Fannish masculinities in transition in anime music video fandom

Authors

  • Samantha Close University of Southern California

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2016.0713

Keywords:

Cosplay, Fan video, Gender performance, Queer theory

Abstract

Politically engaged scholarship often interrogates the experiences of groups without privilege. But in order for social change to happen, privileged identities must also be reworked. An analysis of anime fandom in the early 2000s shows that fan works, such as fan video and cosplay performances, concretize masculinities that are both transgressive and desperately seeking normative confirmation. By means of queer and masculinity theory, I argue that fandom is a uniquely generative space for reworking masculinity. This will only remain true, however, if it can hold onto its subversive practices in a time of increasing mainstream attention.

Author Biography

Samantha Close, University of Southern California

PhD candidate in Communication

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Published

2016-09-15

Issue

Section

Theory