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The character of Miss Moneypenny, whilst minor, is a staple in the cinematic universe of the James Bond film franchise, and she has been portrayed by various actresses throughout the years. Her character forms an indispensable part of the MI6 office. However, Miss Moneypenny remains sexually unattainable and the one woman that James Bond has not managed to bed: ‘The muffled eroticism of Moneypenny and Bond has survived for over [fifty] years, forming the longest unconsummated screen relationship’ (Brabazon, 1999). Fans of the James Bond film franchise, however, may feel differently about the relationship between 007 and Miss Moneypenny, hoping for a romantic conclusion to the banter and flirting that has continued throughout the film franchise. This chapter will analyse comments made on two fan-made YouTube videos that are supercuts of all the scenes between James Bond and Miss Moneypenny, in order to understand fans’ opinions of the relationship between the two characters. This chapter will make use of fan studies and participatory culture in order to understand the manner in which fans perceive the relationship between James Bond and Miss Moneypenny, and how these two characters will always be in the ‘friend-zone’.

A personal narrative of my escape from Kosovo, and the genocide and ethnic cleansing that occurred there are presented. My time as a refugee and my efforts to be resettled in the US are chronicled. An account of my life in the US, highlighting the enormous generosity I received from my sponsors and others along with personal and professional conflicts I encountered in the US, is reported. My narrative ends with my hopes for Kosovo and my fears about the future of refugees in the US.

Japan is home to a relatively conservative and group-oriented culture in which social expectations can exert powerful pressure to conform to traditional patterns of behaviour. This includes gender norms, which have long been based around the common stereotypes of men as breadwinners and women as housewives. Social liberalisation and economic change in the late 20th century saw these patterns change as more women entered the workforce and, despite Japan's dismal standing in global equality rankings, began to make inroads into some positions of political and corporate leadership. Yet, the way in which women are treated by men is shaped not only by female gender norms but also by the social factors that determine male patterns of behaviour. This chapter considers how Japan's male gender norms, particularly the focus on man as economic labourers rather than active members of the family unit, have damaged many men's ability to connect, on an emotional level, with the women in their lives. It looks at the issue of misogyny; what is known as the Lolita Complex; the growing trend of herbivore men; and the concept of Ikumen, men who are active within the family. While some of these patterns of behaviour can be harmful – for women on the individual level, and for Japan as a whole, on the social level – there are some trends which suggest that gender norms in Japan can be directed in a manner which will allow for much healthier emotional relationships to develop between the genders in a manner that will help build a society that is more cognisant of and attentive to the needs of women.

This chapter analyzes #YesAllWomen, one of the largest, most visible, feminist Twitter events of recent years. Though hashtags and other forms of digital activism are not always taken seriously as politics, in this project we investigate #YesAllWomen and its recirculation through media and public blogs, as an important instance of contemporary feminist discursive activism. Specifically, we argue that the hashtag functioned, first, as a site of collective identity for participants, and we describe some of the ways in which this identity building was achieved, and second, we argue that through its links to and recirculation by other platforms and media, #YesAllWomen also functioned as a public protest or agenda-building event with impact on public discourse beyond Twitter. Our project draws on content and discourse analysis methods to analyze the #YesAllWomen hashtag and to trace its interaction with other discourses such as news and blogs, including an automated content analysis of almost two million tweets and an analysis of a sample of 251 media and blog stories. We note that contemporary feminists are using digital media, in this case a Twitter hashtag, to achieve many of the same discursive goals of knowledge building and critique that have previously been achieved using other communications strategies such as consciousness-raising groups, publishing collectives, media strategies, and zaps.

This study aims to gain insights into the rise of virtual social media influencers and identify the significant theories governing virtual influencers’ (VIs) interaction with followers on social media platforms. Studies on VI being scarce in marketing literature, the authors attempt to propose a theoretical model to understand the acceptance of VIs by social media users (SMUs).

Using a structured literature review and a case study approach, a conceptual model is developed and propositions are offered.

Parasocial interaction (PSI) between the SMU and VIs builds up source credibility, thereby leading to the acceptance of VIs. Thus, the authors establish that PSI and source credibility theory combine to explain the acceptance of VIs by SMUs. Furthermore, similarity with the VI is another added dimension of source credibility, as suggested by this study. A comparative analysis of the growth of five major VIs elucidates that the fashion, electronic, tourism and health-care industries can use them for promotions and as influencers, especially for luxury products.

VIs are a potent tool to achieve improved brand awareness and to target young consumers (especially Gen Y and Gen Z – millennials).

The emergence of VIs being recent; little is comprehended about their interaction with SMUs. Hence, it becomes important to delineate the foundations of VI–SMU interaction. Thus, this study addresses the gap in identifying the theoretical background and proposes a conceptual model elucidating VI acceptance by SMUs.