This thesis explores a gendered conflict in nerd culture. I sent an online survey to self-identified women nerds with a series of questions asking their opinion of the representation of women in nerd media and about their experiences within the nerd community. Seventy-five percent of respondents reported that a sexy or sexualized appearance was the most prominent aspect of women's representation in nerd media. Eighty-two percent of participants had experienced a gender-based insult when participating in nerd media. Findings suggest that harassment and representation in media is worse for women comic book and video game media and communities than in other sub-genres within the culture. More research is needed on racial representation and participation and on nerd men's experiences with gate-keeping.

Submitted by Noeme Timbo (noeme.timbo@metodista.br) on 2016-08-17T17:50:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Paula Cabral Gomes.pdf: 1664758 bytes, checksum: b25c94c925b3ac227c32b52a004aadff (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-17T17:50:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paula Cabral Gomes.pdf: 1664758 bytes, checksum: b25c94c925b3ac227c32b52a004aadff (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-04-08 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Identity, culture and technology are the central themes for this dissertation. When those three elements gather, several opportunities and possibilities are offered to people. The site Omelete, research object of this dissertation, is the result of a project prepared by friends, comics and games fans, that didn’t find enough information about their favorite issues and decided to create a blog to share matters about pop culture and satisfy their curiosities and wills. Nowadays, what was born as a blog is considered the largest online vehicle about pop culture in Brazil. The objective of this dissertation was to verify the characteristics of the object and the context in which it is inserted and which factors put it in its present position. For that, we made a literature review to establish the theoretical basis of the dissertation. Then, we classified the published matters on the site about the Comic-Con International: San Diego during a pre-determined time and analyzed some achieved data. At last, we described the event Comic Con Experience, organized by Omelete and by Chiaroscuro, and ascertained the information we collected from the literature revision to the personal experience in the convention. The society we live in has permitted the appearance, developing and maintenance of a variety of tribes and cultures. It is a society where technology provides tools for people to communicate, share information and interact with internet users with similar interests, such as the consumption of the same cultural products. These actions are responsible for the formation of individual and group identity which they belong to. In a participative form, the groups build knowledge and strengthen the collective intelligence. / Identidade, cultura e tecnologia são os temas centrais desta dissertação. Quando esses três elementos se encontram, diversas oportunidades e possibilidades são oferecidas aos indivíduos. O site Omelete, objeto de pesquisa escolhido, é resultado de um projeto elaborado por amigos, fãs de histórias em quadrinhos e games, que não encontravam informações suficientes sobre seus temas favoritos e decidiram criar um blog para compartilhar conteúdos sobre cultura pop e satisfazer suas curiosidades e vontades. Hoje, o que nasceu como blog é considerado o maior veículo online sobre cultura pop do Brasil. O objetivo da dissertação foi verificar as características do objeto e do contexto em que se encontra e quais fatores o colocaram em sua posição atual. Para isso, primeiro fizemos uma revisão de literatura para estabelecer as bases teóricas da dissertação. Depois, categorizamos o conteúdo publicado no site sobre a Comic-Con International: San Diego durante um período determinado e analisamos os dados obtidos. Por último, descrevemos o evento Comic Con Experience, organizado pelo Omelete e pela Chiaroscuro, e averiguamos as informações colhidas desde a revisão de literatura até a experiência pessoal na convenção. A sociedade na qual vivemos permite o surgimento, o desenvolvimento e a manutenção de tribos e culturas variadas. É uma sociedade em que a tecnologia oferece ferramentas para as pessoas poderem se comunicar, compartilhar informações e interagir com internautas com interesses semelhantes, como o consumo dos mesmos produtos culturais. Essas ações são responsáveis pela formação da identidade dos indivíduos e dos grupos a que pertencem. De forma participativa, os grupos constroem conhecimento e fortalecem a inteligência coletiva.

