Why is there still so much shame and belittlement directed towards popular female media? Female fandom has driven some of the biggest cultural moments of the 20th and 21st centuries. But, with the notable exception of The Beatles, arguably none have ever been widely accepted as legitimate, serious art. On the other hand, culture targeted toward men gets put center stage. All this leads to an even more fundamental question: At a time when gender stereotypes are supposed to be breaking down – why is there even still such a divide between “women’s” and “men’s” entertainment?
Transcript
Why is there still so much shame and belittlement directed towards popular female media?
Female fandom has driven some of the biggest cultural moments of the 20th and 21st centuries. From Elvis, to Beatlemania, to the Spice Girls, to Twilight, to Fifty Shades of Grey and Harry Styles. All of these things have been huge cultural phenomena. But, outside of a few notable exceptions, arguably none have ever been widely accepted as legitimate, serious art.
On the other hand, culture targeted toward men gets put center stage. Video games are discussed as artforms. There’s a clamor for the Academy to recognize the cultural dominance of the MCU. And when women do try and carve out their own spaces in these male-leaning cultural forms, they’re often not made to feel welcome, and at worst can be pushed out. This all makes it hard to determine whether women’s media is shamed because of its content, or because it’s predominantly women who are consuming it.
All this leads to an even more fundamental question: At a time when gender stereotypes are supposed to be breaking down – why is there even still such a divide between “women’s” and “men’s” entertainment?
Here’s our take on how culture continues to uphold sexist paradigms between men and women through the culture they consume, and how to bridge this respect gap.
CHAPTER ONE: HIGH CULTURE VS LOW CULTURE
The gendered breakdown in men’s and women’s media can be seen clearly in the divide between what’s considered high culture, and what’s considered low culture. Or rather, what’s seen as important, and what’s seen as frivolous. Rom-coms barely seem to register or move the needle while big budget action movies or gangster films are treated as “classics.” Reality TV is trash but sports entertainment is treated with reverence and considered a touchstone of American culture. Magazines aimed at women are relegated to embarrassing gossip rags while the man who reads GQ is considered chic, refined.
And the main thinkers and critics of most art forms have also been male. This has served largely to keep women (and people of color) out of the high-art spotlight; it’s documented that male critics are not only less likely to review female-driven films but also tend to be harsher critics. Historically, it’s clear this exclusivity was no accident: In the early days of film, before it was as respected, women thrived in key creative roles, but as the industry became more lucrative, females were noticeably pushed out of behind-the-camera leadership roles.
There’s also the issue that stories about women and girls are traditionally seen as purely for female audiences, while male interests are viewed as the “standard” or default. And it’s a longstanding entertainment industry assumption that women will watch entertainment that’s oriented toward men, but men won’t watch content that’s marketed toward women. There’s a certain coolness females can derive through embracing “male”-coded entertainment and interests– whether you’re talking about young girls playing with trucks, “cool girl” types embracing video games and beer, or adult women watching prestige antihero dramas. But a male embracing female-coded interests is rarely received the same way.
Elizabeth Banks: “I’ve been asked to go see movies made by men my entire life, and happily have done so, and I don’t know why men don’t return the f*cking favor.”
When we reflect women’s lives and concerns on screen, it gets coded as a superficial “chick flick.” In contrast, there is no pejorative term for the fantasy or action films that are so easily gobbled up by men.But what is a “chick flick” anyways? It’s evolved to mean anything concerning love, friendship, or dating. The irony is that men’s entertainment contains tons of heightened emotion – think of any war movie or story about an underdog sports team. But Hollywood has favored big-budget, male-centric blockbusters and eschewed rom-coms for years. Romantic comedies were released in fewer cities and on fewer screens until they all but died off.
What’s also revealing is how things that were previously considered low culture can be elevated into the realms of high culture…as long as it’s by men. Just look at the progression we’ve seen with superhero movies. Historically, young male fans of superheroes and science fiction have been depicted as outcasts and losers. We have the image of the socially inept trekkie living in his Mom’s basement. But now, these interests dominate the culture. As Watchmen author Alan Moore said, “Hundreds of thousands of adults [are] lining up to see characters and situations that had been created to entertain the 12-year-old boys – and it was always boys – of 50 years ago.”. Now, those boys of 50 years ago are in many decision-making seats, so it’s not surprising they have more power to shape culture in their image.
