A Fangirl’s Dilemma

A Fangirl’s Dilemma: Idol Worship and Identity Achievement

By CARRIE DU

At the age of fourteen, I went to my favorite K-pop boyband’s fansign. Getting into a fansign event is like winning the lottery. When idols release new albums, each album equals to one slot in the lottery. In other words, the more collections you buy, the more chances you get in. Thus, one ticket for a fansign usually comes in the form of bulk buying hundreds, or even thousands of the same albums. I was super lucky to win the lottery by purchasing only six records.

The fansign, however, wasn’t as pleasant as my imagination. It only provided seats for idols, so fans had to kneel down if they wanted to have eye contact with their beloved idols. I felt uncomfortable about the design—it implied and enlarged the difference between celebrities and followers, which the former were noble while the latter were humble. There seemed to be an assembly line in the factory—a row of kneeling young people stood up, and the next row kept up, kneeled down, and asked for signing. Nevertheless, their joyful faces appeared to intimate that I was overthinking.

Later, this event surprisingly became famous online for two fangirls got into a scuffle, and unsurprisingly received negative comments.

“Fans were crazy.”

“Young ladies plz stop obsessing over pop stars and educate yourselves about the real world.”

“The idolization of that shit has to stop. They are giving adolescents diseases.”

Their overreaction was relevant to another fan-related report several days ago. On 25 March 2015, there was heartbreaking news for Directioners (fans of the pop group One Direction) that Zayn Malik would leave the band. A few moments later, there was more heartbreaking news for the whole society—many Directioners, most of them were teenagers, took pictures of self-harm cuts with the hashtag “CutForZayn” on twitter (Fahy, 2015). Unfortunately, those young fans neither successfully prevented their idols from leaving nor got sympathy from the public. Onlookers used “immature” or “stupid” to describe their actions, and deepen the impression that fandoms were insane.

Tragedies of teen fans happen all the time.

In 2000, a fangirl took twenty sleeping pills because she owed a heavy debt for excessive consumption for her idol's endorsed products. In the same year, a 16-year-old fanboy attempted to commit suicide so as to transform him into a ghost to pester the anti-fan of his favorite singer. The only letter the boy left was declaring his forever love towards his idol (Cheung & Yue, 2003). More recently, Chinese fans of a popular actor collectively cyberbullied a girl, only because she wrote a negative review for the actor's new movie. The attacked girl suffered from depression by fans' crazy human flesh search behavior, and suspended from school at last. These incidents show how infatuation with idols effaces the identity of young people.

How Does Idolization Affect Adolescents’ Identity Achievement?

Identity achievement is the life stage where an individual has finally achieved a “true sense of self.” It is a marker of adulthood, representing the end of adolescence. Indicators of mature identity achievement include being realistically high in self-esteem, and employing the higher levels of moral reasoning, being capable of secure attachment relationship, and having a strong and autonomous sense of self.

First of all, compared to teens who are not fans, fangirls and fanboys tend to have lower self-esteem. Teen fans always put themselves in a much lower position than their idols—it is not only due to their genuine love, but also because of the social comparison theory. Social comparison theory suggested that people are driven to compare the self with others to determine their comparative status (Festinger, 1954). The theory has then been extended to the context of media, proposing that all individuals are vulnerable to forced comparisons with media images. For adolescents, who are experiencing an ambiguous period of value and identity transition, celebrities in the media serve as ideal images with which adolescents are likely to compare the self. Comparisons with celebrity idols can also affect adolescents' subjective well-being (Botta, 1999). As celebrities' allegedly tremendous achievements or impeccable traits seem impossible objectives that adolescents cannot attain in their own right, the comparisons that teen fans make with the celebrities usually dishearten them and lower their self-esteem. According to the research conducted by City University of Hong Kong to 639 local teenagers, teen fans tend to have a mean score of 65.8 on self-esteem in the test, which is lower than their non-fan peers' score of 71.4 (Cheung & Yue, 2003).

