Curriculum Studies Fangirls Unite!

• In Event: Curriculum Scholars, Literature, and the Women Who Have Influenced/Inspired Us: Commemorating Dreams and Necessities

Abstract

I’m what you might call a female curriculum scholars fangirl.

In this presentation I apply the concept of fangirls to examine my own relationship with female scholars and writers. Using the concept of fangirl, I examine my own painful, humbling, embarrassing, and influential relationships with those curriculum scholars and authors who have challenged male-dominated fields: Madeleine Grumet and Hongyu Wang, both in the field of curriculum studies, and Laurie Halse Anderson, who is the author of the young adult novel Speak a first-person narrative in which the teenage protagonist stops speaking after being sexually assaulted.

In the realm of popular culture, a fangirl is someone who is obsessed with comics, television, video games, and anime. Or put even more simply by Smith (2016) in her book The Fangirl Life, “a girl fan” (p. 202). Fangirls, before and after the advent of technology, follow the lives and works fictional and non-fictional characters with apt interest. Collectively, fangirls are able to bring objects of their attention to international stardom through their devoted actions such as writing fan fiction, attending conventions dressed like their favorite characters, and supporting the objects of their fandom through active online activity. These days, fangirls like Smith (2016) and Maggs (2015) encourage fangirls to unite and embrace their feminist sides by reading and following women authors, characters, and shows. Why don’t fangirls in curriculum studies do the same?

In this presentation, I will share three brief anecdotes about a moment in my relationship with Madeleine Grumet, Hongyu Wang, and Laurie Halse Anderson. I share these moments to help explain what fangirls are and might be in the field of curriculum. How could fangirl practices produce generative ways to examine our relationships with those whom we read, cite, and follow? I take up Janet Miller’s (2005) methodology of autobiographical narration to look at not only the “political and personal” but also the popular to “articulate the effects” of the relationships among women scholars in the curriculum field. I also examine Wang’s (2016) notion of the unteachable moment, moments in teaching that can offer possibilities when approached playfully. Anderson, Miller, and Wang all consider the concept of women who have been silenced and the possible paths for allowing their stories.

While I can’t speak for anyone other than myself, I think there are important implications from the realm of fandom, specifically fangirls, that make me think of the ways I have become a fangirl. The questions I pose for our field, specifically looking at the practices of fangirls include fan fiction, creating websites, “What if citations were likes?” “Is applying another’s theory to your data just another example of fanfiction?” And, finally, using a concept from Smith’s book (2016) “What to do with one’s girl crush?”

Collectively fangirls have rocketed pop stars, anime, and television shows to dizzying heights. Imagine what fangirls in curriculum might can bring attention to with their collective obsessions. What can we learn from them to develop and honor those women in our own field?

Author

• Jacqueline Bach, Louisiana State University