Head Copy Editor Katelyn Auto poses with former Sports Editor Trevor Teubner in matching Eagles jerseys. KATELYN AUTY / SNAPPER
Katelyn Auty
Head Copy Editor
When a man buys jerseys, spends thousands of dollars on sporting event tickets, seeks out autographs, and makes their wallpaper their favorite team or athlete, it’s just him being a fan. However, when a girl does the same, she’s labeled as obsessive and a “fangirl.”
Men are allowed to know a player’s full name, position, hometown, years in their sport, previous teams they played for, and more with it being totally normal. Yet, a woman can know all of Taylor Swift’s discography and suddenly she’s a “man’s worst nightmare.”
One standout example of this double standard is the “name three songs” conversation. When a man wears any piece of sports merchandise, he isn’t asked to name three players. However, women wearing a band shirt, specifically rock band shirts, are asked to name three songs.
I have personal experience with this. I am an avid fan of Motley Crue: I know their discography, can name every album, and even saw them in concert. While wearing a Motley Crue shirt at work one day, a man that I was ringing out pointed to my shirt and asked me if I liked the band. When I replied yes, he asked me to name three songs. I was obviously a little upset, so I pulled out the three most obscure, underground songs I could think of. He looked shocked and said, “Oh, you actually know the band,” and then proceeded to explain how most women only wear rock band shirts because they think the logo looks cool.
I’m not saying that women are the only people that get this treatment, anyone can. People that are into typical “dweeby” things, such as “Super Smash Bros,” often get picked on, too. However, no one gets it as bad as teenage girls.
I’m not saying that it’s okay to be a stalker and learn all information possible about people you will probably never meet. There certainly is a real problem with parasocial relationships, especially in the age of the internet. I am saying that the energy that women get needs to be applied to men, too. It’s time we as a society acknowledge that men are some of the most intense fangirls out there.
