Research In Depth

Fandom as a fortress: The gendered safe spaces of

online fanfiction communities
By Christine Dandrow dom, fandom still operates as a deliberately cor-
doned off subculture, often one created by fans
Christine Dandrow received her MA in Communi- who self-identify as Othered and who want “safe
spaces” (Hellekson & Busse, 2006) in which to
cation from the University of Hartford in 2016. She
practice their art. Thus, media fandom is a compli-
is currently pursuing her PhD in Media & Commu- cated melting pot of online support group, discus-
nication at Temple University, where she was sion community, religious fervor, and transforma-
awarded the Presidential Fellowship. Her research tive work.
interests include fan studies, video game studies,
and media studies. Definition of terms

Why fandom? Before continuing, a few definitions must

be established, as some common fandom terms
The first question that is asked of any fan have varying usages. Sterling (2011) writes:
studies scholar is, “Why bother?” Why are fans wor-
thy of study and why do their practices matter? The Fandom is an extremely “high con-
simplest answer is of course that fan practices matter text” culture. In fact, it can be al-
– a great deal, in fact – to fans, and that in and of most incomprehensible to some-
itself makes them worthy of study. A more nuanced one from outside, because it’s so
answer is that media and the Internet have evolved thickly woven with inside jokes,
to the point where nearly everyone encounters fan- references to past stories, past fan-
dom on a regular basis (Gray, Sandvoss, & Harring- doms, fandoms next-door, past
ton, 2007). The way people interact with media and relationships. To ignore all that
its artifacts can, “tell us something about the way in and focus only on literal, explicit,
which we relate to those around us, as well as the written messages is to miss a great
way we read the mediated texts that constitute an deal. (“[META] Fandom as a "high
ever larger part of our horizon of experience” (Gray, context" culture”)
et al., 2007, p. 10). This simultaneous reflective and
interactive quality of fandom is part of what makes Thus, it would be not only inappropriate but actu-
it worth studying. ally impossible to meaningfully discuss fandom
When scholars first started looking at fans without using some of its own terminology. In this
and fannish behavior, they saw another reason it paper, fandom is defined as an interactive and
was worthy: the inherently subversive and power- largely online community that forms around a
resistive nature of fandom. With fans being perpetu- common interest (in this case, media-based). Cano n
ally Othered by society and even (although not pur- is the material that has been officially made part of
posefully) by the very academics attempting to cele- the story by the original creators (Hellekson &
brate and defend them, this initial wave of scholar- Busse, 2006). Transfo rm ative w o rk s are those that
ship saw fandom as a way for marginalized groups utilize what Jenkins (1992) describes as “textual
to connect, interact, and express themselves away poaching” (p. 24), sometimes known as appropriat-
from the prying and often harshly judging eye of the ive or derivative work, although derivative tends
public. While this approach was honorable in its in- to be used pejoratively. Fanfictio n, also known as
tentions, Gray, et al. (2007) argue it was also prob- fanfic or simply fic, is a type of transformative
lematic in its reduction of fan to Other. However, work that typically takes the form of a written sto-
Gray, et al. neglect to take into account the discourse ry (Hellekson & Busse, 2006; Larsen & Zubernis,
of fandom itself. While true that, as later studies 2012). Shipping is the act of pairing two or more charac-
affirm, much of the power dynamics and hierarchies ters romantically and/or sexually and the ship is
of mainstream culture are reproduced within fan- the pairing itself (Hellekson & Busse, 2006). Slash is

