In every outlet of media — from music, literature, film, TV shows, and comics — and on every social media platform — from Instagram, Tumblr, TikTok and even Pinterest — there are fangirls. The presence of “fangirl culture” is something that Millennials and Gen-Zers may be more familiar with because of how social media has grown in the past few decades, but fandoms existed long before social media, as seen in the ‘70s and ‘80s with Star Wars and Star Trek, and in the ‘60s with Beatlemania.
Women will often experience “gatekeeping” from a fandom with primarily male fans. Gatekeeping may look like trivia: “If you’re a real fan, then what is the meaning of ___?” or the definition of what is and isn’t a “true” fan. For example, “true” Marvel fans must read the comics and cannot only watch the movies — after all, you can’t just enjoy one form over the other (she said sarcastically). Gatekeeping is more common in fandoms that are viewed as being geared toward men, even though sci-fi and superhero movies can be enjoyed by everyone.
Within the MCU, there are comments and insinuations that women only watch the movies because the male actors are “eye candy,” and that the actual plot goes over their heads since they don’t read the decades worth of comics. Clearly, this is a mass generalization and those ideas and judgments reinforce the idea that fangirls are not “serious” fans in those fandoms. The idea that in order to prove how much I enjoy something I have to answer bizarre trivia questions is something that always peeved me, but I must admit: it gave me great joy in my sophomore year of high school when I got quizzed for wearing a Star Wars sweatshirt and clearly knew more than my interrogator.
Here’s the bottom line. How much you like a movie or book series is not contingent on how many Easter eggs you can point out. Sometimes enjoyment can just be pure entertainment or comfort without seeking out other forms of media — and it shouldn’t discredit an individual based on how much they know or when they became a fan.
From my time as a fangirl, there seems to be a consensus that appears when a fandom has a primarily female fan base. And whatever it is that has garnered the fangirl affection — be it movies, books or bands — is then viewed with distaste. Take One Direction as an example. Many turned their nose up at it; the fans were accused of not enjoying real music (which, who is to say what “real” music is anyway), when in reality, the same music that older generations enjoyed in their youth was what was popular at the time, and it gradually became known as classic rock.
By not taking teenage girls and their interests seriously, we create a generation of girls with an unnecessary amount of “guilty” pleasures and a generation that must tackle internalized misogyny — which would take a whole other article to get into.
Watching shows that involve romance or love triangles or mystic abilities is not something that anyone should be ridiculed for liking. And just because a band sings love songs does not mean that they are solely to be enjoyed by young girls. To imply that is rooted in both ageism and sexism. By drawing the line between which fandoms are “for” girls and which fandoms girls must earn their way into, the idea that any of their interests are not valid is perpetuated.
“Fangirl” should no longer be thrown around as a term to discredit the individual or what they like. Relating to fictional worlds and characters is nothing new in our society. When it comes to entertainment or escapism, let people enjoy what they want without being a total buzzkill with your trivia or judgments.