I like the idea Jenkins mentioned in chapter five of "Convergence Culture," regarding the ability of fanfiction to allow young readers/writers to create their own "empowerment fantasies" using characters from popular culture. Even in today's world, which is considerably less gender-stereotyped than in the past, female characters often get the short end of the stick in popular culture - unless, of course, it's a piece of pop culture aimed specifically at young girls (think Disney Princesses). Jenkins explains that young girls can use fanfiction to give a stronger voice to the female characters who may have been somewhat neglected in their favorite book/TV/movie series:
"Through children's fantasy play, Hermione takes on a much more active and central role than Rowling provided her" (184).
Having read all the Harry Potter books, I actually feel that Rowling gave Hermione a larger role than many other female characters in pop culture, but it's reassuring to know that some consumers are unsatisfied with even that and are willing to reconstruct pop culture characters - like Hermione - to infuse them with the power traditionally reserved for male characters.
In this way, I think that fanfiction can be a great stepping stone to further reshaping our culture to be more open and accepting to all sorts of people. Other less-mentioned groups, such as minority races or members of the gay/lesbian/transgender community, can also use this medium to tell the stories that mainstream writers and publishers are often reluctant to tell. They can do this through the safety and familiarity of established characters, who - in the world of fanfiction - just may so happen to have friends or relatives that belong to those often-neglected groups.
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