ABSTRACT
In contemporary postfeminist Western media environments where toys, films, books and television channels have become increasingly targeted for gendered audiences (see, e.g., Noppari, Uusitalo, Kupiainen, & Luostarinen, 2008), some feminist scholars, such as McRobbie (2009), have become skeptical about the possibilities of young people to challenge the hegemonic gender representations through their behavior. However, some contemporary fan cultures offer salient cases for investigating alternative ways of doing gender. Fan activities provide creative and often unexpected opportunities to perform gender “Otherwise” (Renold, 2008), that is, done in ways that deviate from gendered norms (see Butler, 1999, 2004). This has been well documented in research on online fan fiction by girls and women (e.g., Busse & Hellekson, 2006; Leppänen, 2007; Black, 2008), whereas there is less research on the possibilities that fan activities offer for (young) men to do gender Otherwise in potentially empowering ways.
