FANGIRLS: IT'S TIME TO GIVE THEM THE RESPECT THEY DESERVE

 

FANGIRLS: IT'S TIME TO GIVE THEM THE RESPECT THEY DESERVE

Why it’s time to start appreciating the screaming teenage girls behind every great success

My name is Anya Reid, I’m 18 years old, and I am a fangirl. I love One Direction, Dan and Phil, Twenty Øne Pilots, Panic! at The Disco, Merlin, Harry Potter, and all things Musical Theatre, just to name a few. There is not one of these that I have not been bullied for liking.

If anyone reading this is unfamiliar, the things listed above tend to be referred to as “fandoms”. For example, as a 1D fangirl I am a part of the 1D fandom. However, for as long as I can remember being a fangirl has been portrayed, both in my personal life and in the media, as something shameful. So, what is it about girls loving something that is so wrong?

The first port of call in breaking this down is the deep – rooted sexism that underlays the word “fangirl”. When a boy screams until his lungs are empty and his voice is hoarse at a football match, it’s considered fun, it shows he has a love of the game. The same goes for when he spends hours watching it online or on the tv, watching and re-watching the best moments in football history just to relive the joy of it all. But when a girl does that with the likes of One Direction, she’s insane? Hysterical? Needs to calm down? She is “crazy” if she cries at a concert but if his team wins the world cup and he cries that’s ok?

When fangirls are discussed, words like these often come up. “Hysterical” itself descends from many moons ago when women who were too outspoken and unladylike would be diagnosed with female hysteria and locked away in asylums. The images of screaming, crying women being paraded around the media are hurtful if nothing else. Constantly seeing women who like something and are emotional about the fact that they have finally got their chance to meet that artist, go to that concert, or get a selfie with that actor, be publicly ridiculed is damaging to a teenage girl’s mental health. This comes even more into play when we get more specific about what fanbase you’re ridiculing. As a Twenty Øne Pilots fan, I have been told I’m insane, stupid, and trying to be edgy, and have repeatedly been told that crying over their achievements is “pathetic”. People have constantly put me down for it, and yet one of the main reasons I have found that people like Twenty Øne Pilots is that they speak from the heart on mental health issues and their own personal experiences battling the voices their heads. We flock to this music because we relate to it. Because it puts into words what we are feeling, and it does it with immense poetic ease. And yet when I cry because they won a Grammy and I am proud of them and happy that their music is getting more of a reach and could help more people I’m insane, hysterical, and pathetic?

As women we are taught to hide away our hobbies and the things we love. If we claim to like something that is typically male dominated, we have to explain ourselves and prove ourselves to the men in that community who don’t think we’re good enough to be considered a “gamer girl” for example. Often men will challenge our hobbies, even if they are traditionally feminine hobbies, like knitting or sowing. If we can sow so well that we can make a Bridgerton inspired ballgown, then we’ve just wasted hours of our life on something we’re never going to wear. If we like to read and knit, then we’re just trying to be different, thinking we’re so quirky just because we read books.  

Being a fangirl used to be something I was ashamed of, but not anymore. I realise that even when I’m told it’s silly because of the things I like, people claiming I’m “too old for Dan and Phil” or “just listening to Twenty Øne Pilots to be edgy”, its ok, because they are merely excuses to put me down. The media in particular likes to tell women what their hobbies can and cannot be. You like skinny jeans and lattes? You’re basic. You like pop punk music? You’re trying to be edgy, calm down. You waited all night to get tickets to a Harry Styles concert? That’s so dumb.

But ladies, there is power in numbers. In 10 minutes, One Direction sold out their entire "Where We Are" Tour. If I do the maths, that's approximately 420,000 tickets sold in 10 minutes. That’s a whole lot of fangirls, and as a fanbase we have proved our power before. Louis Tomlinson himself has gone on record saying that “they (the fans) often know where we’re gonna be even before we do”. Looking into a different fanbase, Twenty Øne Pilots perhaps? Last year Twenty Øne Pilots, with no promotion, released a website that required 20 codes to get to the final prize. To figure out these obscure codes (often the likes of 29FKL86-I5) the fanbase had to use coding systems from WW2, computer programming, general knowledge, obscure references, zoology, English analysis, and the ability to work as a team across 5 different social media networks to break off into smaller groups with designated roles assigned to each to try and work out each code. We were on a roll, and then we hit a bump. We couldn’t find the clue to the last 2 codes. We received a message from the band itself telling us to come back in 2 weeks’ time to complete the mission. This wasn’t planned. The band had set up the website’s coding to change after 2 weeks to allow us to find the last 2 codes. They had expected the first 18 to take us 2 weeks. It took us 2 days. We are powerful. We notice, everything. We can find the untraceable. So next time you want to laugh at a fangirl, think again.

A fangirl is there for a reason. She connects with whatever she enjoys doing, listening to, or watching, for a reason. If she tells you she’s a Hufflepuff, don’t put her down for liking Harry Potter. Take note of the fact she is telling you she is patient, kind, and extremely loyal, to the point that if you hurt someone she cares about, she will end you. If she tells you she likes One Direction, don’t call her basic or crazy. Think about what it means. It means she is perseverant, able to cope well with change, loyal, smart, and capable. And if she tells you she’s been to 5 1D concerts, don’t cross her. She fought for those tickets. If she likes Dan and Phil, she’s nostalgic, most likely likes dark humour, likes plants, and values friendship above all else. She’s trying to find a soulmate, not a hook-up. And if she likes Twenty Øne Pilots? She finds comfort in community, she needs her alone time, she needs reassurance that you are and will be there for her, and she’s good at finding the joy in the little things in life.

At 18 years old, I am finally proud to be a fangirl. It’s been a journey to get here but I can honestly say that the friends I have made through the fandoms I am in will be friends for life, and I am not afraid to scream my favourite lyrics for the whole world to hear. I am a fangirl. I put my heart and soul into supporting, protecting, and defending the people and the things that I love. I work hard for the things that I want, and I am kind, even to those who don’t know I exist. As Harry Styles once said in relation to his loyal fangirls, “They’re our future. Our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kinda keep the world going --- Teenage girl fans, they don’t lie. If they like you, they’re there. They don’t act too cool. They like you, and they tell you, which is sick!” Honestly girls, if worst comes to worst, rest easy in the fact that Harry Styles thinks you’re great. Harry Styles thinks you’re an incredible young woman with potential to do great things and appreciates your continued support, so you know what? Go out their and be a fangirl. Scream, and cry, and smile, and laugh, and find joy, connection, and friendship in the things you love, because that is what being a fangirl really is.

By Anya Reid (14/03/2021)