Yvonne Gonzales is a doctoral student at USC Annenberg. She studies media fandom and the phenomenon of participatory culture, with a particular focus on how niche communities navigate issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Their work focuses on the connection between historical progressive movements, the formation of media fandom, the problem of white womanhood, and constructions of sexual fantasy. She asks, centrally: how can we make all our weird little bubbles and “safe spaces” safe for everyone? How can we indulge without harm?
Gonzales received their BA in english from the University of California, Berkeley in 2022, where she founded and taught the course Fanfiction and Participatory Culture. Prior to her time at Cal, Gonzales worked in comic book retail for five years. Through her exposure to fandom, conventions, and niche nerd communities, she found her love of fanfiction. She is still an active member of fanfiction communities and strives to make her own safe space more aware, welcoming, and ethical, bit by bit.