Behavior #3: Magnification of the Importance of Trivial Characteristics

Japanese fangirls love to obsess over the tiniest details of their favorite band members' appearance. Did he cut his hair four centimeters? The fangirls will angrily declare that they hate his new haircut. Did he wear a white vest over a black shirt, as Mr. Sakurai did for the encore of At the Night Side 2012? The fangirls will giggle hysterically and call him a panda. Did he paint his nails? Did he get new shoes? Has he gained or lost weight? It's all cause for freakout. Hell, they even freak out about things that haven't actually happened….complaining that Mr. Sakurai has “developed a belly” is a Buck-Tick fangirl's favorite pastime. It's like they don't understand how shirts work. (How shirts work, for future reference: when a man tucks a shirt into his pants, unless the shirt is made of skintight spandex or similar material, it's liable to billow out from his body a bit right above the belt. This is because, when he raises his arms, the shirt gets ever so slightly un-tucked, leaving excess fabric above the belt line, which causes the billow. This billow is not a beer gut, I repeat, not a beer gut. You have now been edumucated.)

The obsession over tiny details is another way fangirls pretend to themselves that they're closer to their idols than they are. It's a way of compensating for the fact that they don't know the object of their fandom personally, and probably never will (and probably don't even want to.) Focus on the tiny details stands in for the sorts of mundane daily interactions we have with people we actually know. Though these fangirls do not treat their idols as fellow humans, at the same time, they marvel at anything the idol does that shows signs of humanity.

What's strange is that most of this fangirl obsession over tiny details seems to take the form of complaint and criticism. You'd think if they really thought the guy was as sexy as all that, they'd be excited and charmed by his style choices, but instead, it's bitch, bitch, bitch. They bitch so much that I have to conclude they do it because they like it…probably because, like the attention-seeking behavior above, criticizing their idol makes them feel powerful. They know he doesn't care about them and never will, but if they trash on him sour-grapes style, it helps them feel like they've got some power over him when in fact they have none.

.

>>On to Behavior #4: Extreme Touchiness>>
<<Back to The Fangirl Phenomenon<<