1996 July 9, Chris Byler, “Re: 'PUSHER was a 'Shipper!! *gak*!”, in alt.tv.x-files[1] (Usenet):
I think this whole thing is a semantic misunderstanding.. the anti-shippers and the pro-shippers are putting entirely different meanings into the phrase 'in love'.
1997 April 25, Terry Luck, “Re: 'SHIPPERS SUCK!!!!”, in alt.tv.x-files[2] (Usenet):
For all you pro-shippers and anti-shippers keep posting and debating. Someone is watching you.
1997 November 24, Susan J. Daniell, “Re: Shippy parts lead into MOVIE!!”, in alt.tv.x-files[3] (Usenet):
As a pro-shipper, I think it's gonna be a long season. Will spring ever get here?
1999 March 2, sl...@usc.edu, “aren't they constantly jealous of each other”, in alt.tv.x-files[4] (Usenet):
i mean, im one of those who sits anxiously at the edge of my sofa praying that they would express their affections towards one another in each & every episode...i'm a pro-shipper and i don't trust my own readings that much since they reflect my uncontrollable desire to see them together.... what about the whole "buck teeth" thing in "bad blood"?
Noun: "(fandom slang) one who supports a ship or shipping deemed problematic (...)"[edit]
2020, Sarah Boyd, "The Archive of Our Own and the Stakes of Publishing Fanfiction", thesis submitted to the University of Stirling, page 209:
The trading of reasons to oppose a particular ship began to become a source of social capital within the anti-shipper clique, providing its members with the kind of communal validation that, by definition, they would never receive from pro-shippers.
Things, let’s say, escalated very quickly, with pro-shippers and anti-shippers going at each other over all sorts of nonsense that was obviously a bit hard to follow.
2021, Victor Larsen, "'It Makes Me, A Minor, Uncomfortable': Media and Morality In Anti-Shippers' Policing of Online Fandom", thesis submitted to Ghent University, page 16:
Pro-shippers argued back that depiction was not endorsement, especially if creators tagged their works with the applicable warnings, such as “abuse” or “emotional blackmail”.
2021, Allegra Rosenberg, "'Writing To Cope': Anti-Shipping Rhetoric in Media Fandom", paper presented at the Electronic Literature Organization 2021: Platform (Post?) Pandemic conference, page 7:
What is seen by pro-shippers as simply the desire for everyone to be able to write, draw, and publish what they want, even if it offends or “squicks,” is viewed by anti-shippers as unforgivably harmful.
2021 December 17, Stitch, “2021 Was a Chaotic, Somewhat Productive Time for Fandom Discourse”, in Teen Vogue[5], archived from the original on December 17, 2021, Culture[6]:
It prevents any conversation or mutual understanding beyond the lines of "proshippers" and "antis".
2022, Agnieszka Urbańczyk, "Finding a Dead Dove in the Refrigerator: The Anti-Shippers' Call for Exclusion of Sensitive Content as a Means of Establishing Position in the Field of Fan Production", Przegląd Kulturoznawczy, Volume 53, Number 3, page 416:
Some more moderate pro-shippers assume that works of fiction do influence reality to an extent by shaping people’s attitudes towards violence and abuse. However, they point out that there is a huge difference between depictions of problematic behaviors as romantic or natural, or framing them as evil and traumatizing. There are some pro-shippers who expect fanworks to be allowed at least the same liberties officially distributed media are, given that conflict, violence and manipulation are some of the most common elements of any narrative.
2023, Samantha Aburime, "Hate narratives, conditioned language and networked harassment: A new breed of anti-shipper and anti-fan – antis", Journal of Fandom Studies, Volume 10, Issue 2-3:
Thus, an anti-shipper who is against those viewed to be pro-shippers is already deemed more morally pure.
2023, Madison Bradburn, "Fans Like Us: Anti-shipping, Othering, and the Reauthoring of Fandom", thesis submitted to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, page 16:
This is especially true as Anti-shippers utilize rhetoric that positions Pro-shippers not only as “bad” fans but also as “bad” members of society.
2023, Sarah Ellen Ford, "Politics? What Politics: Digital Fandom and Sociopolitical Belief", dissertation submitted to Bowling Green State University, page 54:
Many of the Star Wars fans I contacted on Twitter would describe themselves as pro-shippers, an Internet fandom term for those who support a person’s ability to ship any two characters in any way they want.
2023, Adrian A. Stone, "The Antagonistic Anatomy of Anti-shippers: A Thematic Analysis", thesis submitted to City University of New York, pages 35-36:
To further bolster these fortifications, there is a perception held among anti-shippers that their position is what ought to be considered ‘normal’ in contrast to the alleged degeneracy of pro-shippers.