Girly Stereotypes: The Fangirl

What makes a fangirl different from any run-of-the-mill fan? Is there any difference at all? Bridget Orr explores the world of the fangirl.

I would like to make one thing clear: Liking things is good. In a cynical and superficial world where it is much easier to slag things off so people can bray in agreement instead of just admitting to liking things in the face of ridicule, or even worse, jumping on and off bandwagons dependent on whenever it is cool or ironic to do so - it is harder and much more rewarding to like things for the sake of liking them and then sticking with them. Especially if you end up being called a 'fangirl' for the reasons that you are both a fan and a girl (sorry male Dollymix readers). What is so bad about being a fangirl?

The main differences between normal fans and squeeing fangirls are ambiguous to say the least. If it helps, the easiest way to distinguish between normal fans and squeeing fangirls is being a fan. They are presumably much younger than normal fans. They are presumably girlier than normal fans. They're not as obsessive as normal fans. They like bands, films or television series for more superficial reasons than normal fans. Putting it this way, they are not normal fans like you and me.

The Urban Dictionary has many definitions for 'fangirl', a lot of them far more biased and slightly bitter than the Oxford English Dictionary definition. Having looked at all of the definitions, a stereotypical image of the fangirl becomes more visible. The fangirl seems like a normal girl in her real life classroom, lecture theatre or desk at work, but by night she is BarrowmansBadWolf the most rabid of all Torchwood fangirls - run for your lives!

Whilst most older and sophisticated fangirls have tried to laugh off the stereotype and embrace their fangirlishness - what about the younger adolescent fangirls who are unaware of the nuances of the term? In the anti-fangirl definitions, there are the usual accusations that most young fangirls are not real fans because they were too young to remember their early EPs or just find the leading man attractive. Worse still - some anti-fangirl rants focus on their appearance and point at how they try and look like a typical fan or emo kid but look like they are trying too hard to fit in with the 'individuals'. They just cannot win.

If there is one thing I personally hate about the 'fangirl' stereotype, it is that it is a disservice to female fans of anything. In male-dominated circles such as in sport, most female fans would probably know ten times more stats about their team and would still be patronised about the legs on the star player. In relation to liking boybands or other attractive and poptastic music acts, the presence of female fans can lead to sniffy male music snobs to dismiss bands as rubbish because girls like them. If fandom can be a great way of knowing more about your favourite things and meeting like-minded people - what's the harm in that?

[Image via Wade Rockett on flickr]

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