Moreover, under the influence of idolatry, young fans incline to have an insane consumption pattern. It is based on social comparison theory that after making comparisons, comparers are motivated to resolve differences between the self and the comparison target by emulating the latter. Adolescents' comparisons of the self with celebrities are likely to motivate them to imitate the celebrities, particularly to pursue similar material possessions and opulent lifestyles (Festinger, 1954). A study examined 171 undergraduate students in the United States, showing that higher levels of materialism and compulsive buying tendencies were associated with significantly higher scores on celebrity worship. It is also interesting to note that materialism and compulsive buying tendency were also significantly correlated with lower self‐concept clarity and lower self‐esteem, which can be summarized as low identity achievement (Reeves, Baker, & Truluck, 2012).

Last but not least, idolization may lower the independent thinking ability and moral reasoning of teens. Fandom, the fan community, is organized around the celebrity. The celebrity contributes to building collective representations that arise when fans share values and goals, agglutinated to some extent around it. They identify as part of a group that shares goals, values, and feelings, organized and articulated around the celebrity. Thus, Teenagers are easy to construct a collective identity within a fan community. However, the construction of collective identity sometimes equals the construction of ignorance. According to the book The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, which talked about crowd psychology, characteristics of crowds are "impulsiveness, irritability, incapacity to reason, the absence of judgment of the critical spirit, the exaggeration of sentiments, and others" (Bon, 2019). It was not a complete exaggeration, especially among teens who are naturally more impulsive, irritable, and incapable of rational thinking than other groups. On the August of 2013, the Internet is mourning because One Direction fans believed 42 fans killed themselves for showing dissatisfaction in response to a British documentary, Crazy About One Direction, that portrayed Directioners as being crazy. Initially from one young fan, and them imitating by other teenagers on Twitter, the rumor increased to 14 deaths, then rose to 28, and ended around 42. Even though there were no confirmations of mass suicide: no names, no outcry from parents, statements from authorities, suggesting there was a high probability that this story of One Direction fans going Jonestown is just like the fake story of Justin Bieber fans cutting themselves or Justin Bieber fans shaving their heads (Percival, 2019). However, whatever those young fans' claimed suicide was true or not, it could show how teen fans' rationality was negatively influenced by a collective identity created in idolatry.

Why Are Teen Fans More Easily Affected?

Seemingly, we can jump to the conclusion that idolization will have negative impacts on fans, especially on teen fans. Nevertheless, the age distribution of fans does not centralize on minority. According the statistics generated by Fandom (2019), although fandom peaks in teens and takes a dip among 18- to 24-year-olds, it will reignite in 25- to 34-year-olds. The social perception, however, made a distinct between young and adult fans. The former is defined as “young fanatical people who suffer an absurd affinity for a randomly chosen object of obsession” in urban dictionary, while the latter is considered to be more rational and mature in mind. Is it merely a prejudice or stereotype?

The answer is actually NO. Scientific research shows that adolescents are more easily affected by others like idols compared to adults due to biological difference. Adolescents biologically differ from adults in the way they behave, solve problems, and make decisions. Studies have shown that brains continue to mature and develop throughout childhood and adolescence and well into early adulthood. According to Teen Brain: Behavior, Problem Solving, and Decision Making (2016), scientists have identified a specific region of the brain called the amygdala that is responsible for immediate reactions including fear and aggressive behavior. This region develops early. However, the frontal cortex, the area of the brain that controls reasoning and helps us think before we act, develops later. This part of the brain is still changing and maturing well into adulthood. Other changes in the brain during adolescence include a rapid increase in the connections between the brain cells and making the brain pathways more effective. Nerve cells develop myelin, an insulating layer that helps cells communicate. All these changes are essential for the development of coordinated thought, action, and behavior. Based on the stage of their brain development, adolescents are more likely to act on impulse and affected by external force like celebrity worship.

Does Idolization Have Positive Impacts On Adolescents’ Identity Achievement?

