Old stereotypes die hard. You may think you already know that fanboy culture includes a heck of a lot of girls. But the fact that we even still use a catch-all term like “fan-boy” exerts its own pesky, prejudicial influence. It makes it sounds as if all those girl geeks are somehow, you know, interlopers — mere guests at the party instead of equal-time hosts.
Now, though, there’s an eye-opening new study, released yesterday by the Online Testing Exchange, that takes the conventional image of the fanboy and locks it away in the archaic-cliché box where it belongs. According to the study, which is called “Fanboy FAQ!,” not only are fanboys often not boys anymore. They’re also not loners, geeks, misfits, or, for that matter, people in their teens and 20s.
Okay, okay. A lot of you will probably read that and say, “So what else is new?” But the popular image of the fanboy as obsessive teen-dude drooler squirreled away in his Internet bunker, surrounded by piles of graphic novels and empty pizza boxes, dies hard. That image has been an undeniable influence on what gets made to entertain us in America. If the image isn’t accurate, then the marketplace isn’t truly being served.
I remember when I first had my eyes opened on this particular issue. Back in 2000, I went to a Saturday matinee showing of The Cell, that terrifically gory and twisted — and, to me, spellbinding — horror movie about a psychologist (Jennifer Lopez) who enters the mind of a serial killer (Vincent D’Onofrio). During one of the film’s flesh-ripping, vein-poppingly baroque psycho-surreal fantasy sequences, what was happening was so horrific that I momentarily turned away from the screen — and when I did, I noticed that half the audience was made up of young women. Maybe they were there to see Jennifer Lopez (not yet widely known as J. Lo), but whatever the reason, they were there. Sitting through a movie that Hollywood, at the time, thought of as a quintessential propsect for guy-demo targeting. Mark my words: Women would not have made up half that audience a few years before. And if they were now turning out for graphically disturbing horror movies, you could bet that they’d be there for propulsive videogame action, comic-book superhero jaunts, and Lord of the Rings.
So what do you think? Is it time we retired the term “fanboy” altogether? And if the stereotype is indeed out of date, then what does Hollywood need to do to catch up?
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There are more females trying and enjoying what is typically labeled as ‘geek fare’ these days. However, when I turned away from GIJoe in disgust, I still saw a vast majority of males in the theatre. Same for Star Trek (though I was not disgusted).
The Cell is not a good barometer for fanboy demographics, IMHO. Anything tied to a comic book or 80’s toy/cartoon property on the other hand . . .
the star trek I saw was filled with women. and not only young girls. it was like 2 to 1 women to men.
I am a proud fangirl and have been for years! (My dream is to go to Comic-Con, I have a crush on Dr. Who, and I once wrote a book report on Batman: The Long Halloween) It has been a boys club for some time now, even exhibited by your own magazine- in the Army of Darkness DVD review, you implied only men like that movie. Just remember, the ladies can dig it too!
What a cool book report!
HA fan-girl. WHICH Dr. Who do you have a crush on? I was Tom Baker all the way until Christopher Eccleston. LOL!!! As for Army of Darkness, it was a great way of determining TRUE fanboys (male or female). Before all the stupid DVD reviews, you could ask someone if they had seen Evil Dead 1 or 2 and their answer would tell you if they had. Plus, you can’t enjoy any Sam Raimi/Bruce Campbell collaboration without first seeing Evil Dead.
There are several terms for them, and we know that they’ve been around forever, but whether you call them ‘Fangirls’ or ‘Shegeeks’ may the gods all bless them and keep increasing their number eternally!
I think for those of us who are in the thick of it, we see a lot more fangirls than fanboys. These days we’re more into our fandoms than making a distinction between the two genre based stereotypes.
I too am a proud fan(girl. It’s funny ,growing up loving video games, comic books/graphic novels, and action movies,and not to mention what started it all- The 90’s X-Men animated series, people immediately would think “oh, she’s a tomboy,” but no..I love wearing skirts, the color pink, and all my posters feature a hot guy(ok so technially must of them are of Batman..but still).. I just couldn’t be a girl who loves those things, I’m either a tomboy or just, as mentioned in this article, a “guest at the party.” So yeah, why it is always just fanboys?
Wait! Where are these fangirls? My college only has snobby prisses. I’d love to date a fangirl and actually have a conversation that didn’t involve texting, The Hills, or gossip about someone.
Yikes, those are some tragically bad conversations. You gotta look around Zach, the fan girls are out there. I would say “if you build it, they will come,” but I don’t know what “it” would be.
Thanks. Maybe they just don’t live in Gainesville Fl. Where would be an awesome gathering to meet single fangirls?
Zach, try having a comic book or 80’s toy-themed Halloween party and advertise all over the place.
Is this really news to that many people? Is the Comic Book Guy somehow still the face of fandom? If you think you know what a typical fan looks like, check out the GQMFs at ontd_startrek and we’ll set you straight.
Props for ontd_startrek!
Oh yeah! The GQMFs at ontd_startrek are the best in fandom but I doubt they will set you straight. *wink, wink*
WOOT WOOT ONTD_STARTREK
The only reason I watched “The Cell” was to see Vincent D’Onofrio. His character was the only serial killer I could fall in love with!
And now Mr. D’Onofrio is being treated like dirt by USA Network.
See savinggorenandeamesnow. com
I’m totally a fan-boy, except you know, a girl. And it’s really not that uncommon. I went to the sixth Harry Potter movie’s midnight screening in full costume, and most of the people there were girls, and about 75% of the ones in costume were also girls (they also tended to have the best ones).
