Popular Culture Review 30.2
nities , how much more would be required in order to feel a stronger part of any particular fandom .
Social media interactions via fanfiction , show-saving campaigns , and live discussions , my students have come to inform me , are worthy sites of inquiry regarding the inequalities that emerge in media consumption . I work with students at a minority-serving institution , so our conversations often engage in the extent to which we are on the screen as well as leading fandom conversations . In Squee from the Margins : Fandom and Race , Rukmini Pande critiques the lack of discussions of whiteness in the examinations of fandoms and fan products because “ whiteness is allowed to operate without being named as such , race may be considered as an additional and incidental layer to any analysis rather than as a factor at its core ” ( 7 ). After building the first fandom studies class examining the role of race , class , gender , and sexuality , Squee has become the text that bring to light the disparities my research assistant , Nicole Espinosa , was making clear to me regarding women loving women , representation , and fandom community building . Rukmini Pande ’ s Squee from the Margins Race and Fandom begins to address the gap in fandom studies scholarship my years of working with Nicole Espinosa had made clear . 1
Pande argues that all that goes into fan community building , fan fiction , fan art , and fan conventions require attention to the racialization of fan visibility , fan inclusion , and fan labor . Throughout her introduction , she critiques the marginal attention given to race , whether it be in special issues focusing on race and fandom studies or special sections of books and journals that are dedicated examinations of the role of race . Pande wants to critique the neutrality of whiteness in fandom studies because of its inherent role in the promotion of
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