When you think of the word “fangirl,” you probably think of photo cards and friendship bracelets. Homemade costumes and merchandise collections. You likely picture a screaming, crying girl, absolutely hysterical over a singer, band or actor. In your mind, this girl might have stalker-like qualities and spend all day on her phone watching fan video edits. But how did this image come to be? Why do we see fangirls as a negative thing?
In the 1840s, Hungarian pianist and composer, Franz Liszt, went on a European tour that astonished crowds across the continent. Women wore brooches with his photo and would swarm Liszt on stage, grasping for locks of his hair. Witnessing the hysteria, journalist Heinrich Heine coined the term “Lisztomania,” describing one of the earliest examples of fandom. In his 1934 book, “Holy Deadlock,” A.P. Herbert used the word “fangirl” for the first time, which Merriam Webster defines as “a girl or woman who is an extremely or overly enthusiastic fan of someone or something.” This idea became a known phenomenon during Beatlemania in the 1960s, when The Beatles garnered millions of passionate, young female fans across the globe. Elvis Presley fans in the 1950s were named “screaming girls,” gaining national attention for their ability to drown out the music with their excitement, to the annoyance of mostly male concert goers and critics.
In a patriarchal society where women are expected to be graceful and demure, the fangirl is both seen and heard. The global intrigue surrounding fangirls is based on the subconscious confusion at women publicly displaying passionate emotion. It’s rebelliously loud, so fangirls are deemed obsessive, annoying and crazy. They’re childish and unserious. But why aren’t men criticized for doing the same things? Sports fans aren’t annoying, they’re celebrated and encouraged. Card collectors aren’t thought of as obsessive, they make thousands of dollars with millions of views. How different is an Army (BTS Fan) from an Eagles fan?
A resurfaced baseball card was sold for $5 million this past February, after another card was sold for over $7 million in 2022. Spending that much money on baseball cards is understandable, while spending $3,000 on a Jungcook photo card is reckless. Investing time and money on a cosplay for a fan convention is weird, but painting yourself bright colors for soccer games is spirited. Screaming fangirls flooding barricades is uncontrollable, but moshing metal heads are cool. Societally, male dominated fandoms aren’t judged as harshly as female fandoms due to outdated and harmful gender expectations that regulate who can show emotion, how and when.
Fangirls have made national news for darker reasons, such as harassment, stalking and even murder. In 1995, Mexican pop star Selena Quintanilla was shot and killed by the president of her fan club. Just two weeks ago a woman was arrested for attacking Fleetwood Mac founding member Lindsey Buckingham, after stalking him for an alleged five years. Similarly, a drug trafficker linked to the 1994 murder of Colombian soccer player Andres Escobar was found dead in Mexico two months ago. Eagles fans started street fires after their 2025 Super Bowl win. The common denominator between all of these overly-obsessive behaviors heightened emotions isn’t gender, it’s humanity. Though popular culture and the evolution of media have changed what it looks like, devout idolization of people and things can be traced back to early civilizations, like the Aztec gods or Ancient Egypt iconography.
The misogyny that lies beneath the term “fangirl” is apparent and unjustified. Feeling things is human and in times of need, cathartic. In reality, the double standard in fandom culture incapacitates human connection, because at its core, fandom is community. When you first meet someone, you’re mostly trying to find out the things you have in common, especially the things you like. Being able to have someone to share a passion with is special; it’s so relieving to have someone that just gets it. The fangirl is just that.
Limiting these experiences by creating labels and negative stereotypes towards fans fuels both sexist ideals and toxic masculinity. Sports culture is entirely characterized by screaming fans spending money and dressing up for events in jerseys, just like Beliebers at Coachella. But not all sports fans are men and not all fangirls are women. In changing the way we talk about fan culture, we can move on from gendered stereotypes and highlight connecting with one another. We can focus on loving things together, an act just as rebellious as fangirling.
