Fan Communities as Communities of Self-Education and Dissent

• In Event: Beyond Childhood: Teaching with Bikes, Bubblegum Cards, and Toys

Abstract

Youth are considered in many to be a disenfranchised group (see, e.g., Rose). Based on societal constructions of childhood and maturity, as well as legal discourse, they are disenfranchised—unable to vote, own property, purchase numerous products, drive, or determine what they ought to be permitted to learn and when. Their bodies and sexual expression are controlled by legislation such as ages of consent, common to most legal systems around the world, as well as by the social norms and discourse that govern sexuality and gender expression for all members of a community (see, e.g., Butler). However, the internet and media culture (social media, text messaging, etc.) have allowed youth to circumvent systems created by adults to maintain the so-called innocence of the young. Children and youth can now easily access sexually explicit material intended for older audiences, through, e.g., accessing pornographic websites, as well as to create, share, and consume sexual texts and images with each other through, e.g., fan fiction, Snapchat, and other media platforms. An apparent by-product of this is an increase in adult awareness of youth interest in non-heteronormative narratives.

Youth creation and consumption of sexual materials has typically been discussed as a subversive act, although, as Jenkins points out, our idea of what subversion entails depends on cultural norms and regarding which interpretations are “correct” and which are transformative (Jenkins; Duffett 171). In cultural and fan studies, identity construction is considered an ongoing and performative process (see, e.g., Butler), and we consider identity to be constructed both individually and socially (Duffett 2). For fans, identity is linked to the ways in which they interact with a text, and this identity-building process is captured online through interactions with the fan community. For Mark Duffett, fan studies’ mission is to examine “the expression of personal and social identity in the context of media culture” (2), and “a focus on fandom uncovers social attitudes to class, gender and other shared dimensions of indentity[, as well as] the operation of power in the cultural field” (3).

How youth in particular experience participation in fandom is understudied, and indeed, fan studies have only recently become intertwined with youth education and culture (see, e.g., Black, Adolescent). Despite this, the links between sexuality, gender, and fan activity have been subjects of intrigue since the 1980s, as demonstrated by Joanna Russ’s “Pornography for Women, by Women, with Love” (1985). Many inquiries into fans’ construction of their online sexual and gender identities have explored slash fanfiction—fanfiction depicting non-heteronormative relationships between characters and usually involving the active queering of characters. However, most of these studies limit themselves to exploring adult women’s online interactions.

The proposed paper aims to explore how youth fans use online fan communities to educate themselves about and lobby for increased representation of non-normative sexualities/gender expressions by exploring fan fictions that queer characters, fan discussions on social media regarding the lack of LGBTQ representation in their favorite shows, and fan accusations of media queerbaiting.

Author

• Jennifer Duggan, Norwegian University of Science and Technology