Customer Reviews

Enterprising Women: Television Fandom and the Creation of Popular Myth (Contemporary Ethnography)

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Being a woman who is an occasional writer of Klingon fan-novellas, I was interested in this scholarly book on fanfic and its female following. The author does an in-depth study of female fans of not only Star Trek, but Blake's 7 (a British sci-fi series), Starskiy & Hutch, The Man From Uncle, Alien Nation, Doctor Who, and other TV shows. Her conclusions: 98% of fanfic is written by women, who prefer intimacy, character-interaction, and continuity over action and special-effects. (I guess that makes me a "2%er" -- I prefer plot-driven adventure, decriptive carnage, and characters of my own creation.) Immersing herself in the subculture, Bacon-Smith delves into the very personal and sometimes secretive world of 'zines and fannish writing. With great respect toward the community which generously contributed to her study, she exposes the genres of fiction which appeal to most female writers and readers. They are the "MarySue" and "LaySpock" which are basically an extension of the writers' own personnae and fantasies; the "Hurt-Comfort" tender tales of nurturing and caretaking; and "Slash" or erotica featuring explicit sex between established characters. Bacon-Smith also cautiously explores the underground realm of homoerotic "Slash" (sometimes called "K/S" after Kirk/Spock) in which female fans envision intimate relationships between the two male partners of various favorite series. This is an intriguing book, containing much technical terminology and psych-evaluation. I thought I might identify with it, but instead I found the subculture wholly alien (no pun intended). At least I know now why my klinzines are not a big hit with the mainstream fandom!

I'm a woman in my twenties and I belong to several television fandoms. My intellectual interest in fandom piqued recently, and prompted me to read Enterprising Women. The subject is fans, their activities, relationships and motivations, set in the 1980's. The author is an ethnographer who uses almost a decade of live observations, interviews and some traditional research to inform a variety of conclusions about who fans are and why they do what they do.

From the perspective of someone who grew up on Fanfiction.net and LiveJournal kink memes its interesting to compare fan activities now vs then. The internet, as a single factor, has transformed nearly every facet of fandom explored in this text including zines and real life fan interactions (clubs and conventions). Its also fun to see pictures of 80s's Trek conventions and to hear about fans who laid the groundwork for fandom today.

But despite these differences, several observations ring true to me today, 20 years after this book was written. One is the risk inherent to fan fiction writing, not only with copyright issues but social issues around the slash (homosexual romance) and hurt/comfort genres. Another is the treatment of Mary Sue, a character archetype annoying to all who read her, but a label which is often leveled against competent female characters. Bacon-Smith makes a valid observation I think that many writers choose to write for male characters because its so hard to write an original female character that can't be accused of being a Mary Sue.

Regarding the author's conclusions, its difficult for me to judge simply because this study took place before I was born. Its a culture from a time that I can understand at least at surface level, but have never experienced first hand. Some conclusions seem oversimplified to me, particularly around motivation to write slash fan fiction. Read and decide for yourself.

On the whole this is a very worthwhile read for young fans who want to understand the history of the fan cultures and/or start thinking about fandom with some academic rigor.

A fascinating look at fandom, managing to catch the world of zines, video, and small communities just before the 'Net fully hit fandom. Occasionally a bit too filled with academic lingo for the average reader, but an utterly engrossing read for anyone involved in fandom.

I think people could be surprised at how much fanfic, esp on the Internet, can mean to people. Let alone that it was a big enough topic for people to write books and scholarly essays about! Could be something of a surpise, esp if you had no idea so many people enjoyed this hobby.