Keywords

Race, Sexuality, Social Media, Gender, Fan Studies, Film and Television

Abstract

In this dissertation, I research issues of queer representation and race in the CW network’s DC television (DCTV) shows’ fandom by investigating femslash ships, or the fan pairing of female characters. To do this, I compare the femslash ship of the characters Anissa Pierce and Grace Choi (ThunderGrace), a canon multiracial couple from the CW television show Black Lightning, to three other DCTV femslash pairings: the characters Sara Lance and Ava Sharpe (Avalance), a canon white couple from the television show DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, the characters Alex Danvers and Kelly Olsen (Dansen), a canon multiracial couple from the show Supergirl, and Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor (Supercorp), a non-canon ship of two white characters also from Supergirl. I explore fan content surrounding these four femslash ships through an analysis of the DCTV fan community on the social media platforms Tumblr and Archive of Our Own (AO3). I question how DCTV femslash fans respond to female superhero characters’ identity, including their gender, sexuality and race, in their social media posts, as well as what the lesser popularity of the ThunderGrace fandom compared to other DCTV femslash fandoms reveals about disparities in fan discussion and interpretation based on race. I observe several trends across all four femslash pairs and the fan content dedicated to them, including emphasis on homonormative relationship expectations, appreciation and criticism of the development of queer relationships, descriptions and discussions of race and racial justice, and finally trends in the popularity of femslash ships when considering race, canonicity, and character development. Overall, I find that femslash fandom both challenges and reinforces norms of romantic relationships and queer identity.

Completion Date

2025

Semester

Spring

Committee Chair

Stanfill, Mel

Identifier

DP0029346

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

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