Media Report to Women Fall 2016 6 www.mediareporttowomen.com

a genre of fanfiction that deals with the shipping of novels do (just less commercial and more commu-
characters of the same sex/gender, often regardless nal).
of the characters' canon sexual orientations (note Before continuing, a few words of context:
that female slash pairings may be further designat- Fanfiction can be extremely short and self-contained,
ed as femslash and that the predominance of white known as a one shot, but it also can constitute entire
males in media is reflected in the composition of series of novel-length works comprised of hundreds
the majority of slash ships) (Hellekson & Busse, of thousands of words each. Additionally, it should
2006). Ships are usually denoted either by a slash be noted that except for one shots, which by their
between the names (Dean/Castiel) or by a special very nature are completed and published in their
name that is often a portmanteau (Destiel). Some- entirety and are typically only one chapter, fanfiction
times an exclamation point is used to specify or is very rarely published all at once. Most often, it is
emphasize something about a pairing or character, published one or two chapters at a time, feedback is
as with human!Castiel indicating the human incar- given in the form of comments, and then more chap-
nation of the character Castiel, who is actually an ters are published. This makes for a very serialized
angel in canon. Gend ersw ap means, as it sounds, experience. Modern fanfiction, as an art form that
that a character’s gender is changed. Mary Sue is a exists almost exclusively on the internet, is capable of
female original character in a fanfic who is usually some incredibly interesting experimentation not just
some form of author self-insert, and usually shifts in content but in formatting. This is of course contin-
the focus of the story on to herself and away from gent upon the website it is hosted on, but many au-
the canon main characters (Hellekson & Busse, thors will push the limits on what traditional literary
2006; Bonnstetter & Ott, 2011). Hurt/co m fo rt or h/c scholars would accept as, well, literary.
is fanfic that focuses on the distress (from any range
of physical or mental traumas or medical issues) of Fandom (and fanfiction) as resistive and female
one character in a ship and the actions of the other
shipped character(s) that comfort or resolve the Bonnstetter and Ott (2011) in their narrative
trauma or issue, almost always climaxing (or begin- performance concerning Bonnstetter’s experiences
ning) romantically (Hellekson & Busse, 2006). writing Mary Sues, write that fanfiction “is a means
Wank is “the dark underbelly of fan communities – for marginalized groups and especially female fans
trolling, bullying, baskstabbing, shaming, and rela- to construct a discursive space within a hegemonic
tional aggression” (Larsen & Zubernis, 2012, p. culture to express themselves in meaningful and per-
115). sonally fulfilling ways” (p. 352). Some academics,
like Scodari (2003) and Bacon-Smith (1992) argue that
Fanfiction as art some forms of fanfiction reinforce problematic patri-
archal norms, but Bonnstetter and Ott (2011) disa-
For the sake of length and focus, this paper gree, stating that the act of writing fanfiction “calls
will deal particularly with communities surround- into question the entire hegemonic apparatus of writ-
ing fanfiction writers and readers, a section of fan- ing” (p. 358). This disagreement is echoed by Larsen
dom that has traditionally been understood as be- and Zubernis (2012) and Derecho (2006):
ing predominantly female (Busker, 2013). Attempt-
ing to explain fanfiction as a genre of writing is a Even if a great deal of fan fiction…
bit like attempting to explain novels or plays as a tends to reinforce traditional gender
genre of literature – it does not quite work, because roles and social norms, fan fiction on
“play” is less a genre and more an art form, within the whole qualifies as a resistant ar-
which is situated comedy, tragedy, romance, mys- tistic practice because, if nothing
tery, and other genres. Ultimately, that is how fan- else, it is the means by which women
fiction functions as well. It is a unique art form unto write against media corporations
itself more than it is genre of literature. Fanfiction whose products they consume by
has its own genres, such as hurt/comfort and slash, augmenting or sometimes replacing
it has its own tropes like genderswapping and the canonical versions of media texts
Mary Sues, and it has its own community centered with their own texts…Fanfics that
entirely on its creation, critique, and consumption, adhere to heteronormative ideals…
much in the same way that television, plays, and are also subversive of patriarchal