Meanwhile, within this elevation of geek culture, women are (sometimes actively) shut out. Think of the vitriolic misogyny that occurred during Gamergate, and the review-bombing or trolling of Marvel properties like Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and Eternals that either feel targeted towards women, or have been made by women. Within the Star Wars cinematic world – a historically male-dominated fandom – newer female stars like Kelly Marie Tran and Moses Ingram have been bombarded on social media with sexist and racist comments, even death threats.
So, while women are trying to carve out spaces for themselves in these fandoms, it’s almost like it’s seen as a threat to the existing fans who’ve grown up used to seeing women more as supporting characters or sidekicks.
Kelly Marie Tran: “It shouldn’t be my place to have to internalize their misogyny or racism or all of the above.”
CHAPTER TWO: FANS VS FANGIRLS
The shaming of women’s media has been inextricably tied to our image of female fans, and the idea of the fangirl. And long before we had Beliebers or Directioners, we had ‘Beatlemaniacs.’ The fanbase was originally described as “the least fortunate of their generation, the dull, the idle, the failures” by journalist Paul Johnson, who also called Beatlemania “a modern incarnation of female hysteria.” These visuals we have of screaming Beatles fans, or the ones who a little earlier fainted at the sight of Elvis Presley’s swinging hips, have created a lasting impression of female fandom as overly emotional, and more often than not, delusional.
On the other hand, depictions of male fandom are driven less by emotion and more by a granular, analytical appreciation of the artform. Specifically within the music community, fangirls are expected to not know enough about the technical aspects of music – like instruments or lyrics – so not only are the fans dismissed, but artists with primarily female fan bases are also delegitimized. In Derry Girls when James is accused of loving British boyband Take That, his immediate reply is to lean into this more male version of fandom.
Michelle “He’s riding Gary Barlow.” James: “I’m not, I just respect him as a songwriter.”- Derry Girls
Even when male characters are depicted as a superfan, they still maintain a feeling of superiority over other people. Comic Book Guy in The Simpsons may be a joke to his peers, but at the same time he’s a gatekeeper of that community, and on one level, an arbiter of taste. In stark contrast to female fans, he’s very measured in his fandom. His opinion is shown to matter to the people who care about it, and comes from an educated rather than an emotional place. Similarly in High Fidelity, the relationship between the men behind the counter and the music fans who come into the store is almost combative. Rather than them sharing in the joy of loving music, instead it becomes almost a competition as to who loves music the most. There’s also a real sense of elitism in this depiction of the serious male fan. As much as we hear them talk about what they love, we hear just as much, if not more, about what they hate. And again, this creates the impression of them as discerning and educated.
Fangirls are rarely represented with the same intellect or self-control. And instead of being a fan of an artform, more often than not they’re depicted as fans of an artist, or a celebrity — someone whose picture they can put on a wall, or whose logo they can wear on a t-shirt. The fangirl is also seen as hypersexual – reducing their passion for an artist to sexual attraction alone – suggesting that these women may not have discerning music taste or any kind of nuanced fandom the way that men do. Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis spotlights how the “crazy fangirl” has long struck anxiety, and moral panic into the proprietors of our culture – which is a large part of why she’s consistently dismissed and her interests are trivialized.
At their most extreme, these fangirls can frequently get portrayed as kinda unhinged. Mel in Flight of the Conchords is the epitome of this kind of superfan. Despite Bret and Jemaine not being in any way popular, she treats them like they’re superstars, stalking them and screaming in the front row of their tiny shows. Because fangirls are often seen through this unflattering lens, it also has a knock on what we think of the art they’re fangirling over.
