Why are teenage girls ridiculed for liking anything?
By Zoë Foures
Photography by Elizabeth Hunt
Whether it’s regarding their music tastes, their favourite movies, or their general hobbies, things enjoyed by young women never seem to be taken seriously. The Twilight saga is one of the most famous examples of this phenomenon. Ranked twentieth among the bestselling novels of all time, with over one-hundred-million sold copies and five successful movie adaptations which grossed over three-hundred-million dollars, there is no doubt that Twilight can statistically be considered a triumph. Another example is One Direction, who was ranked in the top ten most successful bands of the decade. Even years after breaking up, they still have twenty-five-million monthly listeners on Spotify. And yet, they are among the most criticised bands by the public eye. But do people really dislike the music, or the fans? Often it is not the content itself that is made fun of – since 1960s fans of The Beatles were criticised just as much as One Direction fans are – but more so the way women react to and engage with said content. An example of that is Jonathan Heaf, who wrote for GQ that boy bands such as One Direction “turn a butter-wouldn't-melt teenage girl into a rabid, knicker-wetting banshee who will tear off her own ears in hysterical fervour when presented with the objects of her fascinations.”
When it comes to books, the entire Young and New Adult genre is often discarded as being easy, childish, and unworthy of attention. This reputation was gained because it is mostly read by young women who enjoy the escapism that a romance or fantasy book may bring. Therefore, it has since then been criticised by other readers as being a sorry excuse for literature, often without having ever read any book in that genre and simply basing their opinions off assumptions. These assumptions are themselves embedded in a deep societal taboo of reading about ‘unserious things’ such as romance and considering them fit for women who don’t deserve respect for what they enjoy. Karina Halle, a famous New Adult author, wrote that “romance and erotica are nothing to be ashamed of. I’ve read some erotic novels that are exquisitely layered with beautiful prose and tragic characters, that are not taken seriously because of the genre. […] Whether you’re reading to be changed and challenged or reading to escape for a few hours, who cares? No one should be judged for what they read, nor should authors for what they write.”
There are many other cultural phenomena that can be used to show how easily they are hated on even when they are statistically extremely successful. Overall, most things related to pop culture are not respected because their primary fans are women. And this just goes to show that women’s opinions are simply not respected. But where does that stem from?
The answer is misogyny. And before you start sighing, let me explain. Constantly criticising things that women and young girls like just perpetuates the idea that the content all women like is empty, easy, and unworthy of acclaim. But lived through the eyes of a girl who is being mocked for her tastes, this just teaches her that her opinions aren’t valid or good enough. It teaches her to enjoy things silently, or risk to be made fun of for it. And this misogyny, after being hammered down on those girls, becomes internalised. It becomes a refusal to admit to liking things in constant fear of being judged, thus reinforcing the taboo around the genre as a whole. But within pop culture, we can find a few examples that aren’t shamed as much. And the only difference between ‘chick-flicks’ and ‘respected franchises’ is that men have come to like it as well. Famous examples include Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. Another recent example is Harry Styles, who came out of the heavily criticised One Direction and played in a movie by Christopher Nolan, who is a director praised by most men, thus immediately giving more credit to Styles. The way we treat today’s teenagers heavily plays into how tomorrow’s women will both speak out and be viewed. We need to listen to them and teach them that their opinions and interests are just as valid as any other. If we want to create a culture in which teenage girls feel comfortable expressing their interests without constantly fearing judgment, we need to start questioning where that hatred comes from and consequently changing attitudes. Right now, no matter what a young girl likes, it will be shifted in a way that can be made fun of and criticised. We need to deconstruct our societal hatred for women and their tastes so we can move on and evolve as a society. “We don’t have to like what they like, but we have to stop hating it.” (Katherine McLaughlin)
