Girls who like Boys who like Boys – Ethnography of ... - Yuuyami.com

an excited IM or comes to my room to tell me that she finally managed to
download this episode of Saiyuki, or that long-awaited episode of Peacemaker,
I, more often than not, go back with her to her room to watch the video and,
more often than not, squeal “like a fangirl” (pardon the derogatory), or
comment on the obvious “slashiness,” i.e. the ease with which one could slash
them, of certain male characters. In this way, I have observed, it becomes easy
to recognize patterns of behavior: when who will act in “fangirl” mode, what
appropriate replies one should give during an AIM conversation with whom,
does not require anymore active thinking on my part than the question of how
to act in a classroom, or when I am at home with my family.
However, there is a certain control which one can exert over this kind
of addiction: Often, one will hear that someone has “fallen out of” fandom, or
that someone is taking a break, because of real life. Other times, fans will
switch fandoms, if they get fed up with the interactions of people, or they
might develop a new space for themselves. Mel provided me with an example
for the latter recently. On one of her HP mailing lists, an author was asking for
details and technicalities around a specific homosexual act. Rusty, a gay man
and HP fan, answered in detail, and replied to additional questions asked by
other fans. As this conversation went on for more than a week, several fans
started to voice their unhappiness with the ongoing discussion. Partly maybe,
because Rusty’s answers were too detailed and too realistic, partly because
they were of an explicit nature, the list moderators stepped in, and asked
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