Our culture accepts and glorifies an obsession with football (a mostly male interest) but ridicules liking kpop or Taylor Swift too much (mostly female interests).
It's football season here in the States, too - a different kind of football, but the same crazy obsessiveness (there I said it!). My hubby likes K-Pop and dance music (me, not so much, I'm more into old style rock - he's much more progressive than I am!) and can't stand spectator sports - it's one of the reasons I married him. ;) I'm not into spectator sports either, but American football is especially mystifying to me. During my first semester of college, my roommate forced me to go to my one and only football game. This was what I got out of it: A bunch of guys chase after another guy who's carrying a ball and they all pile up on him; then they all get up and chase ANOTHER guy until he gets buried in the other guys; once in a while the guy being chased manages to throw the ball to someone else or even into one of the goals for a touchdown. The only thing I liked about the game was halftime, when the marching band came out to do a show - they were pretty awesome! But I could not understand football at all and still can't.
The "big" football game is the Superbowl, when most of America is glued to their tellies to watch - a few years back, the cable station Animal Planet came up the idea of airing something called the "Puppy Bowl," which consists of a bunch of puppies chasing each other around a fake football stadium and playing with toys (or sleeping - these are baby dogs, after all!). Cute as all heck - THAT I can get into. :)
As a woman who loves both sports and pop culture, I don't know why I never thought about it this way before. However, you're right. Fandom is definitely perceived differently depending on if it has a primarily male or female base, and it is maddening in a lot of ways.
I loved this and sent it to my daughter and dared her to have her partner read it and debate it. I just hope it doesn't break them up, because he does seem a nice enough chap.
It's football season here in the States, too - a different kind of football, but the same crazy obsessiveness (there I said it!). My hubby likes K-Pop and dance music (me, not so much, I'm more into old style rock - he's much more progressive than I am!) and can't stand spectator sports - it's one of the reasons I married him. ;) I'm not into spectator sports either, but American football is especially mystifying to me. During my first semester of college, my roommate forced me to go to my one and only football game. This was what I got out of it: A bunch of guys chase after another guy who's carrying a ball and they all pile up on him; then they all get up and chase ANOTHER guy until he gets buried in the other guys; once in a while the guy being chased manages to throw the ball to someone else or even into one of the goals for a touchdown. The only thing I liked about the game was halftime, when the marching band came out to do a show - they were pretty awesome! But I could not understand football at all and still can't.
The "big" football game is the Superbowl, when most of America is glued to their tellies to watch - a few years back, the cable station Animal Planet came up the idea of airing something called the "Puppy Bowl," which consists of a bunch of puppies chasing each other around a fake football stadium and playing with toys (or sleeping - these are baby dogs, after all!). Cute as all heck - THAT I can get into. :)
As a woman who loves both sports and pop culture, I don't know why I never thought about it this way before. However, you're right. Fandom is definitely perceived differently depending on if it has a primarily male or female base, and it is maddening in a lot of ways.
I loved this and sent it to my daughter and dared her to have her partner read it and debate it. I just hope it doesn't break them up, because he does seem a nice enough chap.