Open AccessWriting the pregnant man
Author(s) -
Mary Ingram-Waters
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
transformative works and cultures
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1941-2258
DOI - 10.3983/twc.2015.0651
Subject(s) - fandom , queer , normative , human sexuality , pregnancy , set (abstract data type) , sociology , romance , gender studies , aesthetics , art , media studies , psychology , psychoanalysis , computer science , epistemology , biology , philosophy , genetics , programming language
This article explores how an online community of female fans of Harry Potter creates and maintains scientific and medical knowledge of a novel reproductive technology, male pregnancy. In an effort to illuminate the mechanisms of fandom, I show how fandom participants collectively work to ensure the maintenance of standards for fan products and in doing so also selectively reinforce particular tropes about how male pregnancy is portrayed. Fans' validation of some male pregnancy variations over others results in a fascinating yet recognizable set of fictional reproductive technologies that both queer and accommodate normative gender and sexuality roles