Wednesday, May 7, 2014

What being a Fangirl means to me

I believe that everyone, male or female, has an internal fangirl muppet that lives in their brain. When a person comes into contact with something (picture, quote, artwork, song, movie, TV show, etc) that inspires them, their internal fangirl muppet goes off in their head (See above gif for illustration). Sometimes, it is subtle and you can just see it in their eyes or on the giant smile on their face. Sometimes, it is external and leads to an inability to seem calm. This can manifest in a variety of ways (screaming, crying, babbling, rapid limb movement, making purchases). In the best times, it leads to expressing those emotions into artwork (pictures, writings, art, music, videos, movies, etc). When that happens and they put it out into the world, it can trigger someone else's inner fangirl muppet to freak out. It is an endless loop of people being excited about things and getting other people excited about things.

But according to Dictionary.com, the definition of Fangirl/Fanboy is:

noun Informal: Often Disparaging.
an obsessive female/male fan, especially of something technological or from popular culture
I have no issue with the definition. It is the "Often Disparaging" part that confuses me. Why is being a fan of something a negative thing? I think it is because when we think of being a fangirl we think of this:
Beatles fans being unable to "even"
But again, these ladies are having a great time enjoying something that makes them happy. They aren't hurting anyone. They aren't having gang wars against Rolling Stone fans. But it is written off by the media as examples of hysterical women being hysterical in public again. There is no wrong way to express your love of something (except committing crimes, of course). If someone wants to show their intensity for something by simply wearing a t-shirt or by extremely painting a mural on the side of a building, neither is a bad thing. It all comes from a place of inspiration.

Even though, the word fangirl is gender specific and Kermit the Frog is a male, I still picture the words and images intertwined which is why I say everyone has a fangirl muppet no matter what gender they are. Freaking out over something that is awesome should not be determined or described by your reproductive organs. 

This is what being a Fangirl means to me.

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