Understanding Lesbian Fandom: A Case Study of the Xena: Warrior Princess (XSTT) Lesbian Internet Fans by Rosalind Maria Hanmer A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY American and Canadian Studies The University of Birmingham December 2010 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract This thesis is written to promote and pursue an understanding of lesbian fandom and its function on the Internet. It will demonstrate how a particular television text Xena: Warrior Princess (X: WP) and a dedicated online fandom „xenasubtexttalk‟ (XSTT) of diverse lesbian fan membership gained empowerment and agency through their fan practices. Since the screening of the television fantasy series X: WP (1995-2001), there has been a marked increase in academic enquiry into lesbian fan culture on the Internet. This thesis contributes to the lesbian spectatorship of fandom with a specific interest in online fandom. This research suggests there are many readings of X: WP and the dedicated websites set up to discuss the series have increased during and post the series broadcast period. This study explores the contradictions, the gaps, and the differences between fan responses to the series, especially the lesbian discourse and fan fiction that developed during and after the television series ended. This investigation suggests that fan scholarship can obtain a new insight into lesbian Internet fan practices as a virtual space producing new lesbian fan online identities and discourses that challenge traditional forms of lesbian fandom. It does this by presenting three distinct, significant and interrelated layers of lesbian online textual engagement. While interrelated, these layers are separate and important as they each reveal new lesbian online fan performances of identity that challenge traditional performances of reading and writing habits of lesbian fans. Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my beautiful Buddhist son Ethan, aged five, who was born in the midst of all my anxiety around this research and whose strong life force and beautiful smile kept me going throughout my journey. Acknowledgements This thesis was completed by self-finance and with the support and help of these people. I am particularly grateful to the numerous members of staff from London Metropolitan University who have supported me and who over many years have offered me encouragement and insights into how to “survive a PhD”. I would like to thank these people whom I have had the pleasure to work with on occasion: Jonathan Wright, David Hanson-Miller and Mike Chopra-Gant, and not forgetting Gordana Uzelac who proof- read a chapter in the early days of my transfer, and Kim Blake who read and discussed my work with me. Thank you to my first dyslexic tutor Tanya Zybatz and to my subsequent dyslexic tutors Dianne Poole and Sally Ratcliffe for their support. Thanks go to Soula Timotheou and Eileen Lanigan the staff in the Computer Department and Jason Raymond who “bailed me out” on many occasions with their highly skilled technical support. I am grateful to Dr. Millie Williamson, Professor Lyn Thomas and Professor Ken McKinnon who supported my supervision during the early stages of my study at the University of North London and London Metropolitan University and especially to Millie for giving me the courage to pursue this investigation in the first place. I would like to give further thanks to Michele Aaron from the University of Birmingham who supervised the thesis with patience and rigour believing in me throughout. I owe much to her intellectual and professional guidance and the enormous amounts of understanding shown to me on my journey. Table of Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter Two .................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter Three ................................................................................................................................ 10 Chapter Four .................................................................................................................................. 11 Chapter Five ................................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter Six..................................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER ONE: THE KEY DEBATES WITHIN THE HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY FANDOM.......................................................................... 13 From Traditional Fandom To Online Usernet Fandom .............................................................. 16 The Productive Text in Fandom ................................................................................................... 19 Resistant Reading .......................................................................................................................... 22 Ethnography as Agency ................................................................................................................ 24 Audience Research and Ethnography .......................................................................................... 25 The Fans‟ Cultural Capital as Agency ......................................................................................... 28 Feminist Interventions into Audience Research .......................................................................... 34 Telefeminism ................................................................................................................................. 44 The Significance of the Science Fiction Fans in Contemporary Fandom ................................. 47 The Synergy of Television the Internet and Online fandom ...................................................... 49 CHAPTER TWO: A METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TOWARD A NEW DISCOURSE IN LESBIAN FANDOM ............................................................. 60 The Case Study .............................................................................................................................. 72 Recruitment, Methods and Framework ........................................................................................ 84 Types of Data Gathered ................................................................................................................ 92 Sample Limitations........................................................................................................................ 93 Charting Themes and Theories ..................................................................................................... 94 CHAPTER THREE: THE INVALUABLE ‘OPEN SECRET’ OF XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS ..................................................................................... 99 The Fans‟ Stake in the Open Secret ........................................................................................... 101 The Commodification of the Open Secret ................................................................................. 105 The Politicisation of the XSTT Fans within the Open Secret.................................................... 111 The Postmodern Text of XSTT Fandom ..................................................................................... 117 The Final Episodes of X: WP...................................................................................................... 120 Synopsis of “Friend in Need: Part 1” ......................................................................................... 121 Synopsis of “Friend in Need: Part 2” ......................................................................................... 124 The On-Screen Death of Xena .................................................................................................... 126 CHAPTER FOUR: THE CULTURAL STRUGGLE FOR MEANING FOR THE LESBIAN FAN ................................................................................................ 137 XSTT Internet Journeys with Xena ............................................................................................. 138 „Feminist Camp‟ and Masquerade in relation to XSTT ............................................................. 155 “The Bitter Suite” (1998) ............................................................................................................ 158 “The Quest”(1997) ...................................................................................................................... 164 CHAPTER FIVE: LESBIAN INTERNET FAN FICTION ............................... 172 The Studio Poaching of Melissa Good......................................................................................