My View On... Fangirls

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Are you a fangirl?




Definition: A female who has overstepped the line between healthy fandom and indecent obsession (Urban Dictionary)


Fangirls is a topic that I have a lot of views about. Personally, I am a huge fangirl. I have fangirled over the likes of JLS, The Wanted, McFly and currently, youtubers. The main thing about fangirls is that, we are just supporting the people that we love. It may seem like an unhealthy obsession, but we are the people who buy our favourite band's music, or who watch our favourite YouTubers videos. However, there are different degrees of being a fangirl and I have cut it down to 10 stages:


The Stages of being a fangirl

1. The 'I Like' Stage

This is the fist stage of being a fangirl. The stage when someone hears some new music, or sees a new video and thinks: 'I like that!' They have no emotional connections with the artist, they have literally just heard something that they like the sound of.


2. Fandom Part-timer
This is the next stage. After discovering your 'like' for someone, you start to find out a bit more about them and their fans. You are a part-time fangirl as you are willing to hear their next music/ watch their next video but you don't know enough about them to be fully dedicated.


3.The 'Have you heard' Stage

This is the stage when things are beginning to get serious. You are almost in love with your chosen person/people, but first, you need your friends approval. You casually mention them in passing, trying not to make a big deal about it (Have you heard The Wanted's new song?), but inside, you know that them liking your favourite band could give you a legitimate reason to like them too.


4.The 'I love' Stage
This is probably one of the best stages. You have found a new love and you want to express this. We tend to use the word 'love' lightly, but when we're talking about our favourite celebrities, the word 'love' means a lot to us. We strive to find the people who love the exact same people that we love, which leads me nicely on to the next stage.

5.The 'Twitter Account' Stage
This is the way that fangirls connect to each other. The stage when we make twitter accounts that are directly related to supporting their favourite people. By searching for common interests, fangirls are able to find their fandom, and to establish themselves within it.

6. Fandom Full-timer
The twitter accounts allow us to become Full-time fangirls. We have established ourselves within our chosen fandom and spend the great majority of our time watching YouTube videos starring our favourite stars or talking to other fans who know how we feel. Being a fangirl becomes incredibly important.

7. Beginning Obsession
This is when the obsession begins. Our twitter accounts are fully up and running, we have got the latest music or seen all of the latest videos. Our favourite stars are starting to become the thing that we think about more often then not. People know who we like, and we're not afraid to stand up for who we like.

8.The 'FanFiction' Stage

This is not for all fangirls, just the ones that enjoy reading and writing, and like seeing their innermost thoughts written out. Once the obsession has begun, the creative fangirls may begin to write fanfiction about their favourite stars. The storylines can sometimes seem unrealistic, and they take a long time to write (I say from experience) but it is great to have a physical representation of the people who we are obsessed with.

9.The 'Merchandise' Stage 
This is when your favourite stars go from behind a screen to right next to you. Buying merch is a way of bringing our imaginations into reality, by spending money on our favourite people. Wearing their clothes or drinking out of their mugs just makes us feel closer to them.

10. Meeting and Greeting

This is a stage that not every fangirl gets, but the ones that do are incredibly lucky. This stage is not specific to 'Meet and Greets' but can mean meeting your star at any given opportunity. The fangirls who meet their favourite stars, and have proof with a picture, are highly regarded on twitter by the girls who may not have the same chances to meet their idols.

11. Overly Obsessed
Preview
This stage needs no explanation. The fans that will literally do anything for their idols. This only applies to a small group of each fandom's population and even then, everyone has different degrees of over-obsession.

As a fangirl myself, I found it interesting to research and discover how people become fangirls.
My view on fangirls is that, being in a fandom is great because it feels like being part of a group. Being in a fandom helps to make new friends and gives you people to talk to.
Don't be afraid to be classed as a fangirl, it's a great thing. It's a way of saying that you belong somewhere.

Thank you for reading. Please follow me if you have been liking my posts so far.

Comment below for more things that you would like to hear my view on.


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