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Volume 9, Issue 2
November 2012
Still kissing their posters goodnight: Female
fandom and the politics of popular music
Tonya Anderson,
University of Sunderland, UK
Abstract
Through an ethnographic investigation of adult female fans of ’80s heart throbs
Duran Duran, this article will explore the motivations and complications inherent in
women’s lifelong participation in pop music fandom. Finding that adult female pop
fans experience a euphoric empowerment from performing the same fannish
activities they did as teens, this article will consider how continued involvement in a
fandom discovered in one’s teenhood may be appealing because it approximates a
‘reclaimed youth’ for adults who are approaching midlife. However, dominant
cultural politics characterise such female fan behaviour in adulthood as pathological.
This article will scrutinise the bases and consequences of such prejudice, including
fan reaction in the form of shame and ‘closet’ fandom.
Keywords: bedroom culture, closet fandom, Duran Duran, fan shame, female
fandom, lifelong fandom, pop idolatry, popular music fandom.
Introduction
They think we're all crazy and we did not really grow up.
They probably think we are a bunch of girls who lust after an 80s band.
They ask me ‘Still? They still exist?’
‘Aren’t you people out of that?’
Friends that are non-Duranies just sigh and shake their heads.
(2009 Fan Interviews)
The comments above are a sampling of testimonies taken from an ethnographic field
investigation of adult female fans of ’80s pop icons Duran Duran. As early as Elvis and the
Beatles, every generation of women has embraced its own version of the teen pop pin-up.
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The origin of such fandom for most begins in adolescence, a formative period in which
cultural influences like pop music have a significant impact. And while most girls grow out of
this phase, for some, the attachment is carried into adulthood.
Matt Hills (2010) refers to the music of artists like Duran Duran as ‘post-popular
music’, that is, music that was once mainstream and topping record sales, but which now
has a ‘cult’ following. As of yet, there are very few academic accounts of research on lifelong
fandom of such post-popular acts. But Lucy Bennett’s (2012) research with fans of R.E.M,
Nick Stevenson’s (2009) study on fans of David Bowie, and Joanne Garde-Hansen’s (2011)
analysis of diachronic Madonna fandom are some examples. Outside the realm of popular
music, there is also Rachel Moseley’s (2002) audience study on fans of Audrey Hepburn and
Annette Kuhn’s (1999) research on fans of 1930s film stars, which are noteworthy due to
their consideration of ageing, memory, nostalgia, and ‘loyalty to a star which continues
throughout the fan’s life’ (Kuhn 1999, p. 135).
According to Lee Harrington and Denise Bielby (2010), adult fans in general ‘remain
under-theorized and under-studied by media scholars’ (p. 444). Stevenson claims that such
studies are rare because they are not consistent with the ‘usual way in which celebrity
culture is understood’ (2009, p. 83). Celebrity status is often fleeting; a star is in the public’s
favour one season, out of favour the next. So not only is it less common for individuals to
maintain loyal fandom long-term, it is also not an area to which cultural studies has
historically paid much attention as of yet (ibid.). And because such lifelong attachments are
rare, they are also often misunderstood. This is especially true for adult female pop fans,
who tend to experience derision and judgment from forces outside of their fan community,
particularly their spouses, families, and peers, pressure which sends a message that their
fan attachments would have best been left in their teenhoods. Sheila Whitely (2000) argues
that young women’s taste has been largely ignored in pop history, even though pop music is
clearly a force to which young women can relate. Perhaps this is because ‘discourses
concerned with ‘teenyboppers’ (young girls aged 8-15) construct them in terms of their
naiveté, as immature and undiscerning consumers or cultural dupes entering into fandom as
a time filler between adolescence and adulthood’ (Andrews & Whorlow 2009, pp. 255-256).
This article will explore the motivations and complications inherent in women’s
lifelong participation in pop music fandom. Applying theories from a variety of disciplines
including fan studies, popular music, feminism, sociology, and psychology, it will investigate
the euphoric empowerment that adult female pop fans experience from engaging in
activities that are widely considered to belong to the teen domain. And because many of
these women claim that their teen idols stirred their first sexual desires, I will argue that it is
possible the notion of a first crush may have instigated the formation and continuance of
their fan attachment. Paradoxically, and as the case study data reveals, today this
attachment has less to do with sex and more to do with memory and a nostalgic
identification with one’s ‘teen’ self. I will consider the sociological and psychological
underpinnings of this tendency to propose that a continued participation in a fandom
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discovered in one’s teenhood may be appealing because it approximates a ‘reclaimed youth’
for fans who are approaching or have reached midlife, as many Duran Duran fans have.
As suggested previously, cultural politics persist that attempt to characterise such
female fan behaviour in adulthood as pathological. This article will scrutinise the bases and
consequences of such prejudice, including fan reaction in the form of shame and ‘closet’
fandom. Consulting prior feminist scholarship, I will examine how this bias derives from a
persistent denigration of women’s media, which in itself originates from a deep-seated
historical fear and pathologisation of anything associated with feminine sexuality. Although
similar issues have been studied by others, this research is distinctive in how it considers all
these issues in conjunction to investigate women’s lifelong engagement in pop idolatry and
society’s reception of that fan practice.
Methodology
Informing my decision to study Duran Duran’s fan community, in particular, was my
personal experience as a Duran fan for the past 30 years. I share this fact because I want to
make evident my own stake in this project, and I acknowledge that my data and analysis
was inevitably influenced by my own experience and frame of reference. It is also pertinent
to this discussion of lifelong fandom to share the impetus for my embarking upon this study.
In 2005 I attended one of Duran Duran’s much-hyped ‘reunion’ concerts, and my best friend
was with me, telling me later that she had not seen me act that animated since we were
teens, dancing, jumping, singing, screaming. These men were my Beatles, and I had
rediscovered them. I went home and realized I had to have that back in my life again. If that
single concert experience affected me so profoundly, I wanted to understand what
happened. Was there some element of reclaimed youth at play? Did other fans have similar
experiences?
By sharing my personal story here, I hope that I have shed light on my interest in
conducting and being part of this study. This ‘aca-fan’ approach to fan studies has long been
debated, yet supported, by scholar-fans such as Hills (2002) and Henry Jenkins (2006), who
agree that strategies of immersion and engagement can provide the most thorough account
of a chosen culture, as suggested by netnographer Robert Kozinets (2010, p. 60). Even then,
the decision to immerse oneself and participate in that culture can be a complicated issue,
as noted by Sarah Thornton when discussing the challenges she faced in investigating club
cultures (1995, p. 106). For my research, there was no question, participation and
immersion were a must, especially given that I was already a member of the fan community.