www.mediareporttowomen.com 7 Fall 2016 Media Report to Women

Research In Depth
culture in the same way that Janice their endeavors by the dominant culture; a reaction
Radway argues in her 1984 Reading that, while disappointing, has notable historical prec-
the Romance, that print romance edence. Female arts have traditionally been dis-
novels are subversive. (Derecho, 2006 missed as mere craft, belittled as childish or unwor-
p. 72) thy of study, or otherwise denigrated (Hellekson &
Busse, 2006; Busker, 2013; Zubernis & Larsen, 2012),
Or, to put it differently, the very fact that marginal- and fanfiction is no exception to this.
ized groups, whose writing and other works have
traditionally been downplayed in importance or out- Fandom, the Internet, and canon creators
right ignored, create a space where their desires and
words are honored, celebrated, and valued, is in itself Ballinger (2014) writes, “Fandoms can be
resistive of hegemonic power structures, regardless of intense; the fans are simultaneously the biggest fans
content. of the show and its harshest critics” (para. 2.4). This
Fandom as a larger community is often char- passionate relationship with the text and the status
acterized as mostly male, although some recent stud- of fans as the most active of active audiences inevita-
ies challenge this understanding. It is situated, partic- bly gains the attention of the media creators/
ularly in America, within a deceptively patriarchal producers, a loosely defined group of people includ-
mainstream culture in which gender equality is per- ing publishers/studio executives, showrunner(s),
ceived as female privilege (Busker, 2013; Zubernis & writers, directors, actors, and others; often facetious-
Larsen, 2012; Hellekson & Busse, 2006). This can lead ly called The Powers That Be in reference to their
to some serious conflicts within fandom when the god-like control of their creations.
spaces that marginalized groups set up for them- Sometimes, that relationship can be fraught
selves encounter (usually straight white cis-gendered with tension. Although true that fandom has its roots
male) outsiders. Men tend to feel excluded if topics in resistive practices and transgressive readings (i.e.
that make them uncomfortable (such as slash) are ad- seeing pairings as homosexual in a time when this
dressed in a community they wish to be a part of, was anathema), for many, many years fans limited
even if it was an established part of that community their public activism and interaction with the crea-
(and, in fact, an important and valued part of it) be- tors to attempts to keep their show on the air. This
fore those men got there. When people who feel they was the case with the oft-cited example of Star Trek
are Other in mainstream society seek out fellow Oth- (Bacon-Smith, 1992), and later Joss Whedon’s short-
ers online and find them within media fandom, par- lived but much-loved Firefly (Johnson, 2007), both of
ticularly those in fanfic-centric communities, they feel which had letter-writing campaigns begging for
acceptance sometimes for the first time in their lives. more seasons, or in Firefly’s case, even one actually
Being dismissed within their own (previously) safe complete season.
space is extremely problematic in that it is both an While fans have always been concerned with
implicit negation of the Others' right to have unique how their favorite characters and ships are being
and independent voices and an imposition of the ex- represented on screen, they rarely spoke up about
ternal culture's straight, white, cis-male dominated this in the early days of fandom. These attitudes be-
hierarchy on the deeply personal spaces built by and gan to shift when the internet became more com-
for Others, which is something that Gray, et al (2007) monly accessible. Wilkinson (2010) describes the pre-
reference. Busker (2013) writes: “I’m not sure what’s internet days of fandom:
more insidious: the notion that we must find it not
only desirable that men get involved in fandom, but It all used to be so simple. There
also some kind of imperative, or the notion that it is were fans and there were The Pow-
our, women’s, responsibility to get them involved in ers That Be (TPTB) […] TPTB created
fandom” (para. 2.27). She goes on to discuss how men stories that we, the fans, adored,
not only demand entrance into the safe places of the consumed, criticized, and chopped
marginalized, but also that the Others then alter those into bits and made into shiny new
spaces by “actively suppressing [their] own inter- things for our amusement. There
ests” (Busker, 2013, para. 2.28), such as slash and oth- was a version of the fourth wall—
er types of fanfiction. Resistance to these demands more a one-way mirror, really—
inevitably leads to condemnation of the Others and between the source text and fandom,

