Perks of Being a Fan Girl

OH MY GOD! Alexandeeeeer is coming to East Cupcake, Michigan! I must go see him, for we shall be married and fall in love!!!

The stereotypical fangirl is a rabid breed of female species who are obsessed with a fictional character/band/artsist. Fangirls have existed for longer than you may think. The term has widened beyond that stereotype, though, to include (not so oddly) girls who are fans of something. It is not always a pejorative term. It can be, though, especially among people who don’t “get” a particular fandom. Most folks today use the term to mean nothing more than a female nerd. Someone describing herself as a fangirl is usually just expressing an enthusiasm for the subject.

Fangirls will probably do almost anything to do something related to their fandom. This means leaving sports practice early to watch that beloved episode, staying up late for the midnight book release, or canceling plans for a special event. They don’t usually care about the consequences (and expenses!)

I’ve got no stories to tell and to share to other people. But if there was one thing that made my life colorful, it was being a fan girl. By definition, a fan girl is a female member of a fandom community. Some see us as the life of an actor and actress while others view us as freaks or obsessive fans.

I started being a fan girl since my early high school years. I first became a fan girl of Korean artists, back when the Korean following was just small. In all honestly, the feeling was awesome. Whenever they were happy, I was also happy. Whenever they were sad, I was also sad.

Every little thing that they do, whenever it was movies, music videos or songs, they became our life. These things were like nutrients for our soul. The actors themselves became a part of our life. For us fan girls, they are the source of our happiness and at times sadness. Whenever I am depressed, even a one-minute video of them doing nothing can make me feel happy already. I even read some people saying that they have stopped committing suicide because of their favorite actor.

That is why whenever someone attacks our favorite artists, we always defend them. These actors somehow changed and became an important part of our lives that is why we always fight for them whenever we can.

Being a fan girl is not easy. The constant criticisms from people saying that we are obsessive and that we are freaks always hurt us. But the funny thing is the criticisms that our favorite artist get is more hurtful. I, too, find this funny. But I can’t even explain this to myself. I even once cried when my mother made hurtful comments about my favorite artist. Being a fan girl made my life colorful. It made me gain new friends and new purpose in life. Some may not understand us why we are like this. But I hope that society will try to look deeper to why we are like this.

You think being a fangirl is easy? You think keeping up with ratchet twitcams that won’t work and knowing where they are every moment is simple? You think seeing a picture of them and fall down, cry and makes you want to throw yourself out the window is fun? You think I wanted this? You think I asked for this? You don’t know anything. You don’t know me.

A fan girl does not only become a fan because of the beautiful and handsome faces of our favorite artists. We became fans because of the things that they did for us and how they changed our lives. When I have a little girl in the future and she fangirls on someone, I won’t make her feel alone. I will do everything I can to make sure she won’t experience the frustration of not meeting the person you would die for.

As long as I live, I will remember this special and precious time of my life – when I was a fangirl. I don’t think it will last forever, and I certainly don’t believe any of the other fangirls expect it to either, but it’s just such a unique thing that I will forever remember and treasure. It’s something bright to look back on when you get older knowing you were once part of a world bigger than your own.

xoxo

Steph.