Abstract
Boundary-work theory describes the discursive efforts of groups to limit access to membership and collective symbolic capital. In this article, we explore the gendered nature of boundary-work within an online community of Geeks—a subcultural identity that has been culturally and historically constructed as male dominated. Employing in-depth interviews and qualitative content analysis of posts on the Israeli Facebook group The Geekery, we examine how different voices negotiate the Geek identity. We identify 3 distinct spaces of struggle within which these negotiations occur: the group’s collective identity, the self-identity of members, and the group’s identifying of “others.” In each space, we find a similar struggle between voices protecting the male-hegemonic identity and voices attempting to challenge the status quo.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 700-718 |
Number of pages | 19 |
Journal | International Journal of Communication |
Volume | 16 |
State | Published - 2022 |
Keywords
- Boundary-work
- Fan communities
- Geeks
- Gender
- Participatory culture
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Communication