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All of us, at some point in our lives, became a fan of either an actor, singer, dancer, writer, band or whoever catches our attention, that came to a point where we idolised them. At present, it has become so much easier to become a fan and, with the help of different social media platforms, it is easier to follow every step of our biases. Due to this easy access to following our idol’s life, when does this habit of being a fan become healthy or even unhealthy at some point?
Perks of being a fangirl
- Our idols inspire us to get through the day whether we are having a rough day or not, our idols inspire us as we wake up every morning.
- Being a fan lessens the dullness and boredom of our lives.
- You give yourself a chance to know a new set of friends being in the same fandom through creating strong support systems and feelings of affirmation, also being connected to people who shared the same interest and passion is good for mental health.
- Being a fangirl is beneficial to mental health, it helps to build a sense of identity, empowering self-determination, and the feeling of belongingness to a collective community.
- Fandoms help to find solace in flickering emotions and scattered sensibilities.
Unhealthy aspects of being a fangirl
- Please make sure that being a fan won’t ever turn into an obsession.
- The displacement of our hopes and fears for our relationships can settle onto these idols.
- Sometimes, being a fan is our scapegoat from reality, which makes us look differently at what is in our life to face and deal with.
- Being a fangirl consumes most of your time and, at worst, consumes most of your life, if you can’t handle it.
- The thing with being a part of fandoms is that they gradually evolve from an intricately woven fantasy to a world that flawlessly outshines every aspect of the real world we live in.
The problem with this fandom is that, be it friendship or a romantic relationship, pop culture paints a picture that depicts an idealised scenario that we often unknowingly try to achieve. Millennials tend to compare their relationships to this so-called ideal scenario. The unrealistic expectations that we have of people eventually drain us completely.
Fandoms do generally offer a sense of belonging and community that many teens struggle to feel deeply connected to, simply because we learn best when we enjoy what we’re doing. The sense of belongingness that the fandom brought to fans brings a great deal to our mental and emotional health. Being a fan serves as a dessert into our routinary life.
Takeaway
Setting limitations is the key to a healthy fangirling. Do not forget that we also have our personal life to handle, dealing with reality will be forever our main focus in life, being a fan is just adding colours to our life. Do not let fangirling get in your way of finding your real life, but it can be an inspiration to life. Snap out of your daydreaming and get a life outside being a fan, reality is always where we belong.
Dina Relojo is the social media manager of Psychreg. She is a teacher from the Philippines.
