun. We hope that most of you were able to celebrate what you love in the way we intended. Enjoy your weekend.
-Admin Angel
Author: Angel Wilson
Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They’ve also written for Friends of Comic Con and is a 2019 Hugo Award winner for contributing fanfic on AO3. They identify as queer.
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This was probably the sanest thing for you to do, Angel.
Thanks so much for all of your effort!
Yes. it’s the better end.
Thank you Angel for this Poll.
I’m sad of the fight, the attacks and for you.
Don’t worry, it was a good experience and I love my #BoLauren, nothing can change that because I trust both Anna and Zoie to make their relationship beautiful until the end of the series.
And I voted for other pairs I like too.
see you later/soon Angel 🙂
To the editors of this site – well done. I am sorry and mystified over the whole ego debacle. In the end it’s celebrating our favourite characters and not a competition about who has the biggest fans.
This poll will make history, For sure !
Well done on your decision which could not have been easy. There is nothing wrong with healthy competition but not at the expense of common decency and respect toward another, in this case, you. You are truly am Angel, thank you do much for allowing us show our appreciation and love for an awesome show and couple so dear to our hearts
Impresionante, viendo todo el drama que causamos por diferencias tontas y malas interpretaciones por algunos de las personas que pertenecemos a los Fandoms más fuertes de esta competencia, a pesar de no ser una de esas personas Pido disculpas y Administrador ANGEL espero que todo esto no te afecte demasiado y descansa, has sido excelente y tienes una paciencia admirable… Ahora yo admiro las cuatro primeras parejas y por desgracia no entendimos ni vimos las similitudes que tienen las 4, para empezar son la combinación Rubia y Castaña, las castañas son las más fuerte a mi modo de ver por ejemplo Rachel su pasión por el canto y broadway que no se rindió a pesar de ser una chica no popular y sufrir de bulling en la secundaria, Bo la súcubo que no dejó que nadie la dominara al no pertenecer ni a la luz ni a la oscuridad y la busqueda de su origen, Santana la que no se deja de nadie y que domina la secundaria incluso a los jugadores mucho más grandes que ella con todo y su Lima Height Adjencet, Xena como la princesa guerrera que se enfrenta hasta los dioses y vence, y sus contrapartes rubias Quinn que a pesar de no ser una pareja en la serie y ser solamente algo así como amigas fué capaz de dar a Rachel lo único por lo que ella lucho en la secundaria y es su corona de prom queen(si eso no es amor no sé lo que es)y que nos regaló las escenas más fuertes (a mi parecer) al lado de rachel y casi siempre ocurrian en el baño, mi doctora favorita Lauren que lucha por el bien que ama a bo desde la primera vez que la examinó y tocó su espalda, como olvidar todas las escenas super Hot que nos regalan y espero que nos sigan brindando, Brittani inocente pero que siempre se mantuvo al lado de santana con sus pulgares entrelazados o alguno que otro toque que nos dió la escena de despedida más emotiva cuando Santana le cantó MINE de Taylor Swift, y por último la bella Gabrielle compañera de viaje de Xena quien le enseño lo puro y bueno del mundo, vimos a Xena muchas veces sonreír y la hizo feliz como alguien por allá escribió esta pareja es nuestras “nave nodriza” por ser las primeras…. Y muchas más similitudes que existen entre todas pero la más importante el amor entre mujeres, creo que en eso radica todo…
Nuevamente Gracias administrador te mereces miles de abrazos por acá ya tienes una admiradora Latina… Besos..
Se me escapaba hoy es 8 día internacional de la mujer, Felicidades a todas nosotras y siempre mucho amor, fuerza, inteligencia y paciencia en todo lo que hagamos… Por siempre y todos los días FELICIDADES por ser Mujer…….
As a Doccubus fan who stayed up all night voting I’d like to say – Admin Angel, that summing up was perfect. Honouring everyone is such a gracious solution. Thank you, they are all winners.
Thanks for being fair and tireless throughout the poll. Loved the whole spirit in which this was run, particularly adding in requested couples, great to see so many on the list.
Lost Girl is a small Canadian show which has become a global phenomenon as it has really touched the hearts of many viewers. If you’ve never seen it, give it a go – it is well worth checking out.
It is definitely on my list of shows to watch now. I was aware of it before, but it’s been bumped up my list quite a bit.
Thanks for your compliments 🙂
-Admin Angel
It’s funny, ’cause I think it was a mention from you that got me to watch Lost Girl in the first place! I thought you watched it all along. 🙂
Haha nope, I HAVE seen some of the first season, but not enough to really know the plot or characters very well. I know enough to appreciate the representation as far as bisexual characters are concerned and enough to know that Kenzi is awesome, but I really can’t explain the plot or give any analysis about it. That will change though. 🙂
-Admin Angel
Thanks again for your efforts Angel. Trying to make everyone happy was a thankless task but you did it anyways. Also, a whole lot of pretty along with kind words on this results page so congrats to all.
Right choice, respect for efforts.
As for the fans who went on the attack – you are fighting the WRONG people. Female/female relationships are still under-represented in media and representation is vital for anyone living in countries where we still have to fight for our rights to be, to love, to form relationships and have them recognised. When we stop being a novelty (sweeps week stunts, for example, are not for us – they are to titillate and “shock”, it’s cheap and meaningless), when we stop being a mystery, when they view our stories and realise we are their families, friends, colleagues, team mates, doctors, teachers, entertainers etc, the lies and slanders about us melt away in the cleansing light of day and IT GETS BETTER.
