Fangirl life was pretty isolated in the 90s, when I was a teenager. Looking back, there must have been other girls in my school who liked boy bands or pop music. But I didn’t know who they were. We were all living in the closet, I guess. The two times I went to a Take That concert back then left a huge impression on me because I could see with my own eyes how many of us there actually were!

For me, one of the (many) amazing things about going to see your favourite artist live, is that you’re suddenly in a room with thousands of others who also love that thing you normally get ridiculed for loving. You no longer feel like the odd one out. You feel understood, safe and normal. I’m so thankful for the internet, which has enabled us to keep that feeling going, even when we’re not all physically together. 

Today’s generations of fangirls have grown up knowing there’s a whole world out there with passionate fans of any artist or band. It’s a lot harder to convince a girl she’s silly or weird, when she’s part of an online community of others just like her. 

And of course once a community is organised, it can start to work towards common goals and have an impact on a wider scale. I think the quantifiable things fangirls have been able to achieve, along with the amplified voice online platforms have given us, are what led to us now being taken slightly more seriously. I’m hoping the stigma will lessen even more with time, and fangirls will come out in their full force!