I also suspected that the nature of the fan behaviours and motivations I sought to query
would only be visible and accessible to other fans. Much of my analysis, therefore, stems
not only from ‘official’ participant responses, but also from behaviours I witnessed and
experienced in an unofficial capacity as a member of the fan culture.
With respect to my ethnographic approach, I investigated fan practice directly and
indirectly using a variety of techniques, which occurred both online and offline. Methods of
data collection included observation, questionnaires, polls, interviews, and focus groups.
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Direct online data collection included email, an online questionnaire, and an online
discussion forum. A total of 49 completed questionnaires were received from Duran fans
and 24 questionnaires were received from fans in other communities (Backstreet Boys, New
Kids on the Block, and Take That) who were surveyed for comparative purposes.
Additionally, approximately 100 fans (many of whom overlap the questionnaire participants)
signed up to a discussion forum that I created, and much of my field data comes from the
resulting discussion threads. Observational and participatory methods of online data
gathering included interaction on Duran Duran’s official online fan community at
Duranduranmusic.com, a paid membership forum. Additional online observation and
participation was enacted on social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter,
and a number of other fan-created forums such as the Duran Duran Message board,
Durantard.com, and fan sites dedicated to specific band members.
In addition to the online methods of ethnographic data gathering, a variety of
traditional methods were also employed. Two focus groups were conducted, one in the
United States with 6 participants and another in Europe with 8 fans in attendance.
Additionally, a number of informal discussions, usually follow-up interviews, were
conducted at fan-related gatherings in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
Observational data of participant behaviour and interaction was also obtained from indirect
contact in a variety of settings such as at concerts, fan parties, and conventions.
Additionally, I conducted an auto-ethnography that ran parallel to my field work. For
this purpose I consulted old journals and engaged in activities to prompt memory recall,
including using Heewon Chang’s (2008) ‘border crossing’ technique to identify milestones in
the chronology of my fandom. According to Chang, a border crossing is a transitional life
experience, which she describes as ‘extraordinary events such as childbirth, new
relationships, new jobs/schools, immigration/moves, a death, divorce, and other life crises’
(2008, p. 74). Examining such experiences is an exercise which ‘can lead to a new
understanding of self and others’ (ibid.). This method proved so effective when I used it on
myself that I decided to use it on my study participants as well. The significance of
transitional experiences and objects in fandom has been noted by other scholars (Sandvoss
2005; Hills 2002), a tendency that is also reflected in the findings from my case study, so I
will return to these ideas later in this discussion.
In the analysis that follows, I use several theoretical modes of inquiry from a variety
of disciplines, including media studies, cultural theory, fan studies, feminist criticism, gender
studies, sociology, and psychology. And as I will elaborate more upon in a moment, the topic
of fantasy was not an easy one for fans to discuss. So while the identities of all respondents
were disclosed to me during the data gathering stage, out of respect for their privacy, every
participant has been assured that I will protect their anonymity here and elsewhere when
reporting my findings.
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The Bedroom Culture of Duran Fans
When you say 'bedroom culture', I know exactly what that means [sic] ... The
mags, music, posters, prints, articles, pictures, folders, cards, quips, videos, TV
appearances, everything and anything I could get with my pocket money.
We had shrines to our favorite member in our lockers … We had posters
covering the walls and ceilings of our bedrooms.
By Duran fan standards, these fan practices are not unusual. An overwhelming 97% of the
Duran fans I surveyed reported having a poster of their idols on their walls at some point.
One of the pleasures of teen pop for women is that it gives them free license to objectify
men (Kidder 2006, p. 84). Describing this as an ‘inversion of a cultural stereotype’, Kristin
Kidder recalls Laura Mulvey’s (1975) concept of the ‘male gaze’, only in this case women
reverse traditional gender roles, not only by being those who do the looking, but also
through dramatic public expressions of adoration (Kidder 2006, p. 84). Sociologist Angela
McRobbie’s (1991) ‘bedroom culture’ theory proposes that adolescent girls’ consumption of
posters of male pop idols is related to their emerging sexuality:
The pictures which adorn bedroom walls invite these girls to look, even stare
at length, at male images (many of which emphasise the whole masculine
physique, especially the crotch). These pin-ups offer one of the few
opportunities to stare at boys and to get to know what they look like. While
boys can quite legitimately look at girls on the street and in school, it is not
acceptable for girls to do the same back. Hence the attraction of the long
uninterrupted gaze at the life-size ‘Donny Osmond Special’ (McRobbie 1991
p. 23).
Many Duran fans confirm this idea, claiming that their pop idols stirred their first sexual
desires:
It was … the first time I felt real attraction someone (John Taylor) nothing
dodgy, but [I] just was infatuated with them (and him).
For me personally, I will never forget the first time I saw a Duran poster on the back of my
best friend’s bedroom door. Compounding my interest was the first time I saw one of their
videos at a friend’s slumber party. The other girls sat with their noses glued to the TV
screen, squealing and drooling. I stood at the back of the room and watched from afar,
perplexed by everyone’s behaviour. The truth is I was not comfortable enough in my own
skin to have expressed how I was feeling openly, and I was afraid to participate. At only 12
years old and relatively frightened of anything sexual, I was embarrassed not only by
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everyone else’s actions, but also confused by the fact that I, myself, was developing a crush
on the band’s lead singer. In retrospect, this moment of conflicted adolescent desires
signalled a defining moment for me in terms of my own sexuality. And I suspect that this
notion of a first crush during adolescence may have sparked the beginning of a lifelong fan
attachment.
In this instance, McRobbie’s theory about girls’ consumption of posters can be
equally applied to video. It is the idol’s image or even his ‘essence’ that matters, regardless
of which medium is used to consume it. Today girls and grown women alike, including the
Duran fans I surveyed, perform these same functions by viewing images and video on the
Internet, illustrating how bedroom culture can continue right into adulthood. And the
activity need not be about image alone, fans today can follow their idols’ daily activities and
thoughts on Twitter and Facebook.
A number of Duran fans cite their attraction to a particular band member as the
primary reason for entering into fandom as teenagers. When I asked participants “Why did
you become a fan of Duran Duran?”, I received responses of this nature:
Duran Duran... at the time? Their looks... I was 12 and shallow. Now?
Definitely their sound which hasn’t seemed to change much... and yes, I’m
still shallow... their looks.
The music and the good looks.
John Taylor.
SIMON LE BON! As soon as I saw him (those eyes! Those lips! THAT voice!) I
was smitten!
I was all of 10 years old, and it was love at first sight once I saw John Taylor.
I was in love with Simon Le Bon in the 3 rd
grade!
[I] always have been a Simon girl. Always. From the moment I first saw him,
he was terribly sexy, incredibly confident, not the best dancer but doesn’t
care, and his lyrics are crazy, poignant, rocking, silly and entertaining. Oh, and
he’s sexy and has aged very well. Hard to look at some of the idols from the
80’s and see how they’ve aged but for some reason, the members of DD all
seem to have aged like fine wine. Oh, and he’s sexy too.
According to McRobbie, adolescent infatuations of this nature are a form of fantasy
construction, as ‘buying time... from the real world of sexual encounters while at the same
time imagining these encounters, with the help of the images and commodities supplied by
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the commercial mainstream’ (1991, p. 24-25). Sheryl Garratt offers a similar explanation:
‘Falling in love with posters can be a way of excluding real males and of hanging on to that
ideal of ‘true love’ for just a little longer’ (1990, p. 401). And Lisa Lewis (1992) proposes that
for young girls, a remote ‘relationship with a band’ is appealing because it ‘avoids many of
the traumas of teenage sexuality’ (Lewis 1992 qtd. in Andrews & Whorlow 2000, p. 261).
This vicarious relationship to celebrity as a safe method of objectifying the male body, may
be one application of J.B. Thompson’s (1995) ‘non-reciprocal intimacy at a distance’ with
media texts (p. 219). Thompson suggests that this type of interaction may be appealing to
adolescent girls because it offers them the ‘opportunity to explore interpersonal relations’
with the opposite sex ‘in a vicarious way, without entering into a web of reciprocal
commitments’ (ibid.). Many girls practice their first kisses on posters, according to
sociologist Mark Rubinfeld (Beck 2012).
Whether it is via posters, video, or following their idols on social networking sites,
the bedroom culture practice of fantasising is instrumental in teen girls’ identity
construction and sexual expression (McRobbie 1991; Andrews & Whorlow 2000). When I
asked adult Duran fans if they have ever day dreamt or fantasised about Duran Duran or its
individual members, many were hesitant to respond in a group situation or left the question
blank on surveys, probably fearing the implication of their answers being pathologised in
some way. But as Cornel Sandvoss (2005) advocates, as researchers “…we must avoid
pasteurised representations of fandom and its underlying mechanisms – not least because
the sexual desires and fantasies that underlie fandom and audienceship are of course
utilized by the media industry” (Sandvoss 2005, p. 76). While it was difficult to get Duran
fans to openly discuss the details of their fantasies with me, a number of participants
responded affirmatively that they have indeed fantasised:
Almost every day. That stopped when I went to college.
I used to when I was younger…
Well, frankly they got famous as many of us were hitting puberty. So yeah!
… coming of age in the height of their popularity, certain band members were
at the forefront of my imaginative fantasy world!!!
Most fans claimed similarly, that they ‘used to’ fantasise but do so no longer. And most who
admitted to fantasising as adults, claim that their fantasies are no longer sexually motivated.
It is important to recognise that not all fan fantasies are sexual. At its simplest level, a
fantasy might be defined as an “imaginary scene in which the subject is a protagonist,
representing the fulfilment of a wish…” (Laplanche and Pontalis 1978, p. 31 qtd. in Sandvoss
2005, p. 71). Consider these non-sexual fan fantasies of adult Duran fans:
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… these days as an adult, I'd love to know him [John Taylor] as a person and
would love to have many conversations with him.
Now my dream is to work for them and hang out with them and travel the
world with them, watching them perform and partying with them afterwards.
Of the few fans who agreed to share their sexual fantasies, those who contributed the
details of adolescent fantasies provided accounts that were relatively tame. Rather than
kissing a poster, for example, this fan admits to kissing pillows:
My cousin and I used to pretend pillows were band members! We would
serve them champagne (Sprite) in my aunt's crystal champagne flutes and get
into so much trouble for it! We practiced French kissing the pillows... oh
Lord! Let's just say... pillow 'Simon' got A LOT of action! LOL!
Whether or not young Duran fans fantasised specifically about acting out their sexual
desires, those who did so justified those fantasies in the context of having a romantic
relationship with a favourite band member:
When I was a teenager I dreamed that I would marry John.
When I was younger as a teenager I fantasized that he'd [Simon] be my
boyfriend...
Oh God all the time! As a child I wanted to marry John, even wanted to lose
my virginity to him. Now, I would settle for a snog with any of them!
I've been daydreaming and fantasizing about Duran Duran ever since I first
saw them in 16 magazine. When I was a girl I wanted to marry John Taylor
and be their back-up singer - with my best friend beside me of course :) - and
have ten beautiful babies with him! :)
Only a handful of Duran fans (who, incidentally, also write ‘adult’ fan fiction) admitted to
having sexual fantasies about the band as adults:
I always have and always will dream and fantasize about the lead singer.
Some are naughty, some are innocent. They're too numerous to even touch
on!
Over the years, I have had many dreams of a romantic or sexual nature about
several members of the band, often times at once… I also like to read and
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write fan fic and slash fic based on the band members. It’s all part of the
fantasy.
I have written stories involving John Taylor for years. He is one of the sources
of my inspiration for writing Erotica. When I was younger, I fantasized about
marrying him and having his kids or just meeting him and having a one night
stand with him.
This level of openness regarding the topic of sex and fantasy was atypical in my
ethnographic fieldwork, at least in the United States and the United Kingdom, an issue
which may be culturally specific. Consider the following dialogue from the European focus
group I conducted in 2009, which offers an example of group sexual banter, an activity
which I have observed often as a member of the fan community for many years, but usually
only when fans think they are in the company of ‘friends’. While most of the European
participants had not met me prior to the session, and I therefore was not part of their social
circle, they nevertheless engaged in sexual banter with each other and with me. I had asked
the participants if they ever ‘drool’, which is common fan slang for ‘shared expressions of
emotion and desire’ (Jenkins 2002). One fan, whom I will call Anna to protect her
anonymity, responded, “No! We don’t do that. We don’t exchange pictures of Simon in his
Speedos.” Everyone then began excitedly discussing paparazzi photos of Simon Le Bon in a
swimsuit which appeared in a tabloid circa 2008 (all names have been changed to preserve
anonymity):
Laura: Those were horrible!
Sophie: Which one, the one where he’s checking for his ‘boys’? Or…
Laura: That’s wrong on so many levels. Oh…
Anna: And we don’t drool!
Emma: But you watch it. You watch it.
Laura: It was hard to go around it. It was everywhere.
Anna: No we don’t drool. No.
Diana: No drooling. [Laughter]
Sophie: And what about that picture of Roger naked? Oh my god.
Everyone: Ohhhhh!
Emma: He must’ve sniffed something because you KNOW who’s outside.
Sarah: Oh you know they knew because Simon had to wear his bathrobe and
his flip flops…
Anna: He wanted us to take a picture of that. [Laughter]
(2009 European Focus Group)
A similar dialogue occurred at the American focus group I conducted in 2008, and despite
my efforts to steer the group back on track to topics that I felt, in my morally dualistic
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academic way, to be superior, their preoccupations were sexual jokes and ‘meet the band’
tales. Previously I suggested that the hesitancy to discuss sexuality might be culturally
specific, noting how the European fans were considerably less reserved than most other
fans I had interviewed. In this particular instance, however, the Americans engaged in the
same level of intimate banter because they were comfortable with me – they were my
‘home’ fan group, local to my geographic area, and they knew me well. I used to attend
monthly parties that they would arrange to watch Duran videos, gossip, and drink alcohol.
On those occasions, sexual repartee was always on the menu. In fact I have never attended
any Duran fan-related gathering anywhere, of two fans or more, even if it is just a luncheon,
where light-heartedly referring to the band members in a sexual way has not been at the
forefront of activities. After observing this activity countless times and closely examining the
dialogues from these two focus groups, I believe that the sharing of such fantasies is, in
essence, a trust-building activity and a form of bonding. It is a practice that might be akin to
male ‘locker room’ behaviour, providing women a safe space for ‘play’ that is free from
external judgement and criticism, particularly from men. Therefore, just as the bedroom
culture practice of fantasising is instrumental in teen girls’ identity construction and sexual
expression, fantasy also appears to play an equally important function in adulthood.
Duranmania
Making a departure from bedroom culture, in this next section I will move from the private
sphere to the public arena in consideration of another activity in which female pop fans are
known to engage, a more manifest expression of sexual desire made famous by the likes of
the infamous Bobbysoxers and Beatlemania. In much the same way that Duran fans enjoy
communal bedroom culture where they can ‘drool’ among friends, most confess to getting a
similar thrill when expressing that same libidic energy on a massive scale at concerts. And
concert attendance appears to be just as popular among adult Duran fans as their teenhood
poster possession had been, with a substantial 97% of fans reporting they have attended at
least one Duran concert in their lifetime, 44% claiming they attend at least one Duran
concert per year in the present day, and 29% say they have been to more than 20 Duran
concerts in total. For a ‘music’ fan culture like that of Duran Duran, this should not be
surprising, because the live concert is the zenith around which the entire fan experience is
based. And for teen girls, the pop concert holds particular value, according to McRobbie &
Simon Frith (1991). ‘A live pop concert is... a landmark among their leisure activities,’ it is a
chance to ‘express a collective identity, to go out en masse, to take part in activities
unacceptable in other spheres’ (McRobbie & Frith 1991, p. 148). And what better way to
express that feeling than a squeal of delight that ‘signifies romantic fantasy while it tests out
some newly active hormonal responses’ (Wald 2002)? 83% of the Duran fans I surveyed
report that they have screamed while attending a Duran show:
I saw [Duran Duran] in person at my first concert… I absolutely had a blast
and could not speak for days after… I had just turned 16.
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Like this fan, I was also 16 when I attended my first Duran concert. And although I had been
to concerts by other pop artists before, some who were phenomenally popular at the time
like Michael Jackson, never before had I encountered an audience quite like that one. Girls
were screaming, jumping, and throwing every item of clothing imaginable onto the stage.
Some even climbed light poles and other equipment to get a better view. Fan after fan
would ‘rush’ the stage only to be escorted out by security. It was utter chaos, it was
‘Duranmania’ – a complete spectacle, at which I was both terrified and fascinated. Although
I was frightened for my safety on a couple of occasions, the crowd’s enthusiasm was
contagious and it furthered the thrill of seeing my favourite band on stage for the first time.
My initial amazement and curiosity about the other fans’ behaviour that day is what planted
the seed for me to later pursue this research. However, it may be evident from my language
in this account that I was hesitant about partaking in the same behaviour. Social
conditioning had taught me that it was inappropriate on some level. Garratt characterises
the associated shame:
Most of us scream ourselves silly at least once, although many refuse to admit it
later, because like a lot of female experience, our teen infatuations have been
trivialized, dismissed, and so silenced. Wetting your knickers over a pop group
just isn’t a hip thing to have done (Garratt 1990, p. 400).
In her review of teen pop history, Kristin Kidder refers to Frank Sinatra and his ‘Bobbysoxers’
as being the first documented case of young women swooning and screaming over a teen
idol at a concert (Kidder 2006, p. 83). Although some experts argue that this practice goes
back further – classical music historians claim that pianist Franz Liszt incited similar reactions
among young women in the 19th century, when they threw their clothing at him and
‘fought over locks of his hair’ (Beck 2012).
In her introduction to The Adoring Audience (1992), Lewis posited, ‘Fans get a bad
press. The familiar images of fandom are loaded with negative stereotypes and labels of
deviancy ... why is it so maligned and stigmatized?’ (1992, p. iii) The direction of fan studies
has changed since that time, turning away from the position that fandom is pathological.
But even now, popular criticism still locates many fans as ‘isolated’ and ‘inept’ (Moores
2005, p. 82). Although this perception is changing in some respects, particularly in academia
where ‘the battle to place fandom on the cultural studies agenda has long since been won’
(Hills 2002, p. 183), where society at large is concerned, ‘condescension and condemnation
is but one narrative of many surrounding the phenomenon of fandom’ (Andrews &
Whorlow 2000, p. 258). This attitude is particularly apparent with regard to fans of
‘women’s media’:
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On the whole, the word ‘fans’, when applied to women, is derogatory. It is
always assumed that they are attracted to a person for the ‘wrong’ reasons, that
they are uncritical and stupid. As an audience, they are usually treated with
contempt by both bands and record companies. The ‘real’ audience is assumed
to be male (Garratt 1990, p. 409).
A number of studies in the 1980s and 1990s by feminist scholars such as Dorothy Hobson
(1982), Janice Radway (1987), Ann Gray (1992), Ian Ang (1988), and Charlotte Brunsdon
(1997) contend that women’s pleasures are regarded as trivial, and worse, they are
perceived to be a ‘problem’, like an addiction. Consider this assessment by Sue Wise of the
media response to Elvis fans:
What better way to explain the frightening spectacle of hordes of uncontrollable
females than by ‘discovering ‘ that they were only responding to being sexually
stimulated and manipulated by a man—literally man-ipulated... How suitable!
How unthreatening! And how ego stroking for the men who looked on
approvingly. By turning Elvis from what in effect he was— an object of his fans—
into a subject, the girls’ behaviour was de-threatened and controlled... Yet it
seems paradoxical to me that feminists, myself included, have taken over these
male ideas about rock music without ever bothering to ask how women
experience this phenomenon (1990, p. 396-397).
Wise makes a compelling argument, and her final statement is a challenge for us to probe
this area further. We should scrutinise the commonly accepted belief that the male pop idol
onstage is seen to act on the female fan on the ground. In other words, are female fans
really passive, being acted upon by the active male star? Frith & Goodwin claim that ‘the
domination of rock writing by men has led to a version of pop history that is both
ideologically and empirically suspect’ (1990, p. 370). As an example, consider this account of
Beatles fan behaviour in 1963:
Screaming like an animal and wearing almost as much leather as one, the young
girl writhed and shook in some private ecstasy... there were hundreds like her
and so much oblivious of their partners’ presence that they stood at right angles
to the boy they were ‘with’, shaking, screaming, supremely happy (The Daily
Mail 1963 qtd. in Andrews & Whorlow 2000, p. 256).
Andrews & Whorlow emphasize the patronizing tone of this review – the reporter’s concern
is that the ‘boyfriend’s’ masculinity is subverted by the mere presence of the Beatles and of
his girlfriend’s enjoyment of their performance (ibid.). The review is a textbook example of
the media’s depiction of Beatles fans at the time. Ehrenreich, Hess, & Jacobs (1992) have
explored such fan behaviour in retrospect, suggesting that Beatles fans actually reversed the
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power dynamic that dominant culture (and the media) had assumed was taking place with
fans of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. The fans were not being acted upon by the males on
the stage, the female fans were not the objects, it was indeed the other way around
(Ehrenreich et. al. 1992, p. 90). The fans were not out of control either, they were
celebrating their newfound discovery of a pastime that would be shared with subsequent
generations of female fans, the objectification of the male pop star. (Here again is the
‘inversion’ of traditional gender stereotypes, analogous to Kidder’s observations about teen
poster consumption.) Unfortunately, most of the fans I interviewed claim they were not
allowed to partake in this activity – few were allowed to attend concerts when they were
adolescent:
I went to my first concert only in 2005 because I was not allowed to go when I
was a teenager.
My first concert was in 1984. I have an old brother so, he [went] with me. So my
parents allowed it.
My mom wouldn't let me go to see them when I was 16… I didn't get the
opportunity until '87-Stange Behaviour.
Sept, 1984: My 2nd day of high school… The girl behind me comes in and sits
down in her seat. She's wearing a tour shirt for the Seven And The Ragged Tiger
tour… I hadn't been allowed to go, a sore point, even to this day.
No way I would've been allowed to a concert...
…we did all sorts of crazy things but we weren’t allowed to go to the concerts
either because we lived too far away.
My parents were pretty protective. I wanted to go see [Duran Duran] so bad and
they wouldn’t let me. I was so mad at them for months.
None us of got to see Duran until 1987…
While there are rational explanations for this tendency (such as the one fan mentioning that
she lived ‘too far away’ and the fact that most adolescent fans did not have the financial
means or the transportation to attend many concerts), the main limitation barring young
Duran fans from attending concerts was parental overprotection. My teen experience with
concerts was no different. My mother forbade me from going to see Duran Duran when
they came through town in 1984 at the height of their popularity. She still forbade me 3
years later, even when I turned 16, but in defiance I went anyway and concealed that fact
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from her for many years. To this day, she says she cannot remember why she would not
permit me to go, when she had allowed me to see other artists. We have discussed the topic
at length, and the only justification that she can surmise is the news reports about the
behaviour of other fans at Duran concerts at that time. Not unlike Beatlemania, stadiums
were full of frenetic and screaming adolescents, a potentially dangerous cocktail as the
sheer volume of excited young girls in one place meant that many were getting crushed. An
interesting parallel, but also possibly related, is that my mother herself played a part in
Beatlemania 20 years earlier when she attended a concert of this same magnitude in 1964.
Frith contends that this nature of parental overprotection has to do with the way in
which ‘the rock ‘n’ roll discourse constructs its listeners in sexually differentiated terms—
boys as public performers, girls as private consumers’ (1996, p. 228). And further, he
confirms McRobbie’s theories about ‘bedroom culture’, proposing that teen girl culture in
general, begins and ends ‘in the bedroom’ (ibid.). McRobbie & Frith (1991) explain that girls
‘are usually confined to the locality of their homes; they have less money than boys, less
free time, less independence of parental control’ (p. 148). Whereas boys ‘are on the
streets’, girls are more often at home or at a friend’s house where they can visit, listen to
music, and engage in ‘girl talk’ or gossip (ibid., p. 226). This double standard inhibits many
young girls from concert attendance, when boys of the same age do not face similar
limitations. To what, exactly, are young women at risk of being exposed at these events?
Are there forces at concerts from which parents feel they needed to protect their
daughters, particularly when the pop concert is considered by many to be ‘one of
adolescence’s most exciting rites of passage’ (Kidder 2006, p. 83)?
Drawing upon the analysis of McRobbie & Frith, it appears that fears regarding
female pop fan behaviour stem from more than just a protective parental concern that
daughters might get ‘crushed’ by the mob; it is rather a historically deep-seated patriarchal
bias that condemns such female fan behaviour because of what motivates it. Ehrenreich et.
al. (1992) allege that Beatles fan behaviour at concerts was revolutionary for the women’s
movement (p. 90), contending that the real reason behind the screaming was a subject that
no adult dared to touch: female sexuality, a taboo subject for 1960s Western culture and a
subject in which contemporary society is still not entirely comfortable, as the testimonies of
the Duran fans above can attest. But the panic was not only about female sexuality, the real
problem was that it also concerned adolescent sexuality (ibid.).
The ‘medical’ nature of pathologising female behaviour has historical roots- with the
word ‘hysteria’ long associated with women, ‘a metaphor for anything considered
unmanageable in the female sex’ (Andrews & Whorlow 2000, p. 256). Even fans themselves
refer to themselves pathologically. These fan statements reveal the reception they have
received from individuals outside the fan community:
They think I'm obsessed.
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People tease or look at you weird, right? Maybe people have a little
resentment because we’re getting a little bit older and still having loads of
fun with this band. So, what’s the problem?
I think most of my family and friends consider joining a fan board
"fanatical"/unacceptable and would be concerned. Seriously.
Nuts!
[My] parents think I’m nuts. My sister says that too spend money on a band
(that she once worshipped herself. [This] is stupid, I think she is just jealous.
This makes me frustrated. If I try to explain, I just get poked fun at even
more.
They think I'm a groupie and I’m obsessed, but I don't think any of them
understand.
Notice the language here, particularly the frequency of words like ‘crazy’, ‘nuts’, and
‘obsessive’. For some fans, the ‘fandom as pathology’ message has been internalized; they
admit guilt for gleaning enjoyment from such media and feel compelled to justify and
defend themselves. They are aware of how their fandom is perceived by the rest of society,
so many of them make jokes about having an addiction, as reflected in these statements:
I crave that "fix".
I find myself continuing to go to shows and follow them because I’m always
chasing after that proverbial carrot – in this case the carrot being that after-
show sighting “high”...
It’s my drug and escape.
Media have historically struggled to come up with an explanation for female pop fan
behaviour, as was evident in the previous discussion about Beatlemania and Elvis fandom.
And this is still the case today. The opening paragraph from a recent article on Justin Bieber
fans in the Wall Street Journal proves that such behaviours are still largely misunderstood:
The symptoms include uncontrollable screaming, swooning and spending hours
on Twitter and Facebook. It primarily affects preteen and teen girls, yet it is
highly contagious and can infect mothers, too. In severe cases, sufferers camp
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out on sidewalks for days… By disease standards, "Bieber Fever" is approaching
a global pandemic (Beck 2012).
While this article later attempts to present a more accepting perspective, it does so by
explaining this fan behaviour scientifically, resorting again to pathologisation, claiming the
behaviours are ‘chemical’ responses and unique to teenagers, simply a phase of
adolescence that girls will outgrow. In her article “I David Lee Roth: Threat or Menace?”,
Cheryl Cline (1992) describes the challenge of maintaining her adult fandom of Van Halen’s
former lead singer:
A lot of junk has been written about the teenage crush, and almost as much
junk on the middle-aged matron-crush, but between these two periods of
hormonal lunacy (adolescence and menopause), women are supposed to
give up their crushes on famous people – especially rock stars. It’s a sign of
maturity to pack up the posters, photos, magazines, scrapbooks, and
unauthorized biographies you so lovingly collected and shove them in the
back of the closet... until you reach the age when everybody thinks you’re
crazy anyway (Cline 1992, p. 70-71).
Cline reminds us that the predominating belief is that pop fandom belongs to the adolescent
domain. This misconception is chiefly responsible for many adult Duran fans resorting to
closet fandom. I know that for me, upon entering adulthood my outward interest in Duran
Duran dulled due to societal pressures that my fannish tendencies were best left in
teenhood. Becoming a closet fan was easier than facing the ridicule, particularly from one’s
male partner: ‘Not wanting to be on the wrong end of the pointing finger of scorn, we keep
our lips buttoned and lust in silence’ (Cline 1992, p. 71). Adult fans of Duran Duran employ a
similar muted approach:
People will turn it [in]to a negative so I don’t tell them all the stuff.
You don’t tell anybody.
Very few people know.
It’s like telling someone that you like cross-stitch embroidery or something.
You don’t talk about Duran Duran… no, you don’t.
I can understand the motivation behind fan defensiveness because, admittedly, I have been
guilty of passing judgment on other fans myself. The intensity of fan devotion to Duran
Duran is something that has intrigued me from the beginning of my own fandom, not only
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the behaviour I witnessed at my first concert but also from observing other fans at school.
Their lockers, adorned with Duran posters, were extensions of their bedrooms. And their
school demeanour echoed their concert behaviour, voices filling the hallways with shrieking
and squealing over new photos of their favourite band members. I noticed how other kids
(non-fans) reacted with condescending eye rolls and whispering. Just as I was uneasy with
the fan response to the video at the slumber party, here again I was also embarrassed, only
this time, my uneasiness arose from a fear of being judged by my peers. Being a typically
self-conscious teenager, I avoided public association with other Duran fans after that. This
hiding of my fandom from non-fans was the beginning of a ‘closet’ fandom that continued
for most of my life. I am not the norm, however, based on the fans I have interviewed. The
shame of being a fan of Duran Duran began earlier for me than most, but many fans have
told me that they have felt ashamed at some point in their lives due to the realisation that
their favourite pastime and its associated behaviours are considered immature and
inappropriate to those outside the fan culture.
Lynn Zubernis and Katherine Larsen (2012) found similar instances of shame during
their investigation of Supernatural fandom, claiming that ‘Fandom, for many female fans, is
compelling for its invitation to self-expression, including sexual expression. At the same
time, the negative connotations of “fangirl” persist’ (p. 11). They suggest that this nature of
shame is often associated with ‘the pursuit of pleasure …whether it’s the evolutionary
pleasure of sex or the pleasure sought in “frivolous amusement”, the definition of which
shifts with cultural exigency (attendance at theatrical productions and reading novels were
both formerly discouraged after all)’ (ibid.). Many fans I interviewed claim that the
judgements they receive are most often from men, again suggestive that such fandoms
threaten or destabilise traditional masculinity:
My brother gave me a hard time. My brother still gives me a hard time.
I was friends with a lot of guys in Junior High and High School and I [was
given] hard time from the guys that I liked Duran Duran.
But by far, the strongest condescension reported by Duran fans came from those who are in
relationships with male partners, evidence that such fandoms may, indeed, be seen as
threatening to traditionally patriarchal structures:
He doesn’t understand my connection to other fans, or the “obsession” with
the band. [I’m] pretty sure he is jealous of my crush on the same man for 26
years.
At one point, it was a huge issue...but since then I think things have mellowed
out because the band isn’t touring right now… it used to really bother me,
partly because I think I knew he was right.
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I wish he would allow me to travel more when there is a tour, but he seems
to think it is silly and may be jealous that he is not going.
My husband says nothing makes my eyes sparkle more than "that Duran
band", ha ha ha!
My husband doesn't get it at all - none of it. He thinks it's a total waste of
time & money. No matter how I explain it all (Duran Duran or New Kids On
The Block) he just doesn't get it. He doesn't get mad or anything - he just rolls
his eyes.
Sometimes I think he gets a little jealous.
Notice the number of comments that use the term ‘jealous’ to describe a partner’s reaction,
or that characterise a partner as having an attitude of condescension. The few Duran fans
whose partners supported their fandom assert that they prioritise their fan activities within
the context of their lives as wives and mothers:
My hubby thinks it is all silly, but nonetheless, he is supportive. Ours is a great
relationship and we each have our own likes and interests, so while he will
roll his eyes and call me silly, he knows that it's something that I truly love
and is always okay with me taking off for Duranie weekends or concerts,
provided it's in the budget. I am responsible enough to see that we've got kid
coverage, so it's not like I leave him high and dry on his own. He also
understands my need to get away from responsibilities, work, motherhood
and just cut loose and enjoy myself. Otherwise, if Momma ain't happy, ain't
nobody happy.
While this fan suggests that a strong sense of duty or responsibility in the home comes first,
she also indicates that she engages in fan practice as a way of defining a space for herself
free from the same domestic constraints. Here is another fan testimony that further
illustrates the same dynamic:
My hubby was extremely worried when I found Duran again. I'm not sure if
he was jealous of the band or jealous of the friends that I made because of
them or maybe just the fact that I had something that I loved that didn't
really include him. He has since learned that I am a happier person to be
around when I get a little 'me' time now and then and has become pretty
supportive of my Duran addiction. He likes their music [and] has even gone to
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a show, but he realizes that this is my thing and it's best to let me do it with
the girls.
These fans express how their fan activities must be conducted in a way that does not disrupt
their relationships with their male partners. But would their partners do the same for them?
How different would these testimonies be if they were given by men? Would men be as
concerned about their leisure activities in the context of their relationships with their wives?
Would they be concerned about securing child care, for example? Such ideas recall
conclusions drawn by Radway (1987), as she observed women’s reading of romance novels
as a ‘declaration of independence’ or a temporary ‘escape’ from their roles as wives and
mothers (Radway 1994, p. 301). Radway compares her research to that of both McRobbie
and Hobson, citing similarities in how all three ‘studies use traditionally female forms to
resist their situation as women by enabling them to cope with the features of the
situation[s] that oppress them’ (Radway 1987, p. 301). Although Radway’s conclusions
regarding ‘patriarchal marriage’ were made two decades ago and the feminist movement
has made great strides since that time, these Duran fan comments suggest that marital
relationships and expectations about women’s familial role may not have changed that
much. However, just as Radway’s subjects continued to engage in romance novel
consumption when faced with similar gender politics, such pressures have not discouraged
Duran fans from continuing their fan practice, particularly when their fan attachments have
spanned many years, usually exceeding (and sometimes outliving) the length of fans’
romantic relationships, as this fan points out:
I always think that the boyfriends can come and go… but Duran Duran stayed.
They are still there. They were there when I was 13. Maybe it sounds pathetic
but… they are still there.
Youth Reclaimed
As we have seen thus far, many aspects of Duran fandom for adult female fans are just as
empowering as they were when they were teens, but maintaining that fandom long-term
has not been without its share of complications. And as we have also seen, most Duran fans
began their fandom as a factor of adolescent desire. But as I will now discuss, the findings
from my case study indicate that Duran fandom today has less to do with sex and more to
do with memory and a nostalgic identification with one’s ‘teen self’:
The fact that they still give me the tingly feeling that I had when I was a
teenager is probably what keeps me coming back.
Other Duran fans report a similar renewed pleasure in attending gigs as adults – a euphoria
that makes them feel ‘like a kid’ again, a nostalgic tendency that correlates to my earlier
assertion about the impact of pop cultural influences during adolescence. One Duran fan
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told me: “You suffer from I.T.S. … "Inner Teen Syndrome" ... great, isn't it?” Another fan
proposed the term: ‘teens with credit’. She rationalised that being an adult Duran fan today,
with both the financial means and the freedom to travel to concerts, makes her feel like a
teen with a credit card. Here are some other fan testimonials that illustrate this tendency:
Now when I see them I can let go for a couple of hours and feel like I am still
a teenager.
Attending concerts with my friends and singing with the songs and basically
acting like a teenager!
You can always be assured you’ll dance and sing and have fun with your
friends when you go to a Duran show… I always have a great time, I always
dance and sing to every song, it always puts me in a good mood, makes me
feel like I’m a 16 year old girl again.
Definitely a time to be a “kid” again and forget real life.
This second teenhood represents a milestone in each fan’s lifelong narrative, instances in
which they not only renew their dedication to their favourite band, but also reassess
themselves and the progress they have made in their lives up to that point. The reclaimed
youth these fans experience might serve as an antidote to social ageing, which Thornton
(1995) describes as: ‘that ‘slow renunciation or disinvestment’ which leads people to ‘adjust
their aspirations to their objective chances, to espouse their condition, become what they
are and make do with what they have’ (Bourdieu 1984 qtd. in Thornton 1995, p. 102).
Thornton’s logic may help to explain why fans like these cling to attachments formed in
adolescence:
… youth culture is often attractive to people well beyond their youth. It acts
as a buffer against social ageing – not against the dread of getting older, but
of resigning oneself to one’s position in a highly stratified society (Thornton
1995, p. 102).
Garde-Hansen (2011) draws a similar connection in her analysis of lifelong Madonna
fandom, suggesting that ‘pop music and nostalgia create a powerful marketable mix that
evoke youthfulness’ (Garde-Hansen 2011, p. 134). And as she points out, further research
should be conducted in this area because the connection between memory and pop music
has been left relatively unexplored (ibid., p. 121).
An oft-cited volume of pop fan fantasies is Fred and Judy Vermorel’s Starlust (1985).
Academic criticisms of Starlust have acknowledged its significance for fan studies, in that it
‘was the first publication of its kind—a study that offered a theory of the music industry
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through the words of the fans themselves’ (Frith & Goodwin 1990, p. 479). But at the same
time, these ‘secret fantasies of fans’ were labelled ‘obsessive, devotional voices’ by the
same critics (ibid., p. 422). Even Thompson (1995) backslides into pathologising rhetoric
(Moores 2005, p. 81) when he cites the following passage to prove fandom’s risk of
becoming obsessive:
When I make love to my husband I imagine it’s Barry Manilow. All the time....
And after that, when my husband and I have made love and I realize it’s not
him, I cry to myself... It’s usually dark when the tears flow and somehow I
manage to conceal them... [Barry] helps me through my life... He’s my lover
in my fantasies. He’s my friend when I’m depressed. He’s there and he seems
to serve as something I need to get through my life (Joanne qtd. in Frith &
Goodwin 1990, p. 481-482).
Thompson deems this account to be ‘disconcerting’ and suggestive of a ‘double life’ (1995,
p. 221). But Sandvoss (2005) offers a contrasting view, rationalising that all the fan fantasies
in Starlust ‘involve a projective quality in which inherent aspects of the self in the form of
drives and fantasies are articulated through the object of fandom which functions as its
extension’ (Sandvoss 2005, p. 101). This idea is central to Sandvoss’ theory of ‘fan texts’,
which act as mirrors or forms of ‘self-reflection’ (ibid., p. 10). Although this concept
originates in the field of psychology, Sandvoss has managed to avoid the pathologisation
pitfalls that have led so many academics to avoid addressing fandom psychologically. As
Sandvoss suggests:
To fully understand fandom and the relationship between fan and object of
fandom, we thus have to understand the psychological foundations of the
self (ibid., p. 68)… it is near impossible to think about such pleasures outside
the basic concerns and language of psychoanalysis (ibid., p. 69)
Hills, too, proposes that a psychoanalytical approach to fan studies may be appropriate
(2002, p. 91), as long as it is ‘respectful of fans’ everyday creativities and ‘little madnesses’’
(ibid. p. 22). Like Sandvoss, Hills argues that due to the intensely affective nature of fan
attachments, it is ‘impossible to take fandom seriously without taking fan psychology
seriously’ (ibid.).
The ‘fan text’ concept can be applied to Duran fan attachments if we consider them
as transitional objects and spaces, in the way that ‘found’ transitional objects tend to hold
great personal significance. According to D.W. Winnicott’s (1951) interpretation of the post-
psychoanalytical ‘objects relations theory’ (Sandvoss 2005, p. 79), as children we ‘develop a
strong emotional bond to our first possessions, such as blankets, toys and teddy bears’
(ibid., p. 85). These transitional objects become a ‘source of emotional warmth’ (ibid. p. 86)
that help us cope with anxieties in the absence of our caregivers. Sociologist Anthony
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Giddens (1991) appropriates this idea too, suggesting that transitional objects and spaces
might act as a ‘protective cocoon’ for coping with anxieties and insecurities in adulthood
(Sandvoss 2005, p. 88). As an example, consider how this fan’s practice of consuming old
Duran videos gives her comfort:
My life has been really crazy since August of last year… I have thought so
many times that I was losing my mind… I have felt really far away from Simon
and the guys so I started going back and looking at old videos and it has
helped my perspective on things. That would probably sound crazy to some,
but it’s not about getting lost in a fantasy, it’s more like I just get happy when
I am able to see them. Sometimes YouTube just lifts my spirits so… it truly
helps.
Through its emphasis on objects being found or discovered, transitional object theory may
help to explain how attachments formed in adolescence can make such an impact. For
example, most fans take pride in their personal ‘discovery’ stories about how they became
fans, instances that hold great significance in the context of their life narratives. Rediscovery
in later life can be just as meaningful, as expressed by the following fan comments:
[I] found them again in 2005. To see the original 5 back together again was a
dream come true.
I jumped out of my seat and ran to the TV when I heard them announce that
Duran Duran in full five line-up was going to perform shortly. I could not
believe it. This was a dream come true. They spoke of getting back together
and a U.S. tour and all I could do was scream with excitement and stare at
the TV.
They announced the reunion tour, and I freaked out… I was like “oh I gotta
have more, gotta have more!”
So a group of girls who hadn’t seen much of each other since [high school]
got together to see the band we had loved so much. It was on that night… I
realized that I had become a wife and a mommy and left [myself] somewhere
in the shadows. It was that night that I realized I had to find a way to be wife,
mommy and ME!
The final statement here suggests that this fan rediscovered a part of herself which she had
long forgotten. I felt this way too at the reunion concert I attended in 2005, an event which
represented a pinnacle moment in the chronology of my fandom, a turning point where I
not only finally embraced my fan identity but also reclaimed a more youthful and
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empowered part of myself that I had abandoned long ago. The reclaimed youth that we
discovered by taking part in these experiences was life affirming for us in many respects.
The following fan comment illustrates a similar recognition, implying an awareness of not
only the band’s mortality, but by extension, the fan’s own mortality:
I try to… live the tour to its fullest – because let’s face it, you never know
when it’ll be the last one.
Most Duran fans are now hitting ‘midlife’ (many are either approaching or have already hit
their 40th-year birthday), and by most standards this period is thought of as a transitional
space, the bridge between youth and old age. Because these fans discovered the band in
adolescence, the appeal of finding Duran Duran again later in life may represent a ‘fountain
of youth’ of sorts, accounting for the nostalgic pleasure that makes them feel like kids again.
While such conclusions could be misconstrued as regressive or suggestive of midlife
crises, this analysis is not meant to disparage or pathologise female pop fandom. As stressed
previously, female pop fans have already experienced enough condemnation. Rather,
serious consideration should be given to the motivations behind these tendencies.
Connections can be drawn between the various discourses concerning ageing, gender
politics in relation to teen pop, and women’s continued engagement in pop fandom in
adulthood. While some of the conservative attitudes associated with patriarchal culture’s
expectations of women’s roles and behaviours still exist, continued participation in fandoms
like that of Duran Duran in spite of external deterrents is a signifier of a gradual cultural
progression toward a more empowered feminist ideology, supporting the claims of scholars
who have charted the revolutionary nature of teen idol fandom over the last century.
Conclusion
Much has been written that marginalizes both pop idols and their fans, so endeavouring to
treat these subjects as worthy of serious academic study has been paramount in this
research. Through an analysis of an ethnographic case study of Duran Duran fans, the
motivations and complications inherent in women’s lifelong pop music fandom were
examined, finding that adult female fans experience a euphoric empowerment from
performing the same fannish activities they did as teens. Because many of the fans in this
study claim that Duran Duran stirred their first sexual desires, it is possible that this notion
of a first crush may be one of the instigators in the formation and persistence of their
lifelong fan attachment. However, as the case study also revealed, while many fans came
into the fandom because of this initial sexual attraction, their attachments today have little
to do with sex and more to do with memory and a nostalgic identification with their teen
selves. When we take into account that most fans surveyed are over the age of 40, and we
consider the personal significance of ‘found’ objects and spaces during periods of transition,
we can see how a continued participation in a fandom discovered in one’s teenhood might
be highly appealing, approximating a reclaimed youth.
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As mentioned at the start of this article, there is a shortage of such studies on
lifelong fan attachments. This research is therefore distinctive in its investigation of
women’s media consumption as part of a lifelong fan practice. While some critical inquiry
has been performed by other scholars on the individual elements discussed here, none has
brought together these issues to specifically examine the adult female experience with teen
idol fandom or the patriarchal politics that condemn it. This research has sought to drive
forward discourses in feminism, fan studies, and popular music, but more research should
be done in this area, particularly to investigate how memory, nostalgia, and fantasy function
in other lifelong fandoms.
Biographical note:
Tonya Anderson is a recent doctoral graduate from the University of Sunderland. Tonya’s
research interests and teaching experience include fandom and audience studies, film and
television critical theory, and radio industry studies. She has published in the Journal of
Radio Studies and has presented her research on pop music fandom on BBC Radio and
Television and at many conferences in the United Kingdom and the United States. Contact:
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Concert Tour’, in Maggie Andrews and Mary M. Talbot (eds.), All the World and Her Husband:
Women in Twentieth-Century Consumer Culture, London and New York: Cassell, 2000, pp. 253-
266.
Ang, Ian, ‘Feminist Desire and Female Pleasure: On Radway’s Reading the Romance’, Camera
Obscura, 16, 1988, pp. 179-92.
Beck, Melinda, ‘Inside the Brains of Bieber Fans’, The Wall Street Journal, 2012, URL
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303640804577488681925950866.html
[visited 09/08/12].
Bennett, Lucy, ‘Music Fandom Online: R.E.M. fans in pursuit of the ultimate first listen’, New Media
& Society, 14 (5), 2012.
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Divola, Barry, ‘The Fandom Phenomenon’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2010, URL
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Divola, Barry, Fanclub: It’s a Fan’s World, Pop Stars Just Live In It, St. Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1998.
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