Rachel Maddow
| Name: | Rachel Maddow |
| Also Known As: | |
| Occupation: | Television Host, Pundit |
| Medium: | Television, Radio |
| Works: | The Rachel Maddow Show |
| Official Website(s): | The Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel Maddow MSNBC on Twitter, Maddow Blog |
| Fan Website(s): | MaddowFans |
| On Fanlore: | Related pages |
Rachel Maddow is the host of The Rachel Maddow Show, a political news and commentary program that airs Mondays through Fridays on the American cable network MSNBC. She is a frequent subject of Pundit RPF and the only female considered part of the fandom's Pundit Round Table.
Maddow is a butch dyke[1] with a partner of more than a decade[2]; however, fanworks featuring Maddow are not exclusively femslash, nor does Maddow femslash focus exclusively on her real life relationship.
History
Before joining MSNBC's prime time schedule, Maddow hosted a radio program on Air America and appeared on a variety of CNN and MSNBC programs. Some of the shows for which Maddow provided analysis and commentary (e.g. Tucker, Countdown with Keith Olbermann) were popular source texts within pundit fandom, and thus Maddow occasionally appears in fan fiction dating back to at least January 2008.[3][4]
The volume of fanworks featuring or including Maddow increased following the August 2008 announcement and September 2008 launch of her television show.
Pairings
Despite the fact Maddow is a lesbian, femslash featuring her follows the perceived trend of femslash rarity. Maddow is most commonly slashed with MSNBC contributor and occasional TRMS guest host Ana Marie Cox; unlike other Maddow pairings, the relationship between Maddow and Cox has its own community. The sexual tension between Maddow and Cox has been noted by blogs outside the typical circle of Pundit RPF fandom,[5][6] and mentioned to Cox herself on Twitter.[7]
Keith Olbermann/Rachel Maddow is a common Maddow het pairing. Although the pairing has caused some degree of controversy due to Maddow's sexual orientation, Olbermann/Maddow stories outnumber Maddow/Cox stories.[8]
Maddow has also been written in polyamorous relationships such as Stephen Colbert/Anderson Cooper/Rachel Maddow/Keith Olbermann/Jon Stewart and Keith Olbermann/Rachel Maddow/Ana Marie Cox.
Communities
Pundit fandom is heavily concentrated around LiveJournal and its clone sites, and there is a variety of Maddow-centric, fandom-accepting communities on these sites.
- Discussing The Rachel Maddow Show
- For live TRMS discussion threads and other Maddow discussion
- Maddow and Cox
- For squee and fanworks about Maddow, Cox, and occasionally Melissa Harris-Perry
- Maddow Kicks
- For any Maddow-related discussion and fanworks
- On Dreamwidth: Maddow Kicks
Notable Fanworks
- "on real/fake news RPF and the concept of slashing a girl and a boy. together. without genderswap." by thenewhope
- Meta on the treatment of Maddow's sexual orientation, as seen by someone outside pundit fandom
- "Small Apple Cobbler" by jamapanama
- Fan fiction featuring Maddow's relationship with her real life partner as well as her friendship with Keith Olbermann
References
- ^ Olson, Alix. Rachel Maddow Before the Big Time, published 16 July 2009 at Velvet Park. (Accessed 18 October 2010.)
- ^ Rachel Maddow and Her Girlfriend Give Up TV on Weekends, published 6 April 2010 at People.com. (Accessed 18 October 2010.)
- ^ lucia_tanaka. Peeping Tom, published 22 January 2008 at fakenews_fanfic. (Accessed 25 October 2010.)
- ^ imperfectkreis. Five Drinks at Five Studios, published 24 January 2008. (Accessed 25 October 2010.)
- ^ taylor. Tina Fey, Felicia Day, Rachel Maddow & Beyond! Serving Up Spicy Hot Geeks, published 3 December 2009 at Autostraddle. (Accessed 19 October 2010.)
- ^ Snarker, Dorothy. Not-so-strange bedfellows, published 5 May 2009 at Dorothy Surrenders. (Accessed 19 October 2010.)
- ^ @anamariecox. Twitter status, published 20 October 2010. (Accessed 25 October 2010.)
- ^ sarken. Pie (charts)!, published on 22 January 2010. (Accessed 25 August 2010.)