Fangirls and Fanboys

Despite what some would have us think, there is no real difference between an author and an authoress, an actor and an actress, a poet and a poetess, and often very little difference between a hero and a heroine--aside from the general differences in thought between a guy and a girl. However, there is a huge difference between saying you are a fanboy or saying you are a fangirl. I realized this when trying to tell my mother about the conversation I and a friend had about the worlds of D&D. I do not play D&D, but I enjoy world-building probably more than I should, so I enjoy discussing it. It felt a little weird to tell her that I was fanboying--but there was no way I was telling her I was fangirling over world-building!

The difference between the two is astounding. A fanboy will be obsessed with something that doesn't exist, but the discussions between two fanboys are likely to be about who would beat whom in a fight. Which is the real reason, I think, that in the Avengers movie, the heroes squared off against each other before they got down to fighting the bad guys. This was a movie meant for fanboys.

Try to tell me this wasn't your favorite part. 

 They will get into long, detailed discussions about who could beat who, and whose technology is superior, quoting scenes and happenings, as serious about their unreal characters as two professors of theology debating points of Scripture. Movie remakes of their favorite comics had better stay true to the spirit of the comic, or else the die-hard fanboy will scorn it to the end of his days. They work their obsession into unlikely places, and will be completely serious about it.

A fangirl, on the other hand, besides being a slightly older phenomenon (the fangirl originated with Frank Sinatra; I don't know the exact date when it became acceptable for guys to obsess openly about their favorite comic book characters), generally tends to swoon over real people, or at least the real people portraying their fictional hottie of choice. And it's almost always over a handsome guy, though the cute sidekick will occasionally have his own fan base. Don't believe me? Type in "Benedict Cumberbatch" in Pintrest. Or don't, depending on how much squealing you can take in one sitting. 

Cue screaming in 3, 2, 1...

Fangirls, unlike fanboys, don't bother comparing, say, BBC's Sherlock to Doctor Who, unless it's to swoon over the idea of two handsome intellectuals in the same place. I have never seen them arguing over whether Merlin is handsomer than Loki, or whether Sherlock and John are more attractive than Sam and Dean (or whatever those guys from Supernatural are called). Nor do they discriminate over what movie their particular obsession is in. (Though if there is a chorus of excited screaming in the movie theater the first time Smaug talks, I'm waiting for the DVD--and gagging my sisters before he comes onscreen.) They have the unique ability to drool over just about anyone, provided his face and hair are the correct shape and color, and spend most of their intellectual time preparing to fling themselves into his net before he has it spread out to catch them.

Do I seem a little prejudiced? Well, maybe I am. I am a very mild fanboy, enjoying building my worlds and characters, and willing to laugh--at least a little--at those who sit and argue furiously over their unreal characters, because I don't particularly care who would beat whom unless I am working them into a story. And I live with two fangirls, who try to convince me that Loki is not a jerk and have subjected me to Sherlock, both checking out the show (I wasn't that impressed by it) and drooling over it on Pintrest until I roll my eyes and walk away in exasperation. 

Now, I do have my obsessions. But... they're a little more likely to be something like...this. 

An illuminated copy of The Simarillion. Isn't it gorgeous? Too bad there's only one copy...Sigh....