Until now, we seem to be able to conclude that idolization would have negative impacts on adolescents’ identity achievement. Professor Joli Jensen argues that there is an “us vs them” divide between fan culture and mainstream society. Once defined as deviant through their fanaticism, those who are a part of fan cultures become characterized as “disreputable, even dangerous “others” (Jensen 1992). If her words are all true, why don’t government just simply ban idol worship within the country to prevent such “evil”? In other words, does idolatry have positive influence on teenagers’ identity achievement to some extent?

To begin with, the construction of collective identity does not necessarily mean the decrease of teens’ individuality. According to Lisa Bahar, a therapist that specializes in working with teenage girls, “During adolescence, teens are going through a time where they are forming their identity in the world,” she told Teen Vogue. “It is normal and healthy for teens to align and connect more and more with their peers than their parents. This is a wonderful process that helps teens learn how to rely less on their parents and more on themselves for healthy decision-making as they become adults. We call this process individuation.”

Furthermore, engaging in a collective group has its own benefits. fangirls, boys and -doms are not mindless obsessions, they are powerful forces. And according to various psychologists, there’s science to back that up. Belonging to a fandom is amazing for teens’ mental, emotional and social health. Research shows that a weak sense of belonging is correlated with depression. Finding a greater sense of purpose and developing the belief that you are deeply cared for by others creates a willingness to endure life’s challenges. Feeling as though you are a part of a “tribe” is not always easy, but finding groups of people with whom you share common interests is a starting point. It’s not surprising that so many people are drawn to fandoms for that reason alone: it creates a common ground in an otherwise divisive and disconnected world.

What is true of fandoms is nothing that psychologists haven’t known for years – this is simply the modern iteration of a very primal instinct. Dr. Laurel Steinberg, a psychotherapist and professor of psychology at Columbia University told Teen Vogue: “Belonging to a fandom group helps adolescents connect to other like-minded youths on social media throughout the year, as well as at concert events. Feeling like you are part of a group can help one define his/her identity and give a sense of purpose to what might be an otherwise routine lifestyle.”

She went on to say, “Connecting with people over shared passions and interests is good for mental and emotional health because it helps to create a fraternity-like or family-like sense of security. It's also generally fun to scheme and get excited about something with others, and gives them a subject to talk about that they know will always be well received” (Wiest, 2017).

Take Directioners, fans of One Direction, as an example again. On 2017, a teen who attempted suicide received help from One Direction Twitter Fandom. When Taylor, a minor Directioner, tweeted that she had attempted suicide by intentional overdose, there was no shortage of retweets from her fellow One Direction fans, who sprang into action to make #prayforTaylor a worldwide trend. Fans of the massively popular boy band also alerted Taylor’s family, who rushed her to the hospital and possibly saved her life. The story of Taylor explicitly showed how fandom positively impact on teenagers through social connect.

More importantly, idolization can help adolescents to explore true-self from the identification-emulation idolatry relationship. The concept of identification-emulation idolatry is raised by Chau-kiu Cheung, Social and Behavioral Sciences Professor of City University of Hong Kong. Identification means taking the idol as a role model for learning and emulation for personal growth. Identification-emulation idolatry is potentially beneficial to the development of the worshiper’s core self-evaluations: instead of being mystified as absolute “sunshine in life,” the admired idols or celebrities are mundanely treated by their fans as role models of personal aspirations and self-growth. Alternatively speaking, the admired idols or celebrities are appreciated for their charisma, talents, and personal accomplishments and are treated as “road signs” for aviation of desirable development. It leads to identity development, which makes the worshipper unique and self-sufficient. (Cheung & Yue, 2018)

Stop Fangirl Stigma RIGHT NOW

Despite the fact that numerous research can prove that idol worship does have positive impact on teen fans, the society never stop to stigmatize fandom. Common assumptions that come along with the label include, but are not limited to, the misogynistic oversimplifications of being incredibly emotional, hysterical, and foolish. What is worse, even though modern statistics show there are almost no difference in gender distribution of fans, the public always have more malice towards fangirls in idolization. For example, the most like description of “fanboy” on Urban Dictionary is “A passionate fan of various elements of geek culture (e.g. sci-fi, comics, Star Wars, video games, anime, hobbits, Magic: the Gathering, etc.), but who lets his passion override social graces”, which is neutral. While top descriptions of “fangirl” on Urban Dictionary are:

“A rabid breed of human female who is obsessed.”