Media Report to Women Fall 2016 8 www.mediareporttowomen.com

 with both sides generally happy to seeing it as a valid art form and the highest form of
keep it that way. (para. 1.1) flattery. Many of these people, although not all of them,
began their artistic lives writing their own fanfics. Nao-
Instead of loudly proclaiming their support and calling mi Novik, for example, author of the alternate history
for increased diversity, they practiced a sort of quiet series Temeraire (Napoleon plus dragons!), is a found-
resistance via their writing of fanfic and their creation ing member of the Organization for Transformative
of other fan artifacts, like zines (Bacon-Smith, 1992; Works, the organization which runs Archive of Our
Hellekson & Busse, 2006; Larsen & Zubernis, 2012). Own (AO3), which is one of the premiere fanfiction
This is a trend that continued for decades. Fan- websites. She not only began writing through her love
dometrics’ (2014) survey of 10,000 individual active- of fanfiction, but was inspired to write her own book
online Supernatural fans indicates a possible relation- series because of it. She actively encourages fan activi-
ship between the year a member of online fandom be- ties (Novik, 2016). Moving further along on the spec-
gan watching the show and their opinions about the trum, there are various shades of authors who are fine
show’s creators discussing ships and shipping. Of with it while not actively encouraging it, or fine with it
those who believe that The Powers That Be should dis- as long as it does not interfere with their own creation
cuss and be influenced by shipping, 47% started watch- process. Here in this gray area, we see those who allow
ing in 2013, and 22% in 2012, whereas a measly 6% be- fandom to exist unhindered but do not wish to be con-
gan watching at the show’s inception in 2005 (“By Atti- fronted by it (a very live-and-let-live approach), but also
tude to Discussing Shipping,” 2014). Twitter was first those who are pleased to have fans dedicated enough to
incorporated in 2007, two years after Supernatural first want to play around in this world, while politely refus-
aired (https://about.twitter.com/milestones). By 2010, ing requests to read their fans’ works either because it
according to The Nielsen Company, Twitter was the feels uncomfortable to think about their characters in
fastest growing social media site in terms of unique someone else’s hands (a very personal concept for most
visitors, increasing 579% from 2.7 million in December of them) or for fear of narrative contamination, the idea
2008 to 18.1 million in December 2009. Social media use of accidentally stealing a fan’s ideas. Tess Gerritsen, au-
in general also increased by 82% in terms of hours per thor of the book series that inspired the television show
month per person. With that kind of increase in access, Rizzoli & Isles, has stated that while she is amused and
it is no wonder there appears to be a correlation be- pleased by her fans’ dedication and passion, she cannot
tween the year a person entered this fandom and their read the fanfiction in order to avoid inadvertent intellec-
feelings about the show’s creators, especially since for tual theft (Gerritsen, 2010). This fear runs deep in mod-
the first two years of Supernatural there was no Twitter ern society, since, as just established, fan access to con-
at all, which meant the “one-way mirror” (Wilkinson, tent creators and vice versa is at an all-time high.
2010, para. 1.1) was all the more intact. Although col- There are also authors, like Orson Scott Card,
lectively this data makes it sound like fandom’s move who have accused fanfiction of being a lesser or uncrea-
towards public interaction was less a slow descent and tive form of fiction, something they do not necessarily
more a sudden baptism by technological fire, it is im- mind existing, but view with disdain from their place as
portant to note that those numbers are for all of real authors (Card, 2004). Even more antagonistic, there
Twitter, not only active fans of Supernatural or other are creators who crack down on fic writers, disparaging
media (no such data exists, to my knowledge). Also, them personally at every opportunity and threatening
these statistics are provided only as context for the en- or actually proceeding with legal action against them.
vironment the Supernatural fandom was growing There has been much discussion as to whether fanfiction
within. The explosive growth of the internet in general counts as fair use of intellectual property or copyright
and social media in particular most definitely changed infringement. Creators have been known to send cease
the nature of fandom’s interaction with media creators, and desist letters to their fans, and some have even sued
and an understanding of how attitudes have shifted for damages. George R. R. Martin is famously passion-
and of the enormity of social media’s involvement is ate about his rejection of fanfiction, calling them
essential. “unauthorized derivative works” (Martin, 2010, para.
It is worth mentioning that attitudes among 32). While this attitude is offensive to most fanfic writ-
canon creators vary wildly as regards the legitimacy ers, there is room for a legal argument to be made that
and complimentary nature of fanfic. On one side of this fanfiction does not qualify under the US standards of
range of opinions, there are those who praise and en- fair use for copyrighted materials: not all of it inherently
courage fandom in general and fanfic in particular, critiques, much of it is not parody, and most of it is not

