Joseph Brennan (born 23 January 1986) is an Australian author, best known for his academic writing on male sexuality in the media studies fields of fan and porn studies, his work on queerbaiting, slash fiction and manips, and gay pornography in particular. He serves on the editorial board of Psychology and Sexuality.
Career
Brennan earned a bachelor's degree in Media from Macquarie University in 2008. He then moved to the University of Sydney, where he earned a honours degree with university medal in Media and Communications in 2009, followed by a PhD in 2014.
In 2013 he chaired a panel on fan fiction at the Sydney Writers’ Festival devoted to the origins of E. L. James’ Fifty Shades series, which formed the basis of research published in Media International Australia. He is a frequent commentator on issues of fandom, LGBT culture and pornography, having been interviewed by Australian media outlets like ABC Radio National and SBS World News.
Brennan is the author of numerous academic journal articles and book chapters, as well as magazine articles on gay male culture, published in venues such as DNA. He was guest editor of the Journal of Fandom Studies in 2018 and edited the book Queerbaiting and Fandom: Teasing Fans through Homoerotic Possibilities in 2019.
In 2020, Brennan participated in episode six of the ABC Television series Reputation Rehab, in which a journal article he had authored on the viral image scandal of Australian rugby league player Todd Carney was a focus.
References
- Finnagain (2017). "61B — Geek Interpreter: Queerbaiting & Transformative Fandom — Extended Cut", The Three Patch Podcast, 27 November. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- Micha, Robin (2019). "Que(e)rfinanziert", Blonde, 47: 92–95. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- W., Mary (2020). "Review: “Queerbaiting and Fandom”, Edited by Joseph Brennan", MuggleNet, 4 March. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- Syfret, Wendy (2015). "Fan Fiction is the Sexual Education I Gave Myself", Vice, 29 August. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- Sainty, Lane (2013). "Stranger than (Fan) Fiction", Bull, 3: 17–19. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- McLelland, Mark (2019). "Young People, Online Fandom and the Perils of Child Pornography Legislation in Australia", International Journal of Cultural Studies, 22(1): 102–118.
- Blum, Steven (2017). "This Guy Gets Paid to Study Gay Porn", Vice, 29 September. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- Morgan, Joe (2017). "Meet the Researcher who Gets Paid to Study Gay Porn", Gay Star News, 29 September. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- Gremore, Graham (2017). "It’s this Guy’s Job to Sit About Watch Gay Adult Films All Day to Uncover Man’s Darker Impulses, Queerty, 1 October. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- Villarreal, Daniel (2020). "Yep, Gay Porn Is Important, and Here are 4 Things this Professor Learned from Studying It", Hornet, 28 April. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- "Psychology and Sexuality Editorial Board", Routledge.com. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- "Sydney Writers’ Festival 2013", Fan Fiction, 23 May, (1–2pm). Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- Brennan, Joseph and David Large (2014)."‘Let’s Get a Bit of Context’: Fifty Shades and the Phenomenon of ‘Pulling to Publish’ in Twilight Fan Fiction", 152(1): 27–39. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- Mitchell, Natasha (2012). "The Not-so-secret World of Fan Fiction", Life Matters, ABC Radio National, 22 October (9:25 am). Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- "Advocates Marvel at X Men’s Gay Marriage" (2013), SBS World News, SBS, 26 August. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- Joseph Brennan ORCID Record. ORCID.org. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- "Acts of Desire: Gay Porn Into the 2020s". PressReader.com. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- Journal of Fandom Studies Volume 6, Number 2. IngentaConnect.com. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- Queerbaiting and Fandom: Teasing Fans through Homoerotic Possibilities, University of Iowa Press, Iowa. ISBN 9781609386719. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- Brennan, Joseph (2016). The Todd Carney “bubbling” social media scandal, Popular Communication, 14(4): 199–211.
- Is the Todd Carney “bubbler” photo similar to revenge porn? | Reputation Rehab, YouTube, 3 December. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- Knox, David (2020). Reputation Rehab: Dec 2, TV Tonight, 2 December. Retrieved 12 January 2021.