alias_sqbr

This is the best read on the "predominantly female space" bit that I've yet seen in all the OTW chatter of the past few weeks. I find I can't resolve my feelings on it as well.

I'm a het male who's been interested (and at times, fairly active) in several media fandoms for over twenty years. Most of them have been predominantly female-led, some of them have been predominantly male-led, some of them have been both (e.g., Doctor Who fandom in North America vs. Doctor Who fandom in the UK), and all of them have had an often prickly relationship with TPTB (e.g., remember Creation Cons back in the 90s?).

I'm also, these days, about 70% "aca" and 30% "fan" when it comes to fan studies, with a personal and professional investment in understanding fan cultures and asserting their practices. As a feminist, I absolutely get where the OTW organizers are coming from wrt the idea of a "female space," (and full disclosure, I'm on the editorial board of the journal), but as a media and cultural scholar who's studied and participated in loads of subcultures since the 80s, I'm wondering how that's going to jibe with the more universal claims of championing "transformative" works.

Anyway, this is all an ongoing discussion (all of it, that is; everything in your entire life), and I look forward to supporting the mission of the OTW as this discussion continues.