Book Review : Squee from the Margins : Fandom and Race
specific characters ’ humanity , like Hannibal ’ s , that would not otherwise be permitted or celebrated through fan fiction of the character in discussion were of African , Latinx , or Asian descent .
Teaching at a minority-serving institution , where my students and I often talk about the quality of representation of our communities in screen , Pande ’ s text speaks to their realities that fans , as consumers , and as critical feminist scholars wanting to complicate their participation in consuming media that doesn ’ t represent them , which sets it up for finding narrow bases of fandom community support . While there are larger texts like Paul Booth ’ s anthology A Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies , Pande ’ s text is an affordable addition to the revision of my fandom course , given the first-generation , nontraditional college student population I serve .
Assigning texts that align with my students ’ experiences and that decenter whiteness , Pande ’ s book provides an avenue to maintain that pedagogical ethic all the while contributing to the field of fan and fandom studies . Pande ’ s chapter “ The Fanfiction Kink Meme ,” for example , brings the fields of erotica , pornography , and romance novel studies in conversation with each other in order to frame ( 1 ) the pleasure readers receive from what can be considered textual pornography , ( 2 ) the ways these fields overlap while maintaining distinct approaches , and ( 3 ) the role of racialization in the construction of characters in fanfiction . Pande writes that “ Santana Lopez ( played by Naya Rivera ), whose canon portrayal leans heavily on the stereotype of the promiscuous Latina , is most often placed in sexual situations that highlight this promiscuity ” ( 182 ). Fans ’ willingness to perpetuate stereotypes for their pleasure , such as the Lopez example shows , expands the
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