www.mediareporttowomen.com 9 Fall 2016 Media Report to Women

Research In Depth

satire. Fans consider it transformative, which is a re-

quirement to qualify as fair use, but authors ask, how In an effort to make themselves less Other, they in-
transformative is it really? tentionally exclude fans that identify with more com-
monly disparaged practices. That being said, even
The shame of otherness and fandom as online those fans can find community of their own. H/c fics
support group are often looked down upon for deliberately wishing
pain and suffering on beloved characters (Hellekson
Because of fans’ innate feelings of Otherness, & Busse, 2006), but on any given fanfiction website or
often exacerbated by the creators of the works they archive there is a thriving h/c community of readers
so admire, an association with fandom brings with it and writers. Even as fans of general (non-romantic)
a sense of shame. It is worth noting that fandom’s fanfic point to h/c and say, “At least we aren’t them,”
experience of mainstream-induced shame is gen- h/c forms its own community, bonding through their
dered: males are afraid of being perceived as sexually twice Otherization (first at the hands of mainstream
inexperienced, while females fear being perceived as culture, and secondarily at the hands of the general
“too sexual or at the very least too emotion- fanfiction culture). This confirmation of belonging, or
al” (Larsen & Zubernis, 2012, p. 59). This fear leads as Larsen and Zubernis (2012) describe it,
many fans, especially female fans (who are taught “disconfirmation of otherness” serves the function of
from birth to stifle their desires), to hide their fan- both bolstering self-esteem and tightening communi-
nishness from their “real life” family and friends, ty bonds.
appropriating language from the LGBTQ movement This state of emotional bonding over not only
to describe themselves in terms of being out as a fan shared interests but shared ostracization leads to cer-
in real life (Larsen & Zubernis, 2012). Additionally, tain aspects of fanfiction communities resembling
fans tend to group themselves and to distance them- online support groups. Baym (2010) suggests that
selves from other groups, as if Othering groups that although there are many online communities explicit-
are somehow worse will make their group seem less ly built around social support, such as support
crazy: groups for cancer survivors or those with other medi-
“When it comes to fan practices, how cal issues, “the provision of social support is common
extreme is too extreme? It’s always even in groups not explicitly designated as support-
the fan just on the other side of the ive” (p. 83). Relatedly, High and Solomon (2011)
line. That is not me, fans proclaim. write that one of the central qualities of a successful
I’m not delusional. Other fans may online support group is anonymity, which allows
be crazy stalkers, but me, I just participants to disclose personal problems and feel-
watch for the plot” (Larsen & Zuber- ings without fear of ridicule, as well as seek infor-
nis, 2012, p. 71). mation without fear of rejection. Similarly, according

‘Star Wars’ Women Inspire Vibrant Fan Community

Podcasts and websites offering fan art and fan fiction have been exploding across various plat-
forms, as Christine Dandrow’s research illustrates. Adding to what we are learning about female fandom
is Amanda Hess’s New York Times article, published Nov. 6, 2016, showing how the blockbuster Star
Wars series is priming the pump. Female fans crave female characters,
Hess tells us, eager for every detail of a character’s development that
can be re-expressed as fan art.
As is well documented, resistance from males in the fan uni-
verse, many of whom don’t share enthusiasm for female characters, or
fandom participation by female fans (much like the Gamergate contro-
versy) can spoil the experience for female fans, but Hess notes that this
isn’t stopping the fun. Her very engaging article, a complement to
Dandrow’s fascinating research, is here: http://
www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/movies/how-female-fans-made-star- Felicity Jones in “Rogue One: A Star
wars-their-own.html?_r=0 Wars Story”