“A female who has overstepped the line between healthy fandom and indecent obsession.”

“A female fan, obsessed with something (or someone) to a frightening or sickening degree. Often considered ditzy, annoying and shallow.”

There were even a couple of documentaries appearing on television about extreme fans, deepening the negative label on fangirls. As the article mentioned before: British Channel 4 aired “Crazy About One Direction,” a documentary series that delved into the obsession some fans have with the British boy band.

“Directioners are a rare breed of fan. Connected to their idols through social media, they have a love and dedication like no other. These are the girls that heart One Direction,” Channel 4 explained about the program on its website. “This documentary reveals what it truly means to be a Directioner, the lengths they will go to meet 1D, and how these teenage girls are united in their love of the most popular boy band in the world.” Not surprisingly, fangirls were portrayed as “crazy,” “insane,” and “psychos”.

These lazy stereotypes fail to acknowledge the complexity of young girls and women as human beings, dismiss their intelligence, and boil them down to two-dimensional parodies of themselves. As I mentioned before, some teen Directioners attempted to commit suicide to fight against the prejudice on them. Their ideas and behaviors may be naïve. But what really hurts them, idolization or prejudice? Let’s be honest.

The impacts of idol worship on adolescents’ identity achievement are two-sided. It is hard to observe which side outweighs the other, but we can observe that teenage girls are frankly exhausted by constantly being put down simply for their interests. As a society, we constantly devalue and diminish the significance of female interests in relation to those of men. This begins to generate self-hatred within young girls, as well as the elimination of confidence. Being a “fangirl” is never some sort of crime that should be looked at condescendingly, but should be embraced as part of the growth of females in every facet of life.

References

Fahy, C. (2015, March 26). After Zayn Malik quits One Direction, fans start disturbing trend on Twitter. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3011449/Hysterical-One-Direction-fans-spark-concerns-self-harming-disturbing-hashtag-trends-Twitter-Malik-quits-chart-topping-boyband.html

Chau-kiu Cheung & Xiao Dong Yue (2003) Identity Achievement and Idol Worship among Teenagers in Hong Kong, International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 11:1, 1-26, DOI: 10.1080/02673843.2003.9747914

Festinger, L. (1954). A Theory of Social Comparison Processes. Human Relations, 7(2), 117–140. doi: 10.1177/001872675400700202

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Bon, G. L. (2019). The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind. S.l.: DIGIREADS COM.

Percival, A. (2019, August 16). #RIPLarryShippers Trends On Twitter After “Crazy About One Direction” Documentary Prompts Rumours Of Fan Suicides. Huffpost. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08/16/one-direction-fans-documentary-larry-shippers-suicide-rumours_n_3766001.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

Fandom. (2019, October 2). "The State of Fandom" Report: Insights for Marketers Seeking to Tap Into the Age of Fandom. Retrieved from https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/the-state-of-fandom-report-insights-for-marketers-seeking-to-tap-into-the-age-of-fandom-300929665.html

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Jensen, J. (1992). Fandom as Pathology: The Consequences of Characterization. In L. Lewis (Ed.), The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media (pp. 9-26). London: Routledge.

Wiest, B. (2017, July 20). Psychologists Say That Belonging To a Fandom Is Amazing For Your Mental Health. Retrieved from https://www.teenvogue.com/story/psychologists-say-fandoms-are-amazing-for-your-mental-health

Cheung, C.-K., & Yue, X. D. (2018). Idols as Sunshine or Road Signs: Comparing Absorption-Addiction Idolatry With Identification-Emulation Idolatry. Psychological Reports, 122(2), 411–432. doi: 10.1177/0033294118758903

Daisy Asquith. (2013, August). Crazy About One Direction [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdGP4Qi-UCg