I have always noticed the negative views men and women have surrounding the topic of fangirls. While I have noticed it, I have never really understood it. What’s the harm in loving what you love? I find that having an artist that you love, or a TV show that you enjoy, is honestly quite good for you. Could it possibly stem back to our childhoods, and the never-ending effort to be the cool girl? Let’s talk about it.
I think growing up as girls, it became very easy to notice the term fangirl has a negative connotation- dare I say, simply because it includes the word girl. I think growing up, we began to notice the double standard. Even just being younger, I always noticed everything I loved was thought of as silly by the boys in my elementary school. Growing up like this, I think it almost encouraged us girls to keep our likes quiet and our hobbies to ourselves. Being a fangirl nowadays can easily be seen as silly by other girls, and now liking what everybody else likes is totally uncool.
I also think there is a big difference in our culture between a man being a fan of something versus a woman. If a woman or young girl enjoys a band or other, they are obsessive. For a man, no one bats an eye. No matter how aggressive a man is toward a sports team he likes, nothing could compare to how annoying a fangirl could be. Aggression is accepted, but anything we love could easily be laughed at. Yeah, big difference. I have noticed that things I love, like music artists or actresses, are nothing to be taken seriously. But God forbid a man is threatened by an opposing sports fan; now that’s serious.
Now, I am not saying that everything a man likes deserves to be laughed at, because once again, it is just something they love. But what I am saying is that anything a woman is a fan of is deemed annoying, unserious, immature or obsessive. Funny how that works. So, I am asking that our interests are taken just as seriously.Â
I am not forcing you to like absolutely everything, duh, but I am encouraging you to find what you do love! Make sure you are a fan of something, and make your younger self proud. It is easy to sink back into something that used to make us cool back when we were younger, but now you are old enough to love what you love. You decide what is cool.Â
So, be a fangirl! There is nothing wrong with being basic; artists and songs are popular for a reason! You are not annoying for being basic, and you are not silly for liking a certain band. I encourage you to act however you want when it comes to your favorite artist; maybe even scream at the TV every once in a while and see how you feel.Â