Ghostbusters is For Boys: Understanding Geek Masculinity’s Role in the Alt-right

Blodgett, Bridget; Salter, Anastasia

doi:10.1093/ccc/tcx003

Cited by 28 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Male supremacist groups and ideologies include so-called men's rights activists (MRAs), pickup artists (PUAs), "red pill" platforms, "men going their own way" (MGTOW), and "incels" (involuntary celibates), all of which also serve as pathways into White nationalism (DiBranco, 2017;Ging, 2017;Lyons, 2017;SPLC, n.d.). Male supremacy and White nationalism often intertwine; see, for example, the male supremacist backlash against the 2016 women-centered Ghostbusters remake that (Blodgett & Salter, 2018). Indeed, this avalanche of racist sexist harassment is one of many examples of the use of fascist tactics not only to harass but also to recruit (Blodgett & Salter, 2018;DiBranco, 2017).…”

Section: Fascism Used For White Nationalism and Male Supremacymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Male supremacy and White nationalism often intertwine; see, for example, the male supremacist backlash against the 2016 women-centered Ghostbusters remake that (Blodgett & Salter, 2018). Indeed, this avalanche of racist sexist harassment is one of many examples of the use of fascist tactics not only to harass but also to recruit (Blodgett & Salter, 2018;DiBranco, 2017).…”

Section: Fascism Used For White Nationalism and Male Supremacymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Influencers can, as the term suggests, shape youth behavior, such as by giving permission or even explicit instructions to join an online pile-on of hate-fueled harassment (e.g., Blodgett & Salter, 2018;Jeong, 2018). Although many functions of parasocial relationships are unique to the current digital landscape, the function of a distant "influencer" may also be relevant to inperson recruitment dynamics.…”

Section: Intervention To Divert Youth From Fascist Recruitment Pathwaysmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Youth Practitioners Can Counter Fascism: What We Know and What We Need

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Fascist, White nationalist, and misogynist groups are actively recruiting adolescent followers both online and in person. Youth development practitioners can play an important role in mitigating the influence of fascist ideologies on young people’s behavior and reducing the proliferation of youth-perpetrated harassment and violence. In this paper, we present a theoretical integration that draws on empirical research from multiple disciplines and youth development best practices to examine how youth practitioners can counter fascist recruitment of youth. There is much that youth development researchers and practitioners already know and do, or have the capacity to learn and do, that can mitigate the threat of fascist recruitment and deter young people from developmental trajectories leading them towards harmful ideologies and actions. In order to support youth development practitioners in effectively embodying this potential, we detail 3 sets of activities: (a) immunizing youth to reduce susceptibility to fascist recruitment, (b) intervening in fascist recruitment of specific youth, and (c) counter-recruiting youth into community organizing for social justice. For each set of activities, we describe the goals of each component, propose concrete actions it may entail, and highlight existing research and best practices in the field that can be applied to this current challenge. We then propose next steps in research–practice integration to further improve relevant strategies and point to existing resources for supporting youth in resisting fascist recruitment.

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Section: Fascism Used For White Nationalism and Male Supremacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fascism Used For White Nationalism and Male Supremacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Intervention To Divert Youth From Fascist Recruitment Pathwaysmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Youth Practitioners Can Counter Fascism: What We Know and What We Need

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“…Salter 2018). #GamerGate was the most iconic of these, but others followed, including campaigns against actresses Leslie Jones and Kelly Marie Tran that forced them to leave social media, and recently #ComicsGate, which involved harassment of comics creators (Blodgett and Salter 2018; Francisco 2018; Nieborg and Foxman 2018). While #GamerGate participants claimed its goal was to improve the ethics of games journalism, the campaign began with a post on the website 4chan by an angry ex-boyfriend seeking to defame a female game developer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Media in the Post #GamerGate Era: Coverage of Reactionary Fan Anger and the Terrorism of the Privileged

Blodgett

2019

Television & New Media

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History has recorded the aggressive fandom campaigns of the 2010s, which drove vulnerable minority actors from their careers and homes. #GamerGate was the most iconic of these movements with its claim to focus on the ethics in games journalism. This article examines select news coverage of the #GamerGate movement from its initial outset in 2014 to today to identify how the movement changed news reporting’s approach to fandom harassment stories. #GamerGate’s development and deployment media of frames were examined to see how the repertoires of contention shaped during this period played into social and political events that followed.

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“…By this we mean that 'better' more diverse, more positive, more informedrepresentations of a range of previously under-or poorly-represented identities is seen as having the potential to do individual and social 'good'. Of course, this principle does not come without often aggressive resistance from consumers who would prefer the status quo to remain uncontested (Hunt, 2018;Blodgett and Salter, 2018). If articulated at all, the work that representation is claimed to do ranges widely, including anything from improving the self-esteem of audiences (BBC America and Women's Media Centre, 2018), to providing 'role models' that will model pathways into fields of education or work (Gill, 2016;Wood & Litherland, 2018).…”

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confidence: 99%

Girls being Rey: ethical cultural consumption, families and popular feminism

2019

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This paper argues that consumers of popular culture engage in practices of 'ethical cultural consumption', whereby the consumption of cultural texts is imagined as having the potential to 'do good' both individually and socio-politically. The paper explores data from an online questionnaire and drawing activity with girls aged 5-10 and their parents on the experience of cosplaying (costume playing) as Rey from the contemporary Star Wars trilogy. Imagined as a 'girl who can do anything', Rey represents a new kind of popular feminist hero and role model for girls, enabling a degree of critique of normative gendered role models for children. 'Being Rey' also represents a deterministic project through which parents aim to cultivate the 'right' kind of girls, seeking to instil the resilience to 'cope' with unknown futures. More than a purely individual project, we argue that parents invest in an individualised idea of doing 'good' through consumption, drawing on a notion of the consumer as a political actor with the power to affect social change. Investigating the project of participating in and consuming culture 'ethically' allows for an exploration of what it means to 'be political' and 'do good' as a consumer in neoliberalism.

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Ghostbusters is For Boys: Understanding Geek Masculinity’s Role in the Alt-right

Cited by 28 publications

References 20 publications

Youth Practitioners Can Counter Fascism: What We Know and What We Need

Youth Practitioners Can Counter Fascism: What We Know and What We Need

Media in the Post #GamerGate Era: Coverage of Reactionary Fan Anger and the Terrorism of the Privileged

Girls being Rey: ethical cultural consumption, families and popular feminism

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