Popular Culture and the Construction of identity

Using the book series and graphic novels from Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, my research explores how notions of ability and disability are articulated through the use of the monster metaphor. In particular, I consider how physical difference marks the abled body from the disabled body by comparing how physical differences mark the monstrous and non-monstrous in the series.

My analysis focused primarily on Skin Trade, the seventeenth novel in the series, but drew from all across the series. I applied a physical and metaphysical lens to the character of Anita Blake and looked at how her physical body, her relationships, her behaviour, and her preternatural abilities were depicted in the novel and how they were perceived and problematized by herself and other characters.

This research was presented in December 2019 at the Monsters: An Inclusive Interdisciplinary Project, organized by Progressive Connexions in Prague, Czech Republic.

Virtual social movements are not restricted by traditional borders or boundaries. They attract a geographically, socioeconomically, and culturally diverse membership whose engagement ebbs and flows on issues rather than ideologically based motives. Despite seemingly loose and temporary ties, virtual social movements are nevertheless able to maintain a sustained membership and successfully carry out collective action operations.

The digital hacktivist group Anonymous, whose membership is both placeless and faceless, does not focus its efforts against a single target or a single cause. Its diverse members strike wherever they see injustice—a subjective concept that is defined and shaped by individual lived experiences. Through an examination of the videos published on its YouTube Channel, this paper considers how Anonymous uses issues-based collective identity narratives to mobilize and sustain members around a concept that is, traditionally, subjective and shaped by our ideological, socioeconomic and cultural experiences.

This research was published in the International Journal of Technology, Knowledge, and Society.

Our perceptions of health, fitness and wellness are in a constant state of evolution. What was once perceived as desirable – being thin – is being replaced with aspirations of strength – #strongisthenewskinny. The use of hashtags and images in the world of Instagram is emblematic of this shift. By hashtagging, Instagrammers – so-called ‘Fitsagrammers’ – are able to link their pictures and profiles to specific keywords and, by extension, specific online fitness communities.

The act of hashtagging, however, is a subjective one; it is the person who posts a picture that decides which tags to use, and therefore which communities they belong to. This means that differing perceptions of health and fitness, and different depictions of fit and unfit bodies, could end up grouped under the same hashtag. Does this variation strengthen online fitness communities or weaken them? Is this difference accepted, or do communities fracture and break off when there is little to no consistency among the images and bodies that are associated with them? Why do some hashtags thrive while others die?

To answer these questions, this research project uses content analysis to examine the role of language and images in the creation, growth and maintenance of online fitness communities created on Instagram.