Cyberspaces of Their Own: Female Fandoms Online

by Rhiannon Bury

Cyberspaces of Their Own interrogates the social and spatial relations of the rapidly expanding virtual terrain of media fandom. For the first time, issues of identity, community and space are brought together in this in-depth ethnographic study of two female internet communities. Members are fans of the American television series The X-Files and the Canadian series Due South . Forging links between media, cultural and internet studies, this book examines negotiations of gender, class, sexuality and nationality in making meaning out of a television show, producing fiction based on television characters, creating and maintaining online communal relations, and organizing cyberspace in a way that marks it out as alternative to that which surrounds it.

Genres: Fandom, Nonfiction, Feminism, Pop Culture, Academic

242 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

Reviews

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have researched this more before I bought it. Terribly disappointing beginning. Takes a very narrow section of fandom and then analyses it to pieces with highbrow bullshit. Keeps reinforcing that the women who are fans are university educated and therefore...it reads like a dissertation rather than something an actual fan who was there in the fandom from 1995 on many many lists but not the Estrogen Brigade. So much could have been done with this and wasn't. It reads like a tract. I never heard of any of the women interviewed, it skimmed over things I wanted more information on and went on forever on crap that bored the bejesus out of me. Narrow focus did a disservice to female fandom in cyberspace from my point of view. Too busy trying to legitimize something that didn't need legitimizing. Of course, it was really about the ACTORS and not the characters. Focus was David Duchcovny Estrogen Brigade which right off the bat says we are following the actor and not the character...the character is interesting but incidental and isn't he gorgeous. My fandom was Mulder not Duchovny so this was really a mistaken purchase on my part. I am so disappointed and I had so looked forward to this book. I shall go back and read Textual Poachers and Enterprising Women to wash the taste of this mess out of my mind. Due South was never one of my fandoms but in discussing it and slash, the book actually mentioned the past and paper circuit but did NOT link paper circuits to the appropriate fandoms..WTF? History of fandom skimmed over like it was less than important. It got better as it got on but the hard slog of the beginning almost made me toss it. As I read on Chapter 2 got better but overall I wished for more/better...something. Chapter 3 took me back to list culture with grammar mavens policing everyone's emails and criticizing their fan fiction and just constantly bitching as if the fact that they were educated and knew the language gave them the right to lord it over everyone else. My ability was equal to theirs in every respect but they ruined fandom for me. The book continued to go up and down in my estimation but never quite satisfied.

[notasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is fine for what it is but you’d hope at such a crucial time for the emergence of online fan cultures there would be a broader dataset or more specific analysis

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the in-depth analysis of two communities for this book. It suffered a bit from being somewhat dated--it was published in 2006 but only mentions blogging and Livejournal at the very end. As someone who wrote her PhD. dissertation on fandom on USENET, I empathize greatly--and the insights into fannish behavior still hold quite true, especially in discussions about politeness versus "constructive criticism."

[John Carter McKnight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent study of two women's fan communities on Usenet in the mid-90's. Terrific insights and observations, outstanding deployment of theory. My only gripe is that this was a 2005 book about 1996 research: in 1998 it would have blown the roof off the academy, while by 2005 it was merely a very good book.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

My life. DDEB and Due South slash? Jesus I am a stereotype. Not that there's anything wrong with that.