I’ve found more and more fans that share you opinions, Virginia. I’m kinda that way with MLP. I watch that to relax. I don’t wanna get caught up in pairings and stuff, not that I condemn those who do. I just love the show. It’s nice and simple. Now, with things like TI and BB/Kuro, that I’m more dedicated to, I do get into that stuff. But it is nice just to kick back and enjoy the fandom sometimes.
Sometimes I like canon pairings. But I see it as blasphemy to “ship” and invent pairings. 
Shipping doesn’t have to be bad at all though! It kind of has a name, I do realize. I ship my fair share of things, but it really depends. For me, shipping doesn’t neccesarily amount to characters being intensely romantically involved with each other - just friends and maybe a bit more than that. 
…But yeah, some fandoms are pretty cuckoo about pairings that probably will never happen. As someone who ships Morby (Mordecai x Rigby from Regular Show) and draws 'em a lot together (as their regular blue jay and raccoon selves, not overly prettified humans) I’ve got the strong feeling most of the fandom looks down on me. 
I don’t care, though. I try not to bother people about it and tag my posts containing such accordingly so they can filter it out.
On a completely relevant note, I’ve got a new fandom recently; Viva Piñata! It’s so cute and colourful and also really funny. Both the show and the games, though they’re both really awesome because of different reasons.
The fandom seems pretty divided - there’s the people who like the games and the people who like the cartoon and the games. It’s a standard CGI show, but the graphics are really nice and it’s really funny as well, with a lot of quirky characters. Sometimes it’s pretty emotional as well. Not as much as the previous based-on-a-Rare-game show Donkey Kong Country, but still.
But I recommend people check it out, I mean, after everyone is all over colourful kids’ cartoons like My Little Pony. …Also because it barely has a fandom. D:
Lately, I’ve been getting into some anime recently, so I guess it’s my new fandom. My main ones right now are Lucky Star, Haruhi Suzumiya, and the Pretty Cure franchise.
Is Mattel/Barbie a fandom?
^I don’t see why not! Plenty of people enjoy it. Even if most of the people I interact with who share my interest in Barbies are much older women. But hey, there’s nothing wrong with that.
I mostly interact with doll collectors online, and their ages and genders vary entirely. However, there is one old lady on my street who collects dolls. We talk about them a lot. One day she was having a yard sale, and she gave me a bag of dolls! They were naked, and she said it was my graduation present, but I think that was the best present ever! We found clothes for them anyway.
That is so cool! I wish I knew people who collected dolls in person. A lot of them can be really neat people.
Any people who are fans of anything are more interesting!
I’m a furry, a person with interest in anthropomorphic animals, a Brony, an Otaku and a Pixarteen (Don’t know how it’s spelled). In fact, I already have my fursona 
Oh, that’s cool, I’m a furry too! My fursona’s a purple badger. |D
I love Pixar, and I also happen to be a fan of palm trees.
I enjoy a lot of things. Possibly too many. But I’ve decided I only really qualify as a “fanatic” or member of the “fsndom” for these things.
Disney(I include Pixar, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in this)
Mattel/Barbie
Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra
Miyzaki
Harry Potter
Star Wars(the Original Trilogy only)