{"id":{"repo_id":"uwo","oai_identifier":"oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/18693"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uwo/oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/18693","repository":{"repo_id":"uwo","name":"Western University","base_url":"https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"WATCHING YOU, WATCHING ME: REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMALE FANS AND FANDOM IN ACADEMIA, NEWS MEDIA AND POPULAR CULTURE","abstract":"This project is a close examination of the representation of female participatory fandom, including scholarly work on fandom from the 1980s to the present, recent news media coverage of fan fiction, and a case study of fan responses to their own representation on the television series Supernatural. I will argue that outsider representations treat fans as a convenient Other, in order to normalize ‘mainstream’ relationships to media texts. This function is gendered, drawing on historical, philosophical and medical discourses which associate femininity with the body and emotion, and masculinity with the mind and reason. I close with a case study of television series Supernatural, which features recurring fan characters based on the program’s real fandom. Through a survey questionnaire, fans were given the chance to respond to these representations. A much more complex picture of female fan identity emerges from these accounts.","abstract_html":"This project is a close examination of the representation of female participatory fandom, including scholarly work on fandom from the 1980s to the present, recent news media coverage of fan fiction, and a case study of fan responses to their own representation on the television series Supernatural. I will argue that outsider representations treat fans as a convenient Other, in order to normalize ‘mainstream’ relationships to media texts. This function is gendered, drawing on historical, philosophical and medical discourses which associate femininity with the body and emotion, and masculinity with the mind and reason. I close with a case study of television series Supernatural, which features recurring fan characters based on the program’s real fandom. Through a survey questionnaire, fans were given the chance to respond to these representations. A much more complex picture of female fan identity emerges from these accounts.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Armstrong, Sara Breanne"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MA","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Media Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Knabe, Susan"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-01-01","date_published":"2011-01-01","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:56:03Z","subjects":["fandom","fans","fan studies","online communities","gender representation","feminism","reason vs. emotion","television","Supernatural"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/18693","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Knabe, Susan"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Armstrong, Sara Breanne"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-06-25T18:52:53Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-06-25T18:52:53Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2011-01-01"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Media Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MA"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["fandom","fans","fan studies","online communities","gender representation","feminism","reason vs. emotion","television","Supernatural"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/18693"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This project is a close examination of the representation of female participatory fandom, including scholarly work on fandom from the 1980s to the present, recent news media coverage of fan fiction, and a case study of fan responses to their own representation on the television series Supernatural. I will argue that outsider representations treat fans as a convenient Other, in order to normalize ‘mainstream’ relationships to media texts. This function is gendered, drawing on historical, philosophical and medical discourses which associate femininity with the body and emotion, and masculinity with the mind and reason. I close with a case study of television series Supernatural, which features recurring fan characters based on the program’s real fandom. Through a survey questionnaire, fans were given the chance to respond to these representations. A much more complex picture of female fan identity emerges from these accounts."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["WATCHING YOU, WATCHING ME: REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMALE FANS AND FANDOM IN ACADEMIA, NEWS MEDIA AND POPULAR CULTURE"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Knabe, Susan"],"dc:creator":["Armstrong, Sara Breanne"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-06-25T18:52:53Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-06-25T18:52:53Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2011-01-01"],"dc:description.abstract":["This project is a close examination of the representation of female participatory fandom, including scholarly work on fandom from the 1980s to the present, recent news media coverage of fan fiction, and a case study of fan responses to their own representation on the television series Supernatural. I will argue that outsider representations treat fans as a convenient Other, in order to normalize ‘mainstream’ relationships to media texts. This function is gendered, drawing on historical, philosophical and medical discourses which associate femininity with the body and emotion, and masculinity with the mind and reason. I close with a case study of television series Supernatural, which features recurring fan characters based on the program’s real fandom. Through a survey questionnaire, fans were given the chance to respond to these representations. A much more complex picture of female fan identity emerges from these accounts."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/18693"],"dc:subject":["fandom","fans","fan studies","online communities","gender representation","feminism","reason vs. emotion","television","Supernatural"],"dc:title":["WATCHING YOU, WATCHING ME: REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMALE FANS AND FANDOM IN ACADEMIA, NEWS MEDIA AND POPULAR CULTURE"],"dc:type":["thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Media Studies"],"thesis:degree_name":["MA"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:56:03Z"}