An innovative edited collection which examines fandom in marginalized communities from an empirically based, media psychology perspective.

This book specifically focuses on fandom communities and cultures as spaces for marginalized individuals – LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and more – to gather, engage with one another, and create their own representation to disrupt dominant, societal discourse as presented in the mainstream media. Edited by Leah Dajches and Jennifer Stevens Aubrey, the collection features the work of well-known scholars currently working within the disciplines of fan studies and media effects, as well as new and emerging voices in these fields. Made up of innovative theoretical and empirical contributions, the book is organized into three key sections: (I) Theoretical Advances in Fandom Media Effects, (II) Individual Fandom Communities and Media Effects, and (III) Innovative Methodological Approaches to Fandom. This collection highlights how fandom communities and cultures can function uniquely for those with identities based within marginalized communities.

A must-read for upper-level students, researchers and scholars interested in the intersection between fandom and fan studies, media effects, and media psychology.

Leah Dajches is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at New Mexico State University, USA. Her research examines the effects of popular culture and media on the health and wellbeing of young people, fans, and marginalized communities and has been published in journals such as Journal of Adolescent Research, Journal of Children and Media, and Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, among others. Leah teaches courses such as media theory and effects, communication technologies, and persuasion theory and practice.

Jennifer Stevens Aubrey is Professor of Communication at the University of Arizona, USA. Her research examines adolescents and the media, and media effects and the individual and has been published in journals such as Mass Communication and Society, Psychology of Popular Media, and Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, among others. She teaches courses on mass communication theory, children and the media, and media effects.