There’s definitely something to this. Like I’m often scared to be part of any group because inevitably someone in that group will be an asshole. I have played video games for a long time but I refuse to refer to myself as a “gamer” because of the associations.
I also notice I hate when something I love becomes too popular, precisely because it loses its initial associations with the group I was happy to associate with, and becomes associated with a larger group that I don’t feel connection with (or worse, becomes associated with a toxic fan base I actively don’t want to be associated with - e.g. Rick and Morty, I love the show but developed shame for enjoying it, once it became popular and its biggest fans created negative associations with liking the show; you can tell yourself to ignore the shame, but I admittedly no longer identify as a fan of Rick and Morty because of what it will communicate to people about me).
There’s definitely something to this. Like I’m often scared to be part of any group because inevitably someone in that group will be an asshole. I have played video games for a long time but I refuse to refer to myself as a “gamer” because of the associations.
I also notice I hate when something I love becomes too popular, precisely because it loses its initial associations with the group I was happy to associate with, and becomes associated with a larger group that I don’t feel connection with (or worse, becomes associated with a toxic fan base I actively don’t want to be associated with - e.g. Rick and Morty, I love the show but developed shame for enjoying it, once it became popular and its biggest fans created negative associations with liking the show; you can tell yourself to ignore the shame, but I admittedly no longer identify as a fan of Rick and Morty because of what it will communicate to people about me).