Killing off Lexa: 'Dead Lesbian Syndrome' and intra-fandom management of toxic fan practices in an online queer community

dc.contributor.authorGuerrero-Pico, Mar
dc.contributor.authorEstablés, María José
dc.contributor.authorVentura, Rafael
dc.date.accessioned2024-11-18T14:52:14Z
dc.date.available2024-11-18T14:52:14Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.date.updated2024-11-18T14:52:14Z
dc.description.abstractThis article contributes to the debates around toxic fan practices by focusing on the regulation and management strategies activated intra-fandom in order to combat fan toxicity. In particular, the social media boycott campaign against the teen series The 100 (The CW, 2014-) is examined after the death of a popular lesbian character in March 2016. This event propelled an online movement termed 'LGBT Fans Deserve Better', dedicated to improving the representation of lesbian and bisexual women on television and of characters infamously subjected to the occurrence of the 'Dead Lesbian Syndrome' trope. To frame this study, we discuss television representation of lesbian love and its effects on young queer females, and draw some necessary conceptual distinctions within what we call the spectrum of conflict formed by fan-tagonism, anti-fandom, and toxic fan practices, and how that spectrum relates to current research on fan activism. Then we apply a qualitative methodology based on grounded theory, discourse analysis, and reception studies to the study of The 100 fans' online interactions in a lesbian forum and on Twitter in the wake of the character's death. The results confirm the existence of a toxic fan faction that harassed producers on social media. However, three key self-regulation strategies are exemplified at the same time. First, fear of industry retaliation based on internalised social prejudices towards LGBTQ individuals; second, strategic thinking; and third, the common good of achieving a positive LGBTQ representation over time.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.idgrec034939
dc.identifier.issn1749-8716
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositori.udl.cat/handle/10459.1/466957
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherUniversity of Nottingham
dc.publisherUniversity of Glasgow
dc.publisherOxford Brookes University
dc.publisherUniversity of Sheffield
dc.relation.isformatofReproducció del document publicat a: https://www.participations.org/15-01-17-guerrero-pico.pdf
dc.relation.ispartofParticipations: Journal of Audience and Reception Studies, 2018, vol. 15, num. 1, p. 311-333
dc.rightscc-by (c) University of Nottingham, University of Glasgow, Oxford Brookes University and the University of Sheffield, 2018
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International*
dc.rights.accessRightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.subjectEstudios gais, lesbianos y trans
dc.subjectQueer studies
dc.subjectFandom Studies
dc.subjectTV series
dc.subjectOnline community
dc.titleKilling off Lexa: 'Dead Lesbian Syndrome' and intra-fandom management of toxic fan practices in an online queer community
dc.typeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.type.versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
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