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A Mirror Of Recognition: How The Empathetic Relationship Between Dusty Springfield And Her Not-Straight Fans Facilitates Their Identity Development, Nancy J. Young
Educational Studies Dissertations
This multi-case qualitative study explores the phenomenon of identity development of not-straight (more traditionally labeled as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or queer) fans through their attachment to British popular singer Dusty Springfield as a fan-object. A purposefully selected sample of four fans, aged 21-45, two male and two female, from the United Kingdom and the United States, were interviewed. The interdisciplinary conceptual framework of the study combines the fields of identity development, fan studies, and psychological theories related to projection.
The themes that emerge from the data suggest that Dusty Springfield’s emotional music draws the listener into fandom and that the …