This is really a surprise, that some fanboys are girls? From a longtime geeky fangirl.
Thank you for highlighting the terrific movie The Cell! It’s definitely one of the most underappreciated movies of 2000. It haunted me for weeks.
Hollywood is ALWAYS shocked that girls see movies- any movies. Look at the industry’s reaction to “Sex and the City”’s success at the box office. The truth is that both “boys” and “girls” with more than half a brain will go where the good stories are, be it “The Dark Knight” or “Star Trek” or “Up.”
I saw Dark Knight 5 times. And I have a vagina.
Let’s hear it for our fangirls! I married one. A geek only finds TRUE understanding in another geek. A non-fan could not possibly understand the depth of my love/hatehatehate relationship with Star Wars. My fangirl wife just rants about Han shooting first with me!
Women are too stupid to enjoy movies. They should be home making babies and looking good for their men.
A man who makes a comment like this is too stupid to date and will never get a woman to make his babies or look good for him.
You’re being overly generous assuming this was posted by a man and not a 13 year old boy. It’s just a troll. Do not feed Internet trolls.
Yes! It’s time to change the terminology! It took my relatives years to stop buying me Barbie dolls when they realized I was so much happier playing w/ the Star Wars action figures they got for my brother. X-Men, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Batman, Harry Potter — all other obsessions of mine, all of which I used to feel like a weirdo for loving because I wasn’t a geeky boy. But there are a lot of us out there who are neither geeky nor boys but still will line up for those movies. I’d choose a smart action or sci-fi movie over a romantic comedy any weekend.
I want to hang out with all the woman posting on this thread.
I like to remind my husband at least once a month how lucky he is to have not only a Star Wars, but a Star Trek fan too, as a wife! Our apartment is filled with He-man toy displays, comics and books, and we have framed posters on the wall – it’s awesome! Fangirls Rock! (and are not that uncommon..)
Makes me sad that some people didn’t think there were girl fanboys out there… I’ve been a proud member of the club since I first saw Star Wars at age 7.
girl fanboy’s make it happen!!!
I am a 43 year old “girl” who still has my old collection of superhero comic books. I have had more than a few discussions with my college-age nephews about the inaccuracies in various recent superhero movies, who we wish had died in the Buffy The Vampire Slayer finale and other comic book-science fiction topics.
I think one of the reasons my husband married me is that I can play Star Wars Trivial Pursuit with him! Like OShady I’ve been a fangirl since I saw The Empire Strikes Back at age 7 and our house is full of film memorabilia, most of it mine!
And our latest joy is initiating our young son in the wonders of movies and I’m pleased to report we have a two year old Pixar fan in the family
That the marketplace isn’t being served has been obvious for some time now. We’re lucky if there’s even a token minority or woman in a cool sci-fi, fantasy, or action movie and even then they’re either comic relief or the victim to be saved by the hero. This Subnormality comic illustrates the problem very well:
http://www.viruscomix.com/page444.html
I’m sorry, but what is so surprising about this? Have you seen the crap geared towards women? Few of the female characters in”chickflicks” actually are someone I’d want to hang around. They’re weak, wedding obsessed, and in general poorly written. Don’t get me wrong, if a good “chickflick” is out, I might see it.
Give me a comic book movie or a sci-fi fantasy film, and a great deal of the time I’ll be in the theater. Because at least the female characters in those films have a good chance they might be smart, strong, and sexy. Most chickflicks, and you might get to pick one out of that set of choices.
here here!!!
I think the term fan-boy should not be stricken but should be made to encombus all those who are into the fan-boy genre. I think women should call themselves fan-boys if they are into the fan-boy genre.
I’m a girl and a huge geek and whenever I spend any happy-time in the graphic novel section of my bookstore, my presence is always commented on by the fanboys… I kind of like it… Of course I like it even more when I smoke them with my arcane comic knowledge.
Why do you think there is the term fangirl?
I’m a proud sci-fi, manga, horror fangirl myself and there is nothing better than geeking out with your friends. No matter if they are fanboys or fangirls!
Im glad to see more and more fangirls out there.
Even in the gaming world the move is on, maybe I think its so cool, because i have three daughters and out of the three they can kick my butt in most of the games.
My daughters get more excited about certain horror films more than me.
I think they need to come up with something better and forget about the gender of it all, because a geek is a geek and God we love us some geeks.
I have been a fangirl forever and am very proud of that fact. And I know a LOT of others like me who obsess over our characters and fandoms so much we even laugh at ourselves about it. But, honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I think this article is fishing for comments. People love to hear about how undiscovered they are. (I am no exception)
Hey, I’m a fangirl AND a major sports fan. I still enjoy my stealth status, it’s great to watch the faces on the “boys” when I can easily drop in on conversations relating to the latest developments on the Ironman set OR debate the designated hitter rule (communist!). Yes, my husband knows just how lucky he is. You want a new term? How about “fan”.
I am a 61-year-old grandmother of 5 and have been fascinated with and a fan of science fiction and fantasy (but not horror) since the 6th grade. After reading all the fairy tales, mythology and comic books I could lay my hands on before graduating from high school, I was introduced to Lord of the Rings as well as various and sundry SF writers while in college and shortly thereafter. I still enjoy all of it even now, but I have never needed or wanted a particular term (like fan-girl) to pigeon-hole me. So call us whatever you like, but give us more LOTR, Narnia, Star Trek, etc.