Frustration, animus, aggression, does not belong on the shoulders of our allies, and a website running a poll is an ally – stop abusing our friends and think about directing energy on those who are a REAL problem (although really? If you want to have a credible voice, learn to moderate yourself, whoever you are. No one will ever listen to you if you scream venom in their face).
Impressive! Not the fans, YOU! Hats off!
Faeberry isn’t canon, and this is NOT the first time. But fine. As a Doccubus shipper-and a Foxxay shipper I get Ryan Murphy’s hell on lesbian earth. He sucks, and I understand your strife. May we be collected now and fight together to win a poll that has lesbians astray girls??? Can we come together and break down BS ships and win as a force? Can we unite? Doccubus shippers are not asses, and we concede and are proud of your win, but this new poll, well can we unite as a fandom and win over the boys??? I just ask, not force. Its a simple plea
Well it has ended. That’s good. I can see that people and mostly Faberry shippers voted to eliminate the top two ships for the reason that they’d rather not end up a winner than win this poll together with the cheaters. Actually they may be the less hypocrite people in here. In life’s reality you’re not supposed to stay quiet when someone cheated. You get angry of course, its normal reaction (tho I also do think that some of the shippers exaggerate their reactions and go overboard with their anger at some point, that’s no cool of course) But cmon, nobody wants a cheater. So they became enraged and voice out their opinion and everyone here accused them of being rude and disrespectful? But how about the cheaters who started all this mess? Some of doccubus shippers really did play nice here with their comments and everything when they’re on the lead, but when they’re second? they went to faberry twitter accounts then bash them there and accused them of cheating. When all the Faberry fandom did is organize a massive, honest voting for a certain series of hours per day. And in twitter alone, you will see there the numbers of commited faberry account. It’s just sad because maybe some of the doccubus shippers don’t know the true meaning of shipping wars in poll like this. No one would want to play with those kind of people. This poll started nice and everyone is having fun and then they did that. Thats not cool, it’s pathetic. We are supposed to be having an exciting weekend right now voting our hearts out for our beloved ship, but it was all ruined because of that shit. And if you would say whoever did that doesn’t represent your whole fandom, then I guess you’re not united afterall. Fandom goal should be everyone’s goal. And to end this long rant, let me thank the sweet Angel Admin. She’s been very accomodating to everyone. So thank you so much for your time and patience. You are very well appreciated. Hope you’ll have your good night sleep back. hehe. Goodluck to your next poll. That’s all.
Lets let it go I doubt whoever ruined the poll for everyone is still hanging around. valksy is right I said the same thing in the comments on the poll, of course not as eloquently but it’s true. Now I know a lot of us don’t always like Mr. Ryan Murphy but two years ago he made a comment about our fandom and our brother and sister ships(klaine and brittana).
“KLAINE, BRITTANA and FABERRY fans…where were you when I was young? Your passion can change the world. And has”
He has a point, imagine what we could do together guys. This is fun and you always have to make time for that and yourself but we can accomplish so much good together.
There’s an expression that sums up the diatribe by IZ perfectly: “He who smelt it, dealt it.” Those who keep insisting that one side cheated do so because they habitually cheat and aren’t able to accept that it’s not being done by their opponent. Anyone who says that one side cheated must back their accusation with evidence. Paranoia is not enough.
Lost Girl has fans in parts of the world that weren’t aware of this poll until it was brought to their attention after it was already happening, and the fans in China, in particular, contribute a considerable difference in the results when they become involved in a contest. A clarion call to the fandom does not equal cheating.
Thank You to the Admins for making this poll and Sorry that it turned out like that. Fans are very emotional, I understand that. But some of the comments were not OK at all. We as Xenites enjoyed voting and are proud of the 4th place and me and friends also watched a few fanvids about the winning pairings to see what this is all about 😉
Respect to the winners – your fandoms are as loyal as ours and that’s great 🙂
I think this was (as you said) what it was all about. To see that other TV couples have a huge following and maybe take a look at them. Because in the end, all these couples are important to change some things on TV, right? 😉
Have a nice weekend everyone 🙂
Well done Brittana, us Faberrians voted for our sistership to win because we love ya’
Crowning the third place finisher as the winner is the stupidest “option” available. Why would you do that when clearly there were two groups of shippers who were larger? Idiotic!
Ah, yes, here’s the hate I was bracing for. Thank you for filling the required hate quota.
-Admin Angel
This poll, what an experience !
Social and human experience.
I saw friendship, team work. I saw love and loyalty.
I also saw anger, hatred and intolerance.
Both sides.
Never forget that you can respect others and say what you think.
Never forget to speak softly, do not be mean, because words can hurt people.
Never forget to not judge without knowing.
But most important, do not forget the message of this poll : LOVE.
To those who had distill negative things : please, grow up. Grow up in understanding, respect others, don’t throw hatred like that. Nothing good could get out of it.
To those who had play with respect and be friendly and who had spend hours and hours (lost fingers and eyes lol) : thank you. You can fight for what you believe without fighting others. Really, thank you.
And a Big Up for Admin Angel, who had to stay strong like a lighthouse through a storm of negativity, but supported by many people, love and coffee.
Congrats to every ships, do not ever let hatred stain what matters : love and freedom to love.
Peace.
Amen!
Probably the best decision. Can’t fault the admins for going this way, i’d probably have done the same.
I am wondering, however, if anyone can tell me how Bering and Wells did? (They tend to never win these polls but I do like seeing if they make the top 10)
Sériously? No Willow/Tara in the top three. That poll sucks anyway. Kidding you guys. Polls are meant to be fun not a pain in the ass.