Buffy the Vampire SlayerandXena: Warrior Princess: Reception of the Texts by a Sample of Lesbian Fans and Web Site Users

Abstract

This qualitative study of television reception examined the ways in which a sample of lesbian fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess incorporated their experiences as viewers, fans, and Internet users with relation to their sexual identity as lesbians. Specifically, this study examined the ways in which participants used these television programs to inform their sexual identity development. Results indicated that participants used television and the Internet to normalize and affirm lesbian experience, to decrease negative feelings regarding their lesbian identities, and to decrease social isolation.

Still Trapped in the U.S. Media’s Closet: Representations of Gender-Variant, Pre-Adolescent Children

“…Numerous other scholars, viewing the field from a range of theoretical positions (e.g., Collier et al, 2009;Croteau et al, 2012;Gross, 2001;Lind, 2013;Mazur & Emmers-Sommer, 2003;O'Shaughnessy & Stadler, 2008;Ott & Mack, 2010;Siebler, 2010;Spring, 2003;Streitmatter, 2003;Vera & Gordon, 2003;Wilson et al, 2013), also have contended that, given their pervasive presence, various types of media ineluctably function as instruments of education or socialization. By extension, not only do portrayals of minorities play a role in shaping how such populations are perceived by individuals outside of these groups, but they also affect the ways in which marginalized people think and feel about themselves (Bandura, 1994;Bissell & Zhou, 2004;Collier et al, 2009;Gomillion & Giuliano, 2011;Greenberg, Mastro, & Brand, 2002;Grogan, 2008;Gross, 2001;Hart, 2000;Ochman, 1996;O'Shaughnessy & Stadler, 2008;Siebler, 2010;Streitmatter, 2009;Vera & Gordon, 2003;Wilson et al, 2013). The media effects researcher Gorham (2013), for instance, submitted evidence that stereotypes of diverse minorities in the media have a bearing on how Downloaded by [Fondren Library, Rice University ] at 00:32 14 April 2015 these groups are regarded-even for people who are resistant to viewing subjects through a narrow lens-because they often operate beyond the realm of consciousness.…”

Dead Lesbian Syndrome: LGBTQ fandom’s self-regulation mechanisms in fan-producer controversies around “The 100”

“…Collier et al (2009) señalan que muchas de las fans lesbianas incorporan sus experiencias como espectadoras en relación con su identidad sexual: para normalizar y afirmar la experiencia lesbiana, para disminuir sentimientos negativos respecto a sus identidades lésbicas y para disminuir el aislamiento social. En concreto, la importancia de la representación LGBTI en contenidos dirigidos al público joven radica en el potencial efecto positivo que tiene en el desarrollo de su autoestima, autocomprensión, formación de identidad y proceso de salir del armario, al proporcionarles modelos mediáticos que les sirven como fuentes de enorgullecimiento, inspiración y consuelo (Gomillion y Giuliano, 2011;Masanet y Buckingham, 2015).…”

This Charming Butch: The male pop idol, girl fans, and lesbian (in)visibility

“…For example, Sharon R. Mazzarella and Norma Pecora's 1999 collection Growing Up Girls: Popular Culture and the Construction of Identity focuses so exclusively on beauty, bodies, and romance that girl culture becomes feminine culture under attack from an exploitative and destructive patriarchal force in the media and at large, and sexuality, much less homosexuality, receives far less attention. For more recent examples of gender and "girl power" as the dominating argument of academic work on girls, see also Collier, Lumadue, andWooten (2009), Harris (2004), and Lipkin (2009), which admirably recognizes the heterosexism faced by LBTQ girls, but it remains a small section in one chapter of the book. 9 Lucy O'Brien singles out Phranc for "putting lesbianism on the map" in the 1980s as one of the first "out" lesbians to direct herself toward the mainstream market and be rewarded with a major label signing, with Island (266).…”

“…For continuations of Jenkins's work, see also Penley (), Benshoff (), and Jenkins (). For work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena fandom, see for example Larbalestier (), Mendlesohn (), Rust (), Collier, Lumadue, and Wooten (), Farrell (), and Hanmer (). Likewise, with the increased presence of lesbian and queer female content on television, such as Showtime's groundbreaking The L Word (2004‐2009), and popular plotlines such as the Brittany‐Santana relationship in Fox's Glee , scholarship on lesbian fandom has become more “mainstream.” See, for example, the two recent edited collections on The L Word published by I.…”