Tumblr Post #4
When analyzing the differences and similarities in fan practices categorized as “affirmational” or “transformative,” I believe there begins to be unhelpful slippage and confusion that creates a divide within fan studies that mimics the divisions in the fan practices that are being studies. In Elizabeth Affuso’s piece on feminized fandom, many of the consumerist practices described begin to take on forms of both affirmational and transformative fan practices, creating a gray area of fan practices where these aspects of fandom meet. Through this lens, I think that the use of “affirmational” and “transformative” as a tool for categorizing fan practices has reached a stopping point and now limits ideas in a consumerist market with, what seems to be, infinite possibilities.
In Affuso’s article, the consumption practices of fandoms, in particularly the make up and fashion industries that are categorized as feminine practices, has evolved into mass market appeal and has become interactive through different types of branding and commodification in order to find a space in which these objects and practices elevate from simply a piece of clothing or make up to a performative and collectable piece of both cultural capital and culture that can be capitalized on. While this particular article is not directly addressing the affirmational and transformative question, I see connections between the arguments to provide a sense that categorization isn’t enough anymore in a changing neoliberal market place. One of the ideas that Affuso’s places forward that has connects to the debate at hand is the concept of “performative consumption” as form of imitation and impersonation that removes the overtness of costume and places fannish practices into the everyday. In particular, be utilizing the Covergirl and Star Wars collaboration to align beauty with female empowerment and creating a fantasy narrative of choosing between being a “good girl versus bad girl” through specific products in everyday life, affirmational practices become transformative to the consumer. Not only is the text becoming a site of appreciation, it also becomes interactive and performs and fulfills different transformative aspects of fantasy for different consumers.
Through commodifying collection and fashion, the world of personal fantasy and narrative open up forms of fan wear and fan collection that once were considered politicized separate from other types of capital, now utilizing the ideas of transformative and affirmation to create a new, more cohesive categorization. While there is distinction between feminine and masculine practices in this article that has roots in cultural studies, transformational and affirmational become sort of sidelined and seen as traditional in a market place that is anything but traditional.
Affuso, Elizabeth. “Everyday Costume: Feminized Fandom, Retail, and Beauty Culture.” The Routledge Companion to Media Fandom, by Melissa A. Click and Suzanne Scott, Routledge, 2018, pp. 184–191.