This project is an analytical history of the discourse of media panics that have affected comics-like forms in the mid- to late-1800s, comic books in the mid-1900s, and comics media in 1990s and the contemporary moment. The study of these media panics shapes a theory of nerd culture in general and comics culture specifically in order to better understand the delicate and foundational dialectic that sustains a consumer identity that is paradoxical in its indulgence in and animosity towards popular culture. With its historical formation in mind, this project explores the formation of geek chic as a consumer identity that, in many ways, troubles and even threatens the status quo of nerd culture.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T12:30:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paula Cabral Gomes.pdf: 1664758 bytes, checksum: b25c94c925b3ac227c32b52a004aadff (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-04-08 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Identity, culture and technology are the central themes for this dissertation. When those three elements gather, several opportunities and possibilities are offered to people. The site Omelete, research object of this dissertation, is the result of a project prepared by friends, comics and games fans, that didn t find enough information about their favorite issues and decided to create a blog to share matters about pop culture and satisfy their curiosities and wills. Nowadays, what was born as a blog is considered the largest online vehicle about pop culture in Brazil. The objective of this dissertation was to verify the characteristics of the object and the context in which it is inserted and which factors put it in its present position. For that, we made a literature review to establish the theoretical basis of the dissertation. Then, we classified the published matters on the site about the Comic-Con International: San Diego during a pre-determined time and analyzed some achieved data. At last, we described the event Comic Con Experience, organized by Omelete and by Chiaroscuro, and ascertained the information we collected from the literature revision to the personal experience in the convention. The society we live in has permitted the appearance, developing and maintenance of a variety of tribes and cultures. It is a society where technology provides tools for people to communicate, share information and interact with internet users with similar interests, such as the consumption of the same cultural products. These actions are responsible for the formation of individual and group identity which they belong to. In a participative form, the groups build knowledge and strengthen the collective intelligence. / Identidade, cultura e tecnologia são os temas centrais desta dissertação. Quando esses três elementos se encontram, diversas oportunidades e possibilidades são oferecidas aos indivíduos. O site Omelete, objeto de pesquisa escolhido, é resultado de um projeto elaborado por amigos, fãs de histórias em quadrinhos e games, que não encontravam informações suficientes sobre seus temas favoritos e decidiram criar um blog para compartilhar conteúdos sobre cultura pop e satisfazer suas curiosidades e vontades. Hoje, o que nasceu como blog é considerado o maior veículo online sobre cultura pop do Brasil. O objetivo da dissertação foi verificar as características do objeto e do contexto em que se encontra e quais fatores o colocaram em sua posição atual. Para isso, primeiro fizemos uma revisão de literatura para estabelecer as bases teóricas da dissertação. Depois, categorizamos o conteúdo publicado no site sobre a Comic-Con International: San Diego durante um período determinado e analisamos os dados obtidos. Por último, descrevemos o evento Comic Con Experience, organizado pelo Omelete e pela Chiaroscuro, e averiguamos as informações colhidas desde a revisão de literatura até a experiência pessoal na convenção. A sociedade na qual vivemos permite o surgimento, o desenvolvimento e a manutenção de tribos e culturas variadas. É uma sociedade em que a tecnologia oferece ferramentas para as pessoas poderem se comunicar, compartilhar informações e interagir com internautas com interesses semelhantes, como o consumo dos mesmos produtos culturais. Essas ações são responsáveis pela formação da identidade dos indivíduos e dos grupos a que pertencem. De forma participativa, os grupos constroem conhecimento e fortalecem a inteligência coletiva.

No description available.

This thesis investigates how libraries can build a collection of doujinshi – Japanese fanzines – with a focus on the problematic connection between doujinshi, queer sexualities and pornography. Yonezawa Yoshihiro Memorial Library is one of the few libraries collecting and providing access to doujinshi, including those with extreme pornographic imagery. I conducted qualitative interviews with four library employees to study their views and attitudes towards collection, age regulations, shelving and classification of doujinshi. In addition, I apply queer theory to elucidate how sexual norms are reflected in the library's classification system. Findings show that informants consider the preservation of manga culture as the most important reason to collect doujinshi. Other functions of doujinshi, such as being a way for self-expression without social restrains, are also appreciated. Informants’ attitudes towards collecting and providing access to extreme pornographic doujinshi are not particularly negative, instead resisting censorship, but the fact that the library has extreme pornographic doujinshi is taken up as a reason for the library' s age limit. Moreover, I observe sexual norms surrounding women’s consumption of pornography and that women should link sex and love, and a lack of critical perspectives on such issues. Lastly, informants were open for changes of the library’s classification system for doujinshi, but showed reluctance toward user influence, such as social tagging. This is a two years master’s thesis in library and information science.

No description available.

No description available.