Do You Hate Boybands or Do You Hate Teenage Girls?

Do You Hate Boybands or Do You Hate Teenage Girls? 

I often wonder, what do people get out of their hatred for teenage girls? It seems like anything typically consumed by a teenage girl is deemed as “basic” or “embarrassing” by society, pushing them to shield their interests from the outside world. It’s like a teenage girl isn’t allowed to have any interests.

From music to food, nothing enjoyed by a teenage girl is considered “cool” by society. Music with a target audience of teen girls tends to receive enormous amounts of hate from people outside of the fanbase. And it’s not just people disliking the music, it’s people hearing a teenage girl say she loves Taylor Swift and jumping at the opportunity to obsessively insult her talent, despite her music being critically acclaimed. Taylor Swift’s music has been a punching bag for society, with people complaining that she “only writes about her ex-boyfriends,” and, despite that being blatantly untrue, many artists they consume probably write about their ex-partners a similar amount. So what’s the difference between Taylor Swift and artists they love? Maybe it’s the target demographic. 

And it’s not just Taylor Swift that society seems to hate, there has been a long-standing trend of hating on boy bands that rise to fame due to popularity among teen girls. Society criticized the Beatles during their early years due to their appeal to and primary fanbase of teenage girls. Eventually, they transcended that narrative, however the precedent of hating on things that appeal to teenage girls has transcended those years. Of course, NSYNC, one of the most popular boy bands of the 90s, along with the Backstreet Boys, received plenty of hate too. When your primary audience consists of teenage girls, you’d better be prepared for heavy criticism. And more recently, in the 2010s, One Direction and the boy band’s fans were heavily criticized. Guys were quick to assume that girls “only liked them for their looks” and that they weren’t “real artists,” and some articles I’ve seen have claimed that many guys said this because they “didn’t play instruments” (which is an interesting argument when Niall had a guitar at almost every performance). Regardless, the judgy looks and rude comments teenage girls received when they mentioned them were unnecessary and I’ve almost never seen someone have that same response to an artist guys like with a primary audience of men. Apparently, music consumed by teenage girls isn’t “real music” to society. Almost every time a girl says they enjoy music that targets them as an audience, people find some way to demean it. Even if you don't personally enjoy it or have your own opinions, there is no need for you to say to someone who loves an artist and their music that it isn't "real music."

Frankly, hating on something someone likes just because it’s primarily for teenage girls (who came up with the idea of “girl music” anyways?) is pathetic. And yeah, maybe I am writing this post on my laptop adorned with Taylor Swift and One Direction stickers, but it gets pretty tiring when your two favorite artists are two of the most teenage girl-appealing artists. And it’s ironic that people insult my interest in them considering the fact that I am a teenage girl. So what? I’m not allowed to enjoy things that appeal to me because they appeal to me? 

So yeah, maybe I’m sick of random guys doing things like loudly proclaiming that they “hate Taylor Swift” when I wear her merchandise into a shoe store with my dad or being irritated when One Direction concert tickets are mentioned in Economics class. And I should be, because teenage girls shouldn’t have to be constantly embarrassed for enjoying things that were made for them. A teenage girl should be allowed to enjoy things without being invalidated by society.