The lamentable status of (queer) children in fandom: On being a fannish pariah
Journal article, Peer reviewed
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Date
2021Metadata
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Duggan, J. (2021). The lamentable status of (queer) children in fandom: On being a fannish pariah. Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 18(2), 44-67.Abstract
This autoethnographic paper considers the place of (queer) children in fandom, focusing on fan fiction–centered fan communities. It explores, in particular, the ways in which these communities have been defined and policed by various actors, the fraught relationship between ‘the queer’ and ‘the child,’ the legal and ethical problems of children's participation in online fan communities, and the ethical quandary of barring (queer) children from these communities. This paper asks whose rights and imaginations we are privileging and protecting when we exclude (queer) children from fan fiction communities—and whose we are ignoring.