Media Report to Women Fall 2016 10 www.mediareporttowomen.com

to Larsen and Zubernis (2012), fandom’s typical ano- does tend to replicate the hegemonic structures of
nymity allows for the creation of safe spaces where mainstream society. That being said, the worse wank
marginalized groups feel comfortable exploring and becomes, the more powerfully fandom communities
expressing their desires (sexual and otherwise). They band together to address it, either by flooding their
add that a 2011 online survey revealed that fans feel communities with positivity or by actually taking
fandom steps to address the issues raised by the initial wank.
It may not be constructive in and of itself (in fact, it
…builds confidence and self-esteem, can be extremely destructive, especially when it is
offers a support system, and creates negativity just for negativity’s sake), but it is capable
a space where people can explore of kick-starting a real and thoughtful restructuring
and grow more comfortable with process that allows for a better and safer space
their identity…Several who identi- (Larsen & Zubernis, 2012). Hopefully someday wank
fied as autistic said that fandom will cease to exist, but in the meantime, when it un-
taught them more about interacting fortunately happens, fandom should take the oppor-
with other people than years of tunity to listen and gain insight into how to be better
groups and classes. (p. 87) instead of allowing the cycle to continue. Additional-
ly, wank only exists in spaces that have a certain level
No media fandom or particular fanfiction community of devotion, a level sufficient to inspire intense com-
features a primary goal (although it may be a second- petition between in-groups and out-groups (like ship
ary goal) of social support and self-esteem building; wars, defined as intense and often hate-filled discus-
media fandoms are built around media and fanfic- sions between denizens of two competing ships). Fan-
tion communities are built around fanfiction as well dom should not allow the existence of negativity and
as the media that inspires it. Yet, as evidenced by this wank to be used as an argument against their valida-
survey, despite its admittedly small and self-selected tion; instead, fandom should celebrate the fact that
sample, it is obvious that fandom offers a kind of re- they have members who are so emotionally involved,
lationship and social network that is typical of dedi- while simultaneously working to resolve the prob-
cated online support groups. Some of the respond- lematic aspects of such involvement and include peo-
ents to the survey even went as far as saying fandom ple who are being left out of the safe spaces (as peo-
“had ‘saved their lives’ through lonely times when ple of color often are).
they’d considered suicide, or offered hope when in
despair over coming to terms with their sexual iden- Conclusion
tity” (Larsen & Zubernis, 2012, p. 87). Clearly, fans
have found important companionship and deeper Given how our society is deeply steeped in
meaning through their involvement in fandom. media, and given the way the Internet has allowed
Fandom wank and its role in the discourse of fandom fandom to become increasingly interactive and com-
Some scholars have pointed to the existence munal, it is no surprise that scholars wish to under-
of fandom wank as proof that fandom is not the stand fannish behavior and its surrounding culture.
beautiful utopia that initial scholarship tried to argue The way fans interact with media texts and each oth-
(Gray, et al., 2007). However, wank begins painfully, er speaks to something deeper and universal, a need
but it does not have to end painfully. As Larsen and for acceptance and community that mainstream cul-
Zubernis (2012) point out, situations such as Race! ture often fails to fulfill, since it tends to cater to
Fail, an event that began as race-related wank but led straight, white, cis-gendered males. With fandom’s
to serious discussions about racial presence in fan- innate outsider quality, it calls to people that identify
dom and media in general, demonstrate that wank in some way as different (that is, as anything other
can be an important part of fandom’s larger dis- than a straight, white, cis-gendered male), giving
course concerning itself and its place in society. This them a very necessary and important space where
is not to say that the suffering that people of color they can exercise a kind of agency that is lacking in
endured as a result of Race!Fail and similar experi- their offline life. In addition to offering them this op-
ences is good; it is most certainly not. In an ideal portunity, it also allows them to find communities
world, fandom would function perfectly and flaw- that more than just tolerate, but actually celebrate and
lessly as the safe space it so desires to be, but this is
not an ideal world, and as established prior, fandom
Fandom as a Fortress, Page 22

