WHO RUN THE WORLD? FANGIRLS.

By Lindsey Gross, Staff Writer

What are a few adjectives that come to mind when thinking about a fangirl? Crazy? Unhealthy? Stupid? Now think to yourself if these adjectives have negative or positive connotations. I encourage you to reflect on this because, historically, the concept of a fangirl has many negative connotations. Fangirls are often called crazy, unhealthy, insane, frightening, and stupid when, in reality, a fangirl is simply an extreme fan of an artist or band.

Not to be confused with the casual fan, a fangirl takes on her enjoyment of an artist as part of her personal identity. She spends much of her free time and disposable income supporting her favorite artist by attending concerts, purchasing merchandise, and creating bonds with others who share those interests. You can expect her social media to be dedicated to her favorite in the form of a "fan account" or, at the very least, be a platform to declare her support for her favorite to all who will listen.

Spending habits and free time well spent are not the only compelling traits that can be attributed to a fangirl. These intelligent young women are also tastemakers within the industry they support. A fangirl knows who and what will become popular before you do, guaranteed. And this eye for popularity is nothing new. Artists like The Beatles and Elvis Presley initially rose to fame because of the power and influence of fangirls. And the fangirl doesn't stop there. Not only will she know about the next generation defining artists first, but she will also mobilize to support her new favorite. She will take the lead on audience acquisition (creating and posting fan cams in popular forums and comments sections), community management (organizing a pit line at a concert when a venue fails to do so), and digital marketing (compiling and posting highlights from concerts and interviews that will gain traction with more casual audiences). Plus, she does this all for free. The fangirl is fueled purely by a passion for the artist, the industry, and the fan experience.

This mobilization, though often unrecognized, is an unmatched industry experience—which brings us to one of my favorite pop-culture phenomena: The Fangirl to Entertainment Industry Pipeline. This phenomenon is the idea that the future leaders of the entertainment industry are the Beliebers and Directioners that you (maybe) used to make fun of in high school. And if you were someone who made fun of fangirls back in the day, know you weren't alone. You were actually one of many to do it. Believe it or not, fangirls being made fun of is rooted in history.

Historically, society has molded teenage girls into symbols of purity. They are to be docile, quiet, and obedient to their fathers in adolescence and to act the same to their husbands in womanhood. The mentality and actions of the fangirl are a subversion of this "purity" mold. Think back to things like the Salem Witch Trials or the Victorian Era. If you look closely, you will see that when young women veered from the "purity" mold, they were deemed hysterical. This is not due to the girls actually being hysterical but rather due to a loss of control. Men lost control over teenage girls' thoughts and feelings and thus deemed them mentally insane, shamed and banished them, or (in cases like the Salem Witch Trials) sentenced them to death. wrote for the Chicago Tribune, "To abandon control—to scream, faint, dash about in mobs—was in form, if not in conscious intent, to protest the rigid double standard of female teen culture." Though lighthearted, even the names "Beatlemania," "Bieber Fever," or "One Direction Infection" all hold the connotation that something is wrong with teenage girls. They are sick, and they are acting outside of their mold. Mania, Fever, and Infection are all modern-day plays on this centuries-old idea of teenage girl hysteria.

Again, fangirls are tastemakers; but they have not historically been shown respect for platforming the future favorite bands of the world. Elvis and The Beatles were initially written off as "bad" or "only for women" but are now revered as some of the most successful and influential artists of all time— once men started liking them too. In an article for the New Statesman in 1946, Paul Johnson said about Beatlemania, "those who flock round The Beatles, who scream themselves into hysteria, whose vacant faces flicker over the TV screen, are the least fortunate of their generation, the dull, the idle, the failures." This begs the question: why are artists considered bad when their fanbases are primarily young women but respected once men decide they like those same artists too? I believe this line between "cool" and "uncool" lies in societal power. And men hold the power.

Within the music community, fangirls are expected to not truly understand music. It's believed that they don't know about the technical aspects of music, an artist's lyricism, or have the ability to analyze and identify the true meaning of a song. Rather, fangirls are further dismissed as juvenile beings obsessed with the fairytale tropes sung about in pop music. This idea, however, does not translate for male fans of classical, metal, punk, or hip-hop genres. Instead, their fandoms give them an air of intellect and encourage them to bolster their own selfimage. It's a double standard. Because men hold the societal power, they have been centered in culture. So, in turn, their interests have been centered too. To quote Matisse DuPont, "Masculine fandoms are figured to be historical and universal, whereas feminine fandoms are seen as nothing more than a fad." Anything teen girls like becomes vapid, trendy, over-hyped, cringe, sappy, and embarrassing.

Think for a minute about a sports fan and a fangirl. What's the difference between a season ticket holder to the Lakers and someone who attended a handful of the Harry Styles: Love on Tour shows at The Forum? One is celebrated, and the other is belittled. This belittlement has measurable adverse effects. As the new generation is entering the workforce, it is found that there is a confidence gap between young men and women. Women are finding it difficult to recognize the validity in their own skills learned as a fangirl (again—community management, market analysis, audience acquisition). How can we expect fangirls to recognize the value in their skills when they have been told over and over again that their motivation for learning these skills is something to be ashamed of?

So, I encourage you all to recognize and understand the importance of fangirls in the music industry (and of young women in wider society). Even if fangirls don't become industry leaders, these young women still deserve the space to explore and discover their senses of selves through the artists and bands they support, just like boys get to do. It's time we stop demeaning girls for experiencing joy out loud and instead embrace and celebrate fangirls for all the effort and joy they bring to society.