The Rise of the Fangirl: a Brief Rant

By On August 29, 2010 · 8 Comments

I was poking around in TDF’s site stats and found that we were mentioned in this article about the “rise of the fangirls.” Cool! It’s nice to get a nod, and the article’s writer actually talked to female fans to get their take on the recent leaps in prominence and visibility we fangirls are enjoying.

However, I’m just a bit frustrated with the professor they talked to about why “girls” started liking geeky things. Allow me to quote:

There are definitely more girls and young women interested in what had traditionally been geeky boy subjects, such as fantasy and superheroes. That’s because these topics are now more mainstream across the board, said Robert Thompson, professor of pop culture at Syracuse University. The turning point was probably when Hollywood started making blockbuster movies about superheroes and released the first of “The Lord of the Rings” movies in 2001, Thompson said.

“I think it happened in a big way when Hollywood starts making those very artsy Batman movies (in 2005), ‘Spider-Man’ and “Lord of the Rings’ and all that kind of thing. Suddenly, those things were no longer a subculture. They’ve become part of the mass culture and that brought a lot of women into an arena that might have normally been considered for young men, but it also brought in a lot of other people, adults and everybody else,” Thompson said.

Yeah, because “girls” never liked anything geeky before Orlando Bloom. Star Trek, Star Wars, comic books… yeah, none of that. It was all the poncy elf’s fault. I mean, despite being raised on science fiction and fantasy, I never got into the geek stuff until Batman and Spiderman and LOTR in movie form.

Sarcasm aside, I find this kind of assumption intensely irritating. I’m certain there are younger fangirls who got into geek culture thanks to Hollywood blockbusters, but this viewpoint ignores the women who have been in “traditionally male” fandoms for decades. I have friends who were obsessing over Star Trek and printing out ‘zines in the seventies. I have friends who’ve read comic books since they were little girls. I started watching SF movies and shows when I was very little (my parents took me to see Return of the Jedi when it came out, when I was nearly four, and I had more action figures than my male best friend. I didn’t start reading comics until after the first X-Men movie came out, but I was fully entrenched in geek culture well before Hollywood started making mainstream superhero movies. You can read about The Discriminating Fangirl staff’s various geek girl histories in this post.

The mainstreaming of geek culture has definitely created a more open environment which both draws in new female fans and also makes existing fangirls feel more comfortable with being out of the geek closet, so to speak. I don’t dispute that at all. I think it’s great that more mainstream geek fandoms are drawing in female fans who might have otherwise not have considered themselves geek girls. However, I do wish that writers–particularly academics who specialize in pop culture–would finally realize that this fangirl thing is nothing new. Fangirls and geek girls have been around forever. We’re not just a flash in the pan. Give our long and illustrious history a little credit. ;)

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About The Author

TDF Pamela

The Discriminating Fangirl, who is more likely to answer to Pamela if you shout it at her, is the proud owner of an MA in English, focusing on children's/young adult literature and popular culture. She's now not using that degree to work as a project manager for a mobile app company. She reads voraciously, loves geeky movies and tv shows, reads comic books as long as she's not pissed off at Marvel, and when she's procrastinating, she enjoys playing video games. She can be contacted at t.d.fangirl @ gmail.com and followed on Twitter @tdfangirl.

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  • http://angiebatgirl.wordpress.com AngieBatgirl

    I’m Angie from that article :) I totally agree with you about that professor. Haha artsy Batman movies? WHA? But yeah, I’ve liked Batman since I was very small. My mom and I used to watch the Adam West Batman all the time and I loved it! I was also into He-man, TMNT and Ghostbusters. I was reading Batman graphic novels before Batman Begins was even though of. I think professor needs to do a little more research before he goes spouting off about stuff (>.<)

  • http://www.thediscriminatingfangirl.com TDF Pamela

    Oh, awesome! You have a fabulous Joker throw. ;)

    I looked up El Professor, and he’s apparently quite the expert on television pop culture. However, I would strongly suggest he dip his toes into fan studies a bit more before passing himself off as an expert in that field. I’ve dipped my toes in fan studies, and I seem to know more about the history of female fans than this guy.

  • Amanda

    Sounds like he hasn’t investigated fangirl culture too deeply. While fangirlism may have been more in the light in the last ten years, that wasn’t most fangirls entrance into fandom. I remember playing ‘Star Wars’ with two boys on the playground back in the early 90s and I was excited because I was the only girl who liked it, so I got to be Leia. My mom told me that she was a huge Star Trek (original series) fan when it first aired, but never knew about the fanzines or anything. She said that had there been Internet at the time, she would have been a fangirl like I am. Maybe fangirlism is genetic?

  • http://littleredreviewer.wordpress.com/ redhead

    I became a fangirl the moment I first laid eyes on Han Solo. I believe I was five years old. From then on out my legos got turned into spaceships, my plastic dinasours fought off the evil radioactive farm animals, and I had a standing date with my Dad to see every new Star Trek movie opening weekend (this was before they started to suck).

    this professor dude thinks he knows what he’s talking about. . .but he doesn’t.

  • http://amandamccarter.wordpress.com Amanda

    I’ve been a geeky fangirl for a long time. My mother read me Anne McCaffrey and Tolkien as bed time stories. I can remember watching Dune and Star Wars as a little girl. When I was eleven, I memorized all the Star Trek TNG cast members’ names. Now I write science fiction. My love for all things geek has absolutely nothing to do with LotR or Batman. Thought admitedly, I did not read LotR until the movies came out, I have been a geek for a long time. So thank you very little mr. all important college professor. You are clueless. I think the recent “rise” of the fangirl is a result of the “geek is cool” movement.

  • http://www.thediscriminatingfangirl.com TDF Pamela

    Man, I love hearing everyone’s fangirl histories. Star Wars seems to have been a formative fandom for a lot of us!

  • http://sketchyplanet.blogspot.com/ Kimeister

    I believe one reason the prevalence of fangirls in geekery appears to be a more recent development is that previously, fangirls would often hide or downplay their involvement in geeky activities due to peer pressure. Generations of today, especially those who reached their teens in the 90′s and 00′s, have a far more open-minded approach to women and young women involved in what was previously perceived to be a male environment. But the 70′s were not a time that was open to gender-pushing activities, and girls involved in “boy” interests and activities were persuaded or forced, even by school teachers, to pursue those interests and activites which were deemed gender appropriate. Geek girls were underground because, in some ways, we had to be. Thank goodness for changing times.

  • Strangeness Abounds

    I also find El Professor’s statement rather insulting and condescending, though I found my “formative” fandom through Lord of the Rings (book series) and the Legend of Zelda (video games). I think the only reason that people are saying, “Oh, fangirls are popping up suddenly!” is because we’ve been a demographic that hides easily. It’s only recently that we’ve felt comfortable enough to let it all hang out. In other words: ditto to “Kimeister.” :)

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