Coming of Age in Online Media Fandom: Young Women's Romantic and Sexual Expectations

• In Event: 082 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session I
  In Refereed Roundtable: A. Table 01. Cultural Sociology

Abstract

The last several decades have seen a change in the way that young women organize their romantic and sexual relationships; many young women delay commitment and attachment until later in life as well as invest new significance in the importance of a deep emotional connection with their eventual romantic partner. As these changes in family and union expectations have arisen, so too has media fandom, a subculture made more accessible by the internet. Even as online media fandom has risen to recent prominence in journalist accounts of media culture, scholarship around fandom has tended to focus on fan subcultures as sites of social organization rather than on the role of fandom within individuals' lives. With a three-year longitudinal study of 42 young American women who are heavily invested in the relationship between the characters Kurt and Blaine from the American television show Glee, we seek to understand the role that fandom plays in the lives of the young women who participate. Particular attention is paid to the role of fandom participation in the formulation and maintenance of romantic ideals and aspirations, sexual identity and practice, human capital development, and larger community participation.

Authors

• Carrie Clarady, University of Maryland-College Park

• Jessica Paula Wiederspan, University of Michigan