But, as Harry Styles asked Cameron Crowe of Rolling Stone back in 2017, “Who’s to say that young girls who like pop music – short for popular, right? – have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy?” What society has ignored is the raw power of female fandom. The fangirl is a force. Young women who were once brushed off as emotional teenyboppers with frivolous obsessions have leveraged their fandoms into social and political currency. And throughout the years as female and queer fandoms have seen more and more overlap, we’ve gotten to see their collective power in action.
Queer fandoms have also helped elevate artists who previously weren’t taken as seriously. Harry Styles has been a huge star since the early days of One Direction, but since going solo – and adopting a kind of flamboyant androgyny on stage – he’s enjoyed comparisons to people like Mick Jagger and David Bowie, and launched a film career in interesting, arthouse movies. And Styles is not the only celeb whose popularity and legitimacy, feels directly linked to their strong queer fanbase. Look at Beyonce or Lady Gaga…who are both considered cultural icons – no doubt thanks to their LGBTQ+ fans. Validation from the queer community almost lends stars an enigmatic quality that makes the art they put out seem more interesting. So if we know female and queer fandoms are powerful, why is their media still being siloed?
CHAPTER THREE: CLOSING THE TV & FILM GENDER GAP
Despite the public narrative that things are getting better for women and queer creatives, only 25% of behind-the-scenes roles on big US movies are held by women and just 17% of directors and writers are female. In 2021, male characters nearly outnumbered females 2 to 1.
Patty Jenkins: 2:00 “...I definitely think there is a missing feminine voice in Hollywood.” -Forbes Women
And this imbalance looks like it might be getting worse. Warner Brothers Discovery’s recent merger brought about a new agenda for the company – scaling back on diverse programming. The platform laid off more than 70 people – including a disproportionate number of non-white execs – resulting in the cancellation or shelving of female, POC-led properties like The Gordita Chronicles and Batgirl…yet another female superhero failure to prop up those gender barriers. This move was reportedly in an effort to bridge the gap with middle America and court more “Discovery friendly” audiences.
Films with at least one woman director and/or writer were more likely than films with no women in these roles to feature higher percentages of females as protagonists, in major roles, and as speaking characters. So one fix seems glaringly obvious – we need to hire more women to create well-rounded, realistic female characters.
But it still may not be enough to have more women in front of and behind the camera. If female-led entertainment is still marketed towards women only, it won’t move the needle with male audiences and bridge that gap. Shows that were originally “male-targeted” like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones have had huge female viewerships that defied marketing clichés, so maybe the same could be reversed if female-led shows were just given the chance…but they’re not.
Once again, Warner Brothers Discovery enters the conversation. While hacking away at their diverse programming, the company also released a graphic that declared that HBO Max has a “male skew” while Discovery+ has a “female skew.” Popular, women-led shows like The Flight Attendant and Hacks on HBO and “dude-friendly” shows like Ghost Adventures and Deadliest Catch on Discovery+ would beg to differ. The general public doesn’t even agree with this. So why is a streaming service reinforcing and imposing this reductive binary on us?
Marketing – like so many other industries – is still very sexist despite the fact that, at least in the case of selling products, it can actually have a negative effect on consumers. It’s another top-down problem –71 percent of creative directors are men, and they hold the most creative control. While it used to be common to exclusively target one gender in an ad – it’s becoming passe – and gender equality is becoming an increasingly important factor in how consumers perceive and react to marketing messages. It’s high time the entertainment industry caught up and stopped trying to automatically divide viewership into male vs. female.
OUTRO
Part of the shaming of women’s media ignores the fact that there just isn’t as much of it, in comparison to men’s. The great majority of high-paid actors, comedians, and other prominent people in the entertainment industry are men; music festival lineups are still dominated by men and male-led bands.
But despite its scarcity, media that attracts female audiences deserves our attention.
Yve Blake: “I reckon, instead of judging fangirls, we can learn from them.”- Ted Talk
And siloing ourselves into men’s media versus women’s media – even if we do it subconsciously – isn’t conducive to a good artistic environment. Even if things aren’t targeted at us, we should be seeking them out and going to see them, because that’s how we open our minds and find new things to love.