Fangirling, as defined in the Urban Dictionary is “the reaction a fangirl has to any mention or sighting of the object of her affection” (Urban Dictionary, 2004). Symptoms of a typical “fangirl” include: shaking, loss of breathe, and possibly fainting. I will admit I have had my fangirl moments when in the presence of a Los Angeles Dodgers player. Now, I didn’t go as far as fainting, but I was a little lost for words. Fangirling for the most part is harmless, but in certain situations it has went as far as to cause mental and even physical pain. We live in a society where famous people are idolized whether they be a singer, actress/actor, or athlete. When in their presence some do not necessarily know how to handle themselves and get a little too extreme.
One situation occurred over a year ago, when Justin Bieber fans started the trend, #Cut4Bieber.” What my you ask would Justin Bieber fans want to cut themselves? This “trend” was meant to catch the Biebs attention to stop his bad behavior. Fans hoped that slitting their wrist would create a good amount of publicity to get Justin to realize just how much his fans cared and desperate for him to stop his reckless behavior. The fans went as far as to even post pictures of the cuts on their body which led to great outrage. Justin stayed out of the situation, but many other celebrities such as Miley Cyrus urged the fans to stop. Many felt that this was disrespectful to those who actually do suffer from suicidal thoughts, but can it be said that these fans suffer from mental disorders themselves? These fans feel like they are one with Justin and feel pain when he does. When heir idol begins to do questionable acts and is no longer the perfect role model, it took a tole on them.
Some fans do not in fact develop an obsession, which is considered a mental disorder. The celebrity is constantly occupying and intruding on the fans mind, leading them to throw out any good sense of judgement to please their idol. I am not saying that all fangirls suffer from a mental disorder, it all depends on the how much of a influence they let the fixation take on their life.
Photo courtesy of www.nydailynews.com
Works Cited
Monde, Chiderah (2013) Justin Bieber fans draw shock, outrage with gruesome ‘Cut4Bieber’ trending topic. Retrieved from www.nydailynews.com
Urban Dictioanry (2004) fangirling. Retrieved from www.urbandictionary.com
No studies that I know of have been conducted, just reports of the crazy behavior. I think a monitoring of the brain activity would give better insight on which part(s) of the brain light up when these “fan girls” are in the presence or just looking at a picture of their idol. I was recently browsing through YouTube and came across a video in which one of the members was pulled to the ground by a paparazzi, this resulted in an argument between the members of one direction and the paps. In the video you can see the swarm of fans come to the rescue, it is like their protective instincts suddenly kick in. Here is a link to the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T6XbotZzkU
I never thought that fan-girling could lead to a mental disorder. I think part of this issue is that girls/boys who are fans are also generally younger and more impressionable. I also didn’t know obsession was a mental disorder, I always thought it was a symptom of other disorders. It’s probably much easier to develop an obsession with all the social media outputs we have today. You can stalk your favorite band and never leave your house. Overall, this is a very interesting article!
This blog definitely caught my attention. I think that to some extent fangirling could become an obsession and take control over your life in a negative way. I’m not sure how related this obsession is to a mental disorder because I think sometimes it is just a phase that all young girls go through, but to what extent depends on the type of girl and her liking of a specific person or band, etc. I agree with the last comment about researching brain activity and seeing what stimulates the obsession. http://www.sin.ie/2013/10/01/the-fangirl-phenomena-unhealthy-obsessions-or-just-teenage-infatuations/
I have not heard about this topic until reading your blog post. It is so sickening and saddening to think that these “fan girls” are willing to go so far as to cut their wrists to get Justin’s attention. Did you find any information on studies that went further into this topic, however? Researchers should analyze brain activity of these girls to see if they do in fact have a mental disorder. Another thought is maybe these girls have a mental disorder, which then causes them to “fan girl” over Justin Bieber at an extreme level.