www.mediareporttowomen.com 11 Fall 2016 Media Report to Women

gender-based violence and sex trafficking. Diane Fandom as a Fortress, from Page 11
Rehm, long-time host of the public radio show that
bears her name, will receive IWMF’s respected Life-
time Achievement Award for reportage spanning encourage those very aspects of themselves that the
more than 40 years. mainstream culture designated as deviant. Though
fandom communities are not perfect and may have
A welcome successor their own struggles regarding inclusiveness and
to the venerable Charles Os- hierarchy building, the fact remains that they pro-
good: Jane Pauley has replaced vide a sense of belonging and a source of social sup-
Osgood as the anchor of the port for those who feel Othered by the dominant
highly rated CBS show culture and what it has deemed socially acceptable.
“Sunday Morning.” Her first
day in the role was Oct. 9. She References
is only the third anchor of the
show, which started in 1979 Bacon-Smith, C. (1992). Enterprising women: Television fandom
(the late Charles Kuralt was the first). Pauley is 65 – and the creation of popular myth. Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press.
and isn’t it refreshing that a woman in her mid-sixties
is being celebrated for her years of experience and Ballinger, J. K. 2014. "Fandom and the Fourth Wall." Transforma-
versatility and not denied an opportunity on televi- tive Works and Cultures, 17. http://dx.doi.org/10.3983/
sion, as so many have been, because of her age? twc.2014.0569.
(BTW, Osgood is nearly 84.) Baym, N. (2010). Personal connections in the digital age. Cam-
bridge, UK: Polity.
Gwen Ifill, one of
the most prominent politi- Bonnstetter, B., & Ott, B. (2011). (Re)Writing Mary Sue: Écriture
féminine and the performance of subjectivity. Text and Perfor-
cal journalists in the coun- mance Quarterly, 31(4).
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61. When she took the helm Busker, R. L. (2013). Fandom and male privilege: Seven years
of Washington Week in Re- later. Transformative Works and Cultures, 13.
view in 1999, Ifill became Card, O. S. (2004, July 19). OSC answers question [Web log]. Re-
the first African-American trieved from http://www.hatrack.com/research/questions/
woman to host a major po- q0121.shtml
litical TV talk show. She
Derecho, A. (2006). Archontic literature: A definition, a history,
covered seven presidential campaigns and moderat- and several theories of fan fiction. In K. Hellekson & K. Busse
ed the vice presidential debates in 2004 and 2008. (Eds.), Fan fiction and fan communities in the age of the Internet:
This season, she moderated a presidential primary New essays. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co.
debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
Fandometrics. (2014). Supernatural fandom by attitude to dis-
Co-anchoring PBS’s The News Hour with Judy cussing shipping [Tumblr post]. http://fandometrics.tumblr.com/
Woodruff since 2013, Ifill was also the best-selling post/84180268717/by-attitude-to-discussing-shipping-1-of-5
author of The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age
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Retrieved from http://www.tessgerritsen.com/fanfic-and-rizzles/

Aileen Mehle, the gossip columnist known Gray, J., Sandvoss, C., & Harrington, C. (2007). Fandom: Identi-
as “Suzy,” died Nov. 11 at the age of 98. One of the ties and communities in a mediated world. New York: New York
last of the high-powered, often-to-be-feared society University Press.
columnists, Mehle brought her talent and her stamina Hellekson, K., & Busse, K. (2006). Fan fiction and fan communi-
(for going to late night soirees and then staying up to ties in the age of the Internet: New essays. Jefferson, N.C.: McFar-
write copy) to the New York Daily Mirror, the Jour- land & Co.
nal-American, the Daily News, the New York Post,
High, A., & Solomon, D. (2011). Locating computer-mediated
and Women’s Wear Daily. Her career began at the social support within online communication environments. In K.
Miami Daily News, after she complained to the pub- Wright & L. Webb (Eds.), Computer-mediated communication in
lisher, a friend, that her 10-year-old son could do a personal relationships. New York: Peter Lang.
better job covering Miami society than any of the Mi-
Jenkins, H. (1992). Textual poachers: Television fans & participa-
ami papers. She submitted sample columns herself, tory culture. New York: Routledge.
and was hired. Her last regular column for WWD
appeared in 2005. Johnson, D. (2007). Fan-tagonism: Factions, institutions and con-
stitutive hegemonies of fandom. In J. Gray, C. Sandvoss, and C.

