Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book we adopt a framework developed by black feminist scholars, the intersectional approach to women's and gender studies. It is formed both of reviews of decades of scholarship and our own studies of genre-film development, public debate over media violence, YouTube celebrity and political debates, organized fandom and producer responses, televised athletics, and crowdfunding of feature films, all conducted in the US and updated to reflect developments through early 2018. The book charts a history of women's DIY culture, from riot grrrl punk to women's roller derby. It shows how new channels of communication decentralized production streams, creating outlets for people with little money. The book also shows how fans empowered by the shared do it yourself videos reviewed above can now intercede in the exclusions and misogyny of classical and blockbuster Hollywood.