Aims, approach, and the researcher's position
The main purpose of this study is to find out how belonging to an online fan base helps to construct an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and other multiple-gender-attracted, and transgender) identity. Fan bases, or fandoms, as they are more commonly called, are communities of practice (Hills, 2015: 360, 372). Communities of practice are places of social learning that share particular ways of thinking and discoursing (Wenger, 2010: 179-181; Eckert, 2006: 683). As I have
mentioned in a previous study (Aalto, 2016: 4), it is common for fans of different entertainment media to converse over and analyze different relationships between fictional characters. For LGBT fans, the representations of same-sex relationships and discussing them online can become an empowering way to come to terms with their LGBT identity (Hanmer, 2010: 149; Hanmer, 2014:
613-614). Previous research has shown that LGBT fans produce discourse that aims to empower them and shapes their identities on both individual and collective levels through their internet fan activities (Hanmer, 2014: 609, 620; Hanmer, 2010: 148-149; Collier, Lumadue & Wooten 2009:
597-598; Kapurch, 2015: 438). Drawing on insights provided by LGBT studies and fan studies, this study aims at shedding more light on the process of LGBT identity formation in online fandom spaces.
More specifically, the LGBT fandoms that this study focuses on are fan bases that are centered around the pairings of women in different entertainment media. The purpose of this thesis is thus to examine how people in femslash fandoms (fandoms that are fans of female/female pairings) use their fandom environment to construct their LGBT identity1. Hanmer (2003, 2011, 2014) studied the sexual minority identities of the femslash fans of Xena: Warrior Princess and Collier et al.
(2009) did the same when they studied the lesbian fans of Xena: Warrior Princess and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. More recent femslash fandom research has been done by e.g. Guerrero-Pico, Establés, and Ventura (2018), Pande and Moitra (2017), Suddeth (2017), Bingham (2016), and Kapurch (2015), although the main focus of their research was different. Since the field of LGBT
1 This is important since slash (male/male pairing) fandoms have been of researchers’ interest more due to their popularity among heterosexual girls and women (Thrupkaew, 2003; Leppänen, 2008: 159). Researching femslash gives more insight into LGBT identity formation and writing one’s own narratives. More about this in section 2.3.
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audience research continues to be underdeveloped (Hanmer, 2003: 80), Collier et al. (2009) and Hanmer’s (2003, 2011, 2014) studies are not very recent, and fan cultures develop and change constantly, new updated research on the topic of LGBT identity construction in femslash fandoms is needed.
What is more, the interview studies of Hanmer (2003: 80-81; 2014: 608-609) and the survey study of Collier et al., (2009) mainly discussed lesbian fans of television shows. Though lesbians (such as myself) constitute a large portion of femslash fandoms, limiting the study only to them does not give a realistic image of communities where for example bisexual, pansexual, and transgender2 people can find help for constructing their identities. It is clear that there are several different sexual orientations in these fandoms; this is shown in my previous study (Aalto, 2016) of 2,286 survey respondents, which confirmed that there are as many lesbian and gay members in femslash fandoms as there are bisexual, pansexual, and other multiple-gender-attracted people. In light of this fact, I decided that anyone who was LGBT3 was able to participate in this survey study.
The second main aim of this study is to find out what kinds of prejudices and discrimination people in these fandoms face because of their marginalized identities. This will be done by examining two different issues: the hate femslash fans have encountered for being fans of a femslash pairing (homophobic bullying) and the discrimination that takes place within femslash fandoms. Some examples of the latter are racism, biphobia, and transphobia. In this way, this thesis will also introduce other issues that are extremely important for LGBT fans and that need to be researched further. This study hence attempts to fill a gap in research by focusing on these communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991) by taking a more intersectional (Crenshaw, 1989) look at their members. The importance of this has been highlighted previously by e.g. Pande and Moitra (2017) and Stanfill (2019).
To sum up, this research will shed more light on LGBT identity formation in online fandom spaces and LGBT identity formation in general. It will familiarize the reader with the impact of positive
2 By listing transgender here, I do not mean to imply that transgender women cannot be lesbians. They can.
3 Gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual and other varied gender attractions, as well as transgender individuals from transgender male and transgender female to all non-binary (neither only male of female) identities. Non-binary people may not always identify as transgender, but some do, so they are listed under T here.
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minority representation and the importance of the support that LGBT people get from their community. It will also take a look at the discrimination that takes place in fandom spaces.
Before the discussion of the approach taken in this study, it is useful to describe my emic knowledge and personal position in the femslash fandom scene. I was an active member of a femslash fandom for approximately four years, and I still regularly interact with some of the friends I made in this online environment and occasionally participate in some fandom activities.
Although I have now become a very casual fan and a passive member, it was still relatively easy for me to find reliable respondents for the survey that constitutes the empirical part of this thesis via two different social media platforms, Twitter and Tumblr. With the knowledge I have gained from being a member of a femslash fandom, I have also noticed that people who are members of several marginalized groups get a different treatment from more privileged fans. It is my strong belief that such attitudes and reactions should be addressed in research as well.
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