Media Report to Women Fall 2016 22 www.mediareporttowomen.com

Lee Harrington, (Eds.), Fandom: Identities and communities in a AP Stylebook, from Page 24
mediated world, (pp. 285–300). New York: New York Univ. Press.

Larsen, K., & Zubernis, L. (2012). Fandom at the crossroads: Cele- A timeline of AP style changes compiled by
bration, shame and fan/producer relationships. Newcastle: Cam- the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas
bridge Scholars. shows that other sexist, racist and homophobic terms
have taken woefully long to be clarified. The time-
Martin, G. R. R. (2010, May 7). Someone is angry on the internet
[Web log]. Retrieved from http:// line, at http://bit.ly/APstyletimeline, demonstrates
grrm.livejournal.com/151914.html that while the AP adopted the term “Ms.” in 1980, it
didn’t advise against using the term “homosexual”
Novik, N. (2016, Februrary 23). AMA: Naomi Novik, author of until 2008 (gays and lesbians are the preferred refer-
Uprooted & the Temeraire series [Reddit thread]. Retrieved from
https://www.reddit.com/r/YAwriters/comments/476y90/ ences). “African American” entered the stylebook in
ama_naomi_novik_author_of_uprooted_the_temeraire/d0auzkt 1988, but the guide didn’t point out the offensive and
inaccurate nature of the term “illegal immigrant”
Scodari, C. (2003). Resistance re-examined: Gender, fan practices, until 2013.
and science fiction television. Popular Communication, 111-130.
The point is that words matter. Everyday
Sterling, D. (2011, February 4). “[META] Fandom as a "high con- language can be used to reinforce stereotypes about
text" culture”. Retrieved from http:// women, people of color, LGBT people and pretty
fanhackers.transformativeworks.org/2011/02/fandom-as-a-high- much anyone who isn’t a straight, white male. The
context-culture/
stylebook has done a good job of updating these
Wilkinson, Jules. 2010. A box of mirrors, a unicorn, and a pony. practices over the years, but some have taken too
Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 4. http:// long. That said, parts of the entry on “women” (page
dx.doi.org/10.3983/twc.2010.0159. 304), sound like no-brainers to me:

• “Copy should not express surprise

For the Record that an attractive woman can be pro-
fessionally accomplished, as in
Chicago Sun Times Washington Bureau ‘Mary Smith doesn’t look the part,
Chief Lynn Sweet and Karen Tumulty, national but she’s an authority on…’”
political correspondent for the Washington Post, “Copy should not gratuitously
responded to questions from CNN’s Brian Stelter mention family relevance when
about covering the 2016 U.S. presidential election: there is no relevance to the subject,
as in: ‘Golda Meir, a doughty grand-
How the candidacy of a female presidential nominee mother, told the Egyptians to-
affects women journalists and how they cover the candi- day…’”
date:
Those examples seem absurd until one con-
"On deadline, there's no gender" Sweet said. siders a 2013 obituary for Yvonne Brill, a rocket sci-
"You've just got to get the job done. I’m glad you entist from Princeton, N.J. The New York Times arti-
asked, so people who wonder if every female re- cle began, “She made a mean beef stroganoff, fol-
porter is throwing it, no!” lowed her husband from job to job and took eight
years off from work to raise three children. ‘The
Because newsroom management is male dominated, world’s best mom,’ her son Matthew said.” The sec-
does a female presidential candidate have an impact on ond paragraph went on to tell readers that Brill
the way those managers view female journalists? “invented a propulsion system to keep communica-
tions satellites from slipping out of their orbits.”
“Women in newsrooms are going to have to fight After reading the stylebook’s “mistress” en-
their own battles,” Tumulty said, “As long as we try, I flipped to page 265, in search of a word to de-
are journalists, it really shouldn’t [matter].” scribe the married man involved sexually with and
financially supporting the woman described in the
“There's so much more to do in top management, stylebook. But, sadly, AP has no entry for “sugar
no matter who's president, it’s not going to change daddy.”
things just by that fact,” Sweet said.
Tracy Everbach is associate professor of journalism at the
The discussion can be viewed here: Mayborn School of Journalism, University of North Tex-
http://cnn.it/2eMDYN as.

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