Rowan Ellis

Rowan Ellis
EducationDurham University
Occupations
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2014–present
Genres
Subscribers317,000
Views26 million
Last updated: December 23, 2025
Websiterowanellis.com

Rowan Ellis is a British feminist content creator, author and LGBTQ rights advocate.

Early life

Ellis graduated with an English literature degree from Durham University.[1]

Career

Rowan Ellis began uploading videos to YouTube in 2014.[2] Her videos focus on analysing popular culture through the lens of feminist and queer theory.[2][3][4]

In September 2016, Ellis was served a notice from Google, which told her that one of her videos on LGBTQ history was to be restricted from receiving ad revenue. The notice, which was also received by other content creators, was criticised for censorship.[5] Soon after, Ellis and other LGBTQ creators began complaining that their videos were being demonetised, age-restricted and de-listed.[6] In total, Ellis found that 40 of her own videos had been restricted.[7]

In March 2017, Ellis drew attention to the restriction of LGBTQ content on YouTube with her video "YouTube is Anti-LGBT?" She pointed out that videos containing LGBT topics had been deemed "inappropriate" by Google's content moderation polices. She added that such restrictions made access to support more difficult for LGBTQ youth and called on YouTube to adjust its policies.[3] Ellis was concerned that LGBTQ videos were being restricted, even when they were about apparently innocuous topics, as it implied that LGBTQ content is inherently more inappropriate than content made by straight people. This video was also restricted by Google and its comments were turned off.[2] Ellis' video prompted other LGBTQ content creators to look at the restrictions on their own videos, with many finding that their content had been deemed "potentially offensive" by Google's content moderation.[8] YouTube apologised for the blocking, demonetisation and age-restricting of LGBTQ videos, claiming it to be an "accident", but a year later creators continued to find their videos were being demonetised for LGBTQ content.[7]

In her 2018 video "Do I Have Privilege?", Ellis explored the issues of intersectionality and social privilege, from her perspective as a queer woman who benefited from class privilege and white privilege.[9] In her 2019 video "The Evolution of Queerbaiting", Ellis identified common forms of LGBT representation and misrepresentation; of the latter, she included queer coding and queerbaiting.[4] Ellis also coined the term "queer catching", in which a piece of media markets a character as LGBTQ, sometimes retroactively, but fails to follow through with it in the text. Among the examples she presented of "queer catching" were Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series and background characters in Star Wars briefly kissing.[4][10] In another 2019 video "A Children's Show With Gay Characters?", Ellis reported that she had received messages from people describing LGBTQ representation in children's television as "inappropriate", which led her to consider such representation to be a revolutionary act.[11] The video also discussed how the Hays Code resulted in Hollywood movie villains being coded as gay.[12] In her 2020 video "Why is Cottagecore So Gay?", Ellis presented the cottagecore aesthetic as one that provided lesbian women a safe space without homophobia or discrimination.[13]

Personal life

Ellis is an asexual lesbian.[14]

Bibliography

  • Here and Queer: A Queer Girl's Guide to Life. Frances Lincoln Children's Books. 2022. ISBN 9780711264755.

References

  1. ^ Andrew, Scottie (29 January 2022). "A guide to 'dark academia,' the TikTok-popular aesthetic with preppy style and an intellectual focus". CNN. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Watson, Libby (17 March 2017). "YouTube's Restricted Mode Is Hiding Some LGBT Content". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 9 January 2025. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  3. ^ a b Shu, Catherine (19 March 2017). "YouTube responds to complaints that its Restricted Mode censors LGBT videos". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 9 January 2025. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Anderson, Cade (27 March 2021). "A YouTuber for All LGBTQ+ Film Geeks: Rowan Ellis". Daily Utah Chronicle. Archived from the original on 19 February 2025. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  5. ^ "Content creators speak out against YouTube's 'ad-friendly' censoring". Eagle News. 16 September 2016. Archived from the original on 11 February 2025. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  6. ^ Maurer, Layla G. (2022). "Cyber-Silencing the Community: YouTube, Divino Group, and Reimagining Section 230". Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts. 17 (2): 177. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  7. ^ a b Monea, Alexander (2022). "Overblocking". The Digital Closet: How the Internet Became Straight. MIT Press. ISBN 9780262046770.
  8. ^ Bishop, Sophie (2018). "Anxiety, panic and self-optimization". Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. 24 (1): 71. doi:10.1177/1354856517736978.
  9. ^ Glatt, Zoë; Banet-Weiser, Sarah (2021). "Productive Ambivalence, Economies of Visibility, and the Political Potential of Feminist YouTubers". In Cunningham, Stuart; Craig, David (eds.). Creator Culture: An Introduction to Global Social Media Entertainment. New York University Press. p. 53. doi:10.18574/nyu/9781479890118.003.0006. ISBN 9781479879304.
  10. ^ Mintierio, Luci (2021). "Personal Reflection on 'Boy Crazy: A Screenplay About Gay Fanfiction, Queerbaiting, and Asexual Identity'". WWU Honors Program Senior Projects (441): 13.
  11. ^ Toudic, May (2022). "Queering History: Anne of Green Gables, Literary Re-vision and the LGBTQ+ Community". Emergence. 12. ISSN 2041-8248.
  12. ^ Mintierio, Luci (2021). "Personal Reflection on 'Boy Crazy: A Screenplay About Gay Fanfiction, Queerbaiting, and Asexual Identity'". WWU Honors Program Senior Projects (441): 12. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  13. ^ Beards, Lilly F. (2021). "Curated Bliss: What the rise of cottagecore says about lesbian domestic trauma". Academia.edu.
  14. ^ Ellis, Rowan (2022). Here and Queer. Frances Lincoln Children's Book.

Further reading

Content Disclaimer

Informasi ini disarikan dari Wikipedia dan disajikan kembali untuk tujuan edukasi. Konten tersedia di bawah lisensi CC BY-SA 3.0. Kami tidak bertanggung jawab atas ketidakakuratan data yang bersumber dari kontribusi publik tersebut.

  1. The information displayed on this website is sourced in part or in whole from Wikipedia and has been adapted for the purpose of restating it. We strive to provide accurate and relevant information, however:
  2. There is no guarantee of absolute accuracy. Wikipedia is an open, collaborative project that can be edited by anyone, so information is subject to change.
  3. It is not intended to constitute professional advice. The content displayed is for informational and educational purposes only. For important decisions (e.g., medical, legal, or financial), please consult a professional.
  4. Content copyright. Wikipedia is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA). This means that content may be reused with appropriate attribution and shared under a similar license.
  5. Responsible use. Any risk arising from the use of information from this website is entirely the responsibility of the user.