As female fans stake their claim as a growing part of the ‘geek’ audience, the previously male-dominated world of fan culture is struggling to get used to the idea.
As female fans stake their claim as a growing part of the ‘geek’ audience, the previously male-dominated world of fan culture is struggling to get used to the idea. At the massive Comic-Con International, San Diego, more than 40 per cent of the attendees were female. During the convention, internet fans argued issues like how the show was ‘ruined’ by the influx of female Twilight fans. But behind the backlash seems to be this idea that not only might female fans be attracted to different stories than men, but their reactions to fandom are sometimes at odds. That focus on relationships is something unique about the way women approach fandom, said Louise Krasniewicz, an anthropologist who studies fan culture. “Men may have the same type of emotional investment in the characters, but their focus in social settings will be more about what they know. I think girl fans talk a lot about the emotional investment they have.” Krasniewicz recently made the comparison of a boy who studies the back of a football player’s rookie card while his sister focused on how seeing a touchdown made her feel. She said the same can be said about how most men and women communicate about Pokemon or X-Men.
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