You're Never Too Old to Fangirl

A wee TARDIS

I feel like I should give a little imformation about this new blog of mine and why I started it. I'm a self-proclaimed fangirl about many things. I have more copies of Anne of Green Gables than I can count, all things Harry Potter have a prominent place in my home, and you should see my Doctor Who  Lego TARDIS. It's magnificent. I've been known to flail and squee on a regular basis, and even occasionally in public. So when I started a blog where I would review the books I read and post about all these things that I love so dearly, the tagline "You're Never Too Old to Fangirl" was perfect! As I thought about it more, I decided to see what the internet has to say about fangirls these days.

Urban Dictionary is not at all complimentary of the modern fangirl. The most popular definition says a fangirl is "a rabid creed of human female who is obsessed with either a fictional character or an actor." I'm sorry, internet, but my fangirling extends far beyond a single character or actor. A less extreme definition is "a female fan who can laugh at their own passion for their particular interest (or even obsession)." While I'm not overly thrilled with either option, the 2nd is far better than the first.

A fangirl is much more than a "rabid" screaming teenage female (or male - there are fanboys, too). To me a fangirl is a female with varying, albeit at times intense, interests who is confident enough to share that enthusiasm with abandon. Although perceived as ridiculous most of the time, any person whose life has been significantly impacted by a book series, anime, movie, etc, will tell you the importance of that life-changing interest. The result can be anything from sparking creativity and passion to helping someone deal with mental or physical illness. Maureen Johnson didn't start #YASaves for nothing! (Here is a blog post by Kiera Cass that gives some background on how YA Saves got started.)

I think this one is self-explanatory. 

John Green (Nerdfighters FTW) responded beautifully to the use of "nerd" as an insult in one of his Vlogbrothers videos, and I think it applies here as well.

Nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff...Nerds are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-can't-control-yourself love it. People who call people 'nerds,' mostly what they're saying is "You like stuff," which is not a good insult at all. Like, "You are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness."

So, let's be fangirls, fanboys, and nerds, and be excited about life!