Who Runs the World? Fangirls.
After a video titled ‘In defence of the Fangirl’ by Toni Cowan-Brown (@f1toni) popped up on my tiktok for you page, I have felt compelled to speak on the matter of Fangirls and their influence in the motorsport world and beyond.
Since the introduction of Drive to Survive, an F1 series on Netflix, Formula 1 has seen an influx of new fans that has revitalised the sport. A large majority of these fans are teenagers and young adults due to the demographic of Netflix being within the Gen Z region. During the pandemic we seen other platforms such as Twitch and Discord thrive as F1 Esports Virtual GP’s replaced our lack of racing during lockdown. These applications have attracted young fans as they create connections with their favourite drivers and teams like never before, we see their true personalities shine breaking down the barricade of mystery between the athlete and the fan. Society and a large percentage of the motorsports world do not have a problem with young fans, old or new, apart from when it comes to teen girls. For far too long society has demonised teen girls and anything that they associate with but their power has the ability to break boundaries like never before.
In Toni’s video, which I will link for you to watch below, she goes on to explain “societies sexist double standards when it comes to male and female fans. Male fans are seen as having this deep rooted passion and smart understanding of sports and the history alongside it, while girls are seen to be driven by pure lust and craze equated to the term groupies”. This is how it has always gone, as we have seen throughout society and especially in pop culture, teen girls have become the punchline of a tired joke.
The reality Toni goes on to explain is that “the female fandom of F1 is FULL of experts and wield incredible power both economically and in relevancy on the sports and athletes they champion”. As seen in pop culture with the Beatles who attracted the attention of teen girls first. The same Beatles that have been named as one of the most influential rock bands in history. The female fandom is a driving force, cash cow and gatekeeper. They are the fans buying your merchandise, supporting your endeavours outside of sport, buying tickets but most importantly they are the driving force behind the relevancy of your sport. They are the base of an entire media economy that athletes and teams make from instagram and especially tiktok, creating exposure for them like never before. Despite the huge role they have played in this new digital age of relevancy and influence Toni states how they are dismissed as ditