What is a Fangirl?

Written By: Katherine Penman

When you think of a fangirl many images might come to your mind. You might imagine a crowd outside a venue holding posters they hope will gain attention from their favorite artist. You might imagine a girl behind a computer running a fan page where she posts updates about her favorite celebrity. You might even think of Rainbow Rowell’s novel Fangirl.

Fangirl can mean all of these things and much more. The term is very broad, as a fangirl can be a fan of any type of media. Merriam-Webster’s definition of fangirl is, “a girl or woman who is an extremely or overly enthusiastic fan of someone or something”. Fangirl can also be used as a verb, fangirling is something you can take part in when devoting your time to your favorite artist, actor, actress, or even your favorite fictional world!

While fangirl may seem like a new term, it's actually been around since 1934. The first known use of the word fangirl is in A.P. Herbert’s novel Holy Deadlock. Herbert uses the word just as we do today!

Fangirls have been around for a very long time, but their rise to the mainstream started with Beatlemania. After The Beatles, many more heartthrobs began to rise as their fangirls supported them. This is a global phenomenon! Today's fangirls range from Swifties to Twihards to BTS’ ARMY. With easy access to sites like Twitter, Tiktok, and Instagram it’s becoming easier and easier for fangirls to connect with other fangirls all across the world.

The internet makes it easy for fangirls to create communities where they can fangirl together! So whether you’re a fangirl of popular singers, fictional wizards, or internet celebrities there is a place for you. What do you fangirl over?

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