From the age of 11 years old I have been a part of a group or fandom, which would give me the label of a fan girl. First it was an obsession with Josh Hutcherson in “The Hunger Games,” then it was One Direction or 5 Seconds of Summer and now I am a part of so many fandoms that I cannot count.
One thing that I have noticed throughout the years is that whenever I show my love for one of these fandoms or people within franchises that I adore, the men in my life will always find a way to dislike or bash it. I never understood why because I thought One Direction had great music and that “Twilight” was a good movie series, then I found the one commonality between all of these things: women enjoy them.
Men and young boys were not trash-talking Harry Styles simply because he was in a successful boyband. They were trash-talking him because that successful boyband was supported by its intense female fanbase.
At young ages, genders are incredibly separated in society in terms of what each group is supposed to like in accordance with their gender. With this in mind, it is understandable why young boys may feel the need to show disdain for certain female dominated interests in order to “preserve” their masculinity.
Although I can overlook young boys expressing a dislike towards things that young girls enjoy, I cannot overlook the same being done by grown men.
We still live in a world where Robert Pattinson has performed in several critically acclaimed films and yet men still cannot condone his performance as Batman because he was in the “Twilight” franchise.
Ever since his performance in Christopher Nolan’s period drama “Dunkirk,” Harry Styles has continued to show his presence in Hollywood not just as a Grammy winning musician, but as a respectable actor as well. However, Styles does not receive the same treatment as other actors due to his large female fan base from his successful music career. Similar to Robert Pattinson’s association with Twilight, it seems that Harry must now navigate ruthless audiences who only associate him with one thing: girls.
But why does this have to be a bad thing?
Women of all ages have faced judgement and mockery for their interests in certain artists or actors. “Fan girls” are perceived to be young women who have an unhealthy obsession with a specific person or group. These girls face comments about their “erratic” behavior and pointless pursuits to meet these artists.
If we look at this from another angle, it becomes clear that “fan girls” are exactly the same as sports fans. Both groups express passion for their specific interest that results in emotional behavior. Despite sports fans having the same reactions to football touchdowns as people do to Harry Styles shimmying at his concert, these two experiences are not weighed equally.
I could argue that my father yelling at a football team in Giants Stadium has the same energy as me screaming for Billie Eilish in a concert arena— she may not hear me but I am offering my support. Likewise, when people comment on fan girls’ big reactions to their favorite celebrity appearing in a movie theater or tv show, I’d like to refer to sports fans screaming at their television during a game.
They both have the same energy. And yet sports are not considered stupid or uncool to enjoy because they are not associated with something that young girls love.
I could spend hours listing off the amount of stamina that artists have to have in order to perform hour long sets while also entertaining thousands of people. Along with these, these musicians and actors that young women are enthralled with are incredibly talents artists, and their talent should not be diminished because of a gender that expresses adoration for that person.