Pop culture discourse has always shown disdain towards women, whether that contempt is directed at singers like Chappell Roan or at the fans themselves. It has long been considered cool to mock young women, with their love of boy bands dismissed as “mania” or “hysteria,” as though fandom is something that happens to them instead of something they actively choose. But why is female fandom still treated as unserious? Looking at One Direction and The Beatles as case studies gives insight into this emotional architecture of fandom. 

The wider shame attached to fangirls stems from a patriarchal culture that continues to dismiss what young women love. Female sexuality, emotionality and desire are often judged, and fans’ attachment to One Direction or The Beatles provides an avenue through which these feelings can be explored collectively. Within creative environments such as UAL, where students are encouraged to interrogate culture and challenge dominant narratives, it becomes especially important to recognise fandom as a legitimate and meaningful form of cultural engagement rather than a trivial obsession.

The Beatles originated as a group of creatively in-tune schoolmates, including John Lennon and Paul McCartney. After years of playing local venues, the band struck lightning in a bottle. Their international success from 1963 onwards was significant for the way they cultivated an intense teenage fanbase in a media landscape with only three TV channels. Before the band broke up in 1970, they had released 12 albums, 11 of which peaked at number 1 on the UK album charts.

Despite their now legendary status, The Beatles were initially looked down upon by adult men, who saw them as a fad rather than serious musicians. After all, teenage girls loved them. Yet, these teens recognised the band’s charisma, innovation and cultural force before many critics did. Fangirls understood The Beatles’ cultural significance before anyone else.

Nearly 50 years later, The X Factor turned Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Liam Payne into reality TV stars who transcended into international pop stars as One Direction. From September to December 2010, alongside their weekly televised performances, the boys also posted weekly video diaries on YouTube, giving fans access to their off-stage dynamics and personalities.

That combination of performances and online interactions helped One Direction reach Beatlemania-level fame at extraordinary speed. Their fandom was one of the first to develop almost entirely via social media as we know it today. Twitter launched three years before the band formed, and Instagram arrived during the group’s time on The X Factor in October 2010. Fans were no longer simply consuming a band through magazines and television appearances. They were constantly interacting with them, building communities in real time.

Of course, fan culture is not beyond criticism. Fan fiction about the band on sites like Wattpad garnered over 100 million reads, and one of the most infamous examples of One Direction fan culture was “Larry Stylinson,” which posits that Styles and Tomlinson were secretly in a relationship. The pair have spoken about the strain that speculation has placed on their friendship. Treating the sexualities of real people like fictional “lore” is invasive, and it shows how parasocial attachment can quickly become entitlement.

Still, the wider shame attached to fangirls stems from a patriarchal culture that continues to dismiss what young women love. Female sexuality, emotionality and desire are often judged, and fans’ attachment to One Direction or The Beatles allows an avenue for them to explore these feelings with a community of like-minded peers. Ultimately, the dismissal of female-dominated fandoms reveals more about societal biases than it does about the fans themselves. Reframing these communities as spaces of creativity, identity formation and critical engagement allows for a more accurate and respectful understanding of their cultural significance.