A brief fandom history
My fandom history, that is. The following is part of an assignment I did for my Women and Popular Culture class at school. I would love it if you posted your own stories of fandom in the comments. Fair warning though, I did submit the url to this post along with the assignment, so my prof might be looking in at some point
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I'd argue it's about 60-40 with men taking the 60 percent, mainly due to the big fandoms Star Trek, Star wars. It also depends on the fandom.
Supernatural, yes is predominately women, but that's mainly due to the two pretty guys. Both of which got their starts on teen-drama shows marketed to teenaged girls. Smallville for Ackles, and Gilmore Girls for Padalecki. I'm not saying that's why the show is still on the air, but it's a reason for a lot of the first viewings, especially in the first season.
But something like X-Men? Predominately male due to the targeted demographic.
But yes, most fanfic authors are women, until you get to the professional level, most notably the Expanded Universe of Star Wars.
How did you discover fandom? The star wars books that started coming out in the mid-nineties
Why do you enjoy participating in it? Because it gives discussion material, as well as an opportunity to talk about various themes and ideas. Plus it typically has star ships and cool explosions and pretty women.
If English classes embraced new media and looked at scripts from modern movies and television, you would find more interest in the source material. Take for instance "10 things I hate about you" which is a heavily updated Taming of the Shrew, but because it's relevant to today's society and pressures, youth would pay attention.
That's why I love Sci-Fi,and I quote from Stargate SG-1's 200th Episode: "Science fiction is an existential metaphor that allows us to tell stories about a human condition. Isaac Asimov once said: "Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinded critics and philosophers of today, but the core of science fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation, if we are to be saved at all."
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Sorry, I should have clarified the fandom demographics thing more. I was referring in particular to the section of fandom that writes fanfiction. In particular slash. Why this section? Because that is where most of my participation/interaction happens. My understanding is that primarily slash writers/consumers are women. Though that does not mean men don't participate in that subset of fannish behaviour, just that you don't see them very often.
It is interesting that you indicate fanfiction on a "professional" level. My first instinct was to ask why you thought there might be that divide, but instead I will argue that if one is producing work on that level, it is now sanctioned by the powers that be, and it is no longer considered a fanwork.
Nit-picky detail: Ackles totally got started on Days of Our Lives, or I suppose it could be argued Dark Angel. ;P
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I say fanfiction at the professional level, at least in the star wars framework isn't technically Canon, as in it's sanctioned by Lucasfilm, but not entirely from the mind of Lucas. In fact, on Starwars.com, it's referred to as being in the "expanded universe" and there are many fans that regard it as being extra and while an interesting exposition into the character's lives, if it's not in the movies, it's fact. There's a book that takes place about 15 years after Return of the Jedi, where an author basically puts himself into the EU by creating a character that Lucas never thought of and then telling the story in first person.
However, something like Buffy Season 8 and Angel season 6, which isn't in the same form as it's root material. Is considered canon, because it's Joss Whedon "directing" the projects.
It's the debate of what is canon and what isn't, is essentially what this comes down to. I consider anything to non-canon to be fanfiction.
Nit-picky detail: I'm aware of that, but he got his cult status from Dark Angel and Smallville. But in Dark Angel, the primary demographic wasn't teenaged girls, it was teenaged boys. Oh Jessica Alba.
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