Dr. Mel Stanfill’s new book Exploiting Fandom. Exploiting Fandom examines how the relationship of media industries to fans is shaped by heteronormativity, whiteness, consumption, copyright law and labor, arguing that media industry invitations for fan participation indicate not greater fan power but rather greater fan usefulness. By bringing media industry studies and fan studies into the conversation, Stanfill looks closely at just who exactly the industry considers “proper fans,” ultimately finding that the invitation to participate is really an incitement to consume and labor in circumscribed, industry-useful ways.
Stanfill is an Assistant Professor of Texts and Technology and Digital Media, as well an affiliate faculty with the Women’s and Gender Studies program.