Analysing Agency

Bibliographic Data

ID12898413
AuthorsSara Mills (0009-0001-7228-0043, Sheffield Hallam University, corresponding author), Lucy Jones (0000-0002-8947-9577, University of Hull)
Year2014
Volume8
Issue2
Pages225-244
Publication date2014-06-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGender and Language (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1747-6321 • E-ISSN: 1747-633X
PublisherEquinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1558/genl.v8i2.225
OpenAlexW2041457931
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited18

This article analyses online reader responses to the erotic fiction series Fifty Shades, and queries whether fans gain agency by talking about the books. Through the use of queer critical discourse analysis, we argue that fans of Fifty Shades typically acquiesce in the normative gender roles portrayed within the books, but that this facilitates their agency as sexual beings. In particular, we show how the readers in our sample do identity work around their own experiences as heterosexual women. Rather than focusing on representations of gender and sexuality in the novels, then, we argue that representation is best analysed not from a top-down perspective, but through an investigation of how discourses within texts are negotiated and put to use by their readers

Aesthetics · Agency (philosophy · Art · Epistemology · Human sexuality · Identity (music · Normative · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Politics · Queer · Representation (politics · Sexual identity · Social science · Sociology · Digital Games and Media · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Law · Media, Gender, and Advertising