The reasons behind fangirling

Why are girls in love with celebrities? Especially of the male variety. Some examples: Justin Bieber, One Direction, Josh Hutcherson, Zac Efron...the list goes on forever.

A guy friend of mine asked me a while back why I liked Justin Bieber so much. For a little while I was completely thrown. If a girl had asked me the same question, I'd probably say something along the lines of "because he's perfect" or "he's my whole world;" however, this was a boy I respected and cared about so I didn't want to look like a total fangirl. So instead of saying the first thing that popped into my head, I started to think. Well, there's the voice, the hair, his looks, the personality I see every day through the media. But could there be something more, something I wasn't immediately aware of, but it was still there in my subconscious? Why are people, and girls in particular, so attracted to famous people? In a girl's case, why is she so attracted to famous boys and men, but she complains about the real boy in her life all the time? Famous boys aren't perfect, right? And yet we still fall for them. I decided to investigate further. Here are the reasons I came up with:

• First of all, celebrities seem better than everyone around us because they're famous and they seem to have it all: good looks, money, the personality... They're not real people in our eyes, but idols, perfect people.

• We see them everywhere, all the time. Because of this we think they are with us everywhere we go, no matter what happens. If you're having a bad day, listening to your favourite artist's song can really brighten your mood.We think they will never fail us and that they are always there when we need them (unlike some of the boys we really know).

• We forgive their imperfections and faults more easily because they don't directly affect us. For example, Harry Styles from One Direction is well known for being a womanizer and a heart breaker  However, most of his fans just think it's cute. If they met a player in real life though, they wouldn't like him so much, would they? They still might be attracted to a bad boy, but they wouldn't forgive him if he broke their heart.

The ladies man

• We communicate with other fangirls who always put that particular person in a good light. Whether you're reading fanfictions or simply scrolling through your Twitter newsfeed, other girls are always gushing about how perfect that person is, and expressing their love for them. It's difficult to resist joining them in their excitement.

• We always see them at their best - when they're well dressed and groomed, when their hair is perfect and they're in a good mood. What about the bad days? Everyone has them, right? When we feel moody and snap at everyone, when we're depressed, sick or tired. We don't really see our idols like that. Because of this, we can't fairly compare them to the real boys we know.

• They always say the right thing. Celebrities say what is best for their target audience. Therefore, our idols usually say what we women want to hear. For example, the song Little Things by One Direction. Most of the girls I know, even the ones who don't like One Direction, swooned over the lyrics of that song. This could be because of Ed Sheeran's songwriting skills, of course. It is relatable. We like to hear these things. Another example is Justin Bieber's song, Boyfriend. Every girl wants a boyfriend who will never let her go. The song makes us feel like we deserve love, and when we go back to reality, we realise that all the boys around us aren't like Justin Bieber, and they probably will let us go..

"If I was your boyfriend I'd never let you go" - Justin Bieber

• Last but not least, we think we can relate to our idols. We think that if we met them in real life, we would be able to talk to them about anything simply because we think we know everything about them. We are convinced that we would have an instant connection with that person. Fangirls tweet or message their idols obsessively to be noticed. We feel like our idol is the only person who would understand what we're going through, because they have always been there for us. This, unfortunately, is an illusion. 

The next thing that boy said to me after asking why I like Justin Bieber so much was really interesting as well, and it intrigued me. He gave me a boy's view on famous boys. It was a typical boy's outlook, so I really felt like sharing it. So here is a real boy's opinion - what boys REALLY think about our idols.

• I really hate to say this, but most boys look at a picture of Justin Bieber or One Direction or any other famous man and immediately say "gay." This is a horrible thing to say and it shows how narrow-minded and judgmental people are. And the thing is, it doesn't even make sense. They've seen these men out with their girlfriends, and there is absolutely no reason to be homophobic anyway. 

"Gay"? I don't think so..

• They criticize everything from the way the boy dresses to his facial expression. Honestly, I think most boys these days dress like Justin Bieber, One Direction or whoever else is in the spotlight. What regular boys fail to understand is that those famous people NEED to dress and act in a certain way so that they are not judged. If they went around looking like slobs and acting rude all the time, who would actually like them? Not me.

• Jealousy. A boy would never admit that they are jealous of a famous guy. But I really think that deep down they totally are. Come on: what boy wouldn't want to have money, talent, good looks, fast cars and millions of girls falling for him all over the place? They would want to swap places with that man in  no time, just like a girl might be jealous of someone like Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lawrence and other famous women.

• This brings me to the most important issue: insecurity. Deep, deep down, men are just as insecure as women. When they see a girl swooning over someone famous, they think that they could never compare to that guy. They know they can't be perfect and therefore they think that that girl would not like them for who they are. My theory is that because of this insecurity, boys are jerks these days. They also don't want to be themselves anymore. They become sheep, copying each other. They wear what they think is cool, and they act different when they're around their mates. It's kind of ironic really, since I don't think girls want boys to act like this at all. 

The points I'm trying to make here:

GIRLS: notice that your idol isn't perfect and have a look around for a real guy who can make you happy.

BOYS: don't sit there randomly hating on girl's idols - get out there and prove yourselves! ;)

If you think you've fallen in love with a celebrity, read this.