Groupies, Fangirls and Shippers: The Endurance of a Gender Stereotype

The purpose of this special issue is to offer new perspectives on fan cultures which respond to changes and controversies that have happened since the last American Behavioral Scientist special issue on fandom was published, in 2005. But the aim of my contribution is to argue that, sadly, derisive-gendered discourses like ‘fangirls’, ‘groupies’ and ‘shippers’ are still alive and well. Returning to the kind of research conducted in the 1980s – when women’s experiences of feminized popular cultures began to be taken seriously – reminds us that their pleasures are no less derided or controversial four decades on. My findings also suggest that the enduring presence of older stereotypes within teen drama fandoms – particularly the ‘groupie’ – signals the agility of sexism, as the term can now be understood as more of a generational designation rather than a medium-specific one. This article is the product of three years of qualitative empirical research with ‘teen girl’ fandoms of three popular television shows: Pretty Little Liars, Revenge and The Vampire Diaries. The data it discusses includes Skype audio and video interviews, written interviews conducted via email and Facebook Messenger, along with overt social media observations.

An Unequal Pandemic: Vulnerability and COVID-19

This collection sheds light on the cascading crises engendered by COVID-19 on many aspects of society from the economic to the digital. This issue of the American Behavioral Scientist brings together scholarship examining the various ways in which many vulnerable populations are bearing a disproportionate share of the costs of COVID-19. As the articles bring to light, the unequal effects of the pandemic are reverberating along preexisting fault lines and creating new ones. In the economic realm, the rental market emerges during the pandemic as an economic arena of heightened socio-spatial and racial/ethnic disparities. Financial markets are another domain where market mechanisms mask the exploitative relationships between the economically vulnerable and powerful actors. Turning to gender inequalities, across national contexts, women represent an increasingly vulnerable segment of the labor market as the pandemic piles on new burdens of remote schooling and caregiving despite a variety of policy initiatives. Moving from the economic to the digital domain, we see how people with disabilities employ social media to mitigate increased vulnerability stemming from COVID-19. Finally, the key effects of digital vulnerability are heightened because the digitally disadvantaged experience not only informational inequalities but also aggravated bodily manifestations of stress or anxiety related to the pandemic. Each article contributes to our understanding of the larger mosaic of inequality that is being exacerbated by the pandemic. By drawing connections between these different aspects of the social world and the effects of COVID-19, this issue of American Behavioral Scientist advances our understanding of the far-reaching ramifications of the pandemic on vulnerable members of society.

Honoring Judith S. Trent’s Contributions to American Behavioral Scientist

Since 1988, when I edited the first American Behavioral Scientist issue on the presidential campaign—for that issue, and for every presidential campaign cycle up to 2020, the first article of my American Behavioral Scientist issues has been Judi’s “Ideal Candidate,” based on the research she, you, and your colleagues collected surrounding the New Hampshire Primary. This year is different—there will be no article from Judi, given her health situation. As a tribute to Judi, I would like her colleagues to provide their recollections and stories about her leadership and impact on our discipline.

Tribute to Judith Trent

Since 1988, when I edited the first American Behavioral Scientist issue on the presidential campaign—for that issue, and for every presidential campaign cycle up to 2020, the first article of my American Behavioral Scientist issues has been Judi’s “Ideal Candidate,” based on the research she, you, and your colleagues collected surrounding the New Hampshire Primary. This year is different—there will be no article from Judi, given her health situation. As a tribute to Judi, I would like her colleagues to provide their recollections and stories about her leadership and impact on our discipline.

Death at the Border: Revisiting the Debate in Light of the Euro-Mediterranean Migration Crisis

Migrant deaths at the border is a long-standing consequence of border control. The lethal effects of irregular migration have become particularly salient in the Euro-Mediterranean region since the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011, as several thousand migrants have been losing their lives every year. This special issue of American Behavioral Scientist revisits the debate on border deaths in the light of this context. This article introduces this special issue and outlines the key arguments developed therein.

Laohavichien Model of Leadership And Quality For Pakistan. What It Is And Why It’s Important For SMEs

Objectives; Leadership become one of the most important topic among behavioral scientist and management researchers. The current research study try to investigate the relationship between transactional, transformational styles of leadership in paying way for Quality Management (QM) Practices in Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa SME’s sector. For this purpose, data was collected from manufacturing sector through adapted version of questionnaires. In first stage CFA was conducted to remove item having lower loading. In the next stage through SEM analysis was performed. Results indicate that During CFA analysis most of the components of the adopted construct were removed due to poor fit model. As a result, the original concept of the adopted construct was renamed on the basis of retained factors. During SEM analysis the hypothetical relationship were partially supported, and results indicate that for the smooth functioning of manufacturing sector of SME’s it is strongly recommended to adopt the modern techniques of QM practices that must be alien with international standards. However, in Pakistan cultural set up its results are quite different. And it’s open new way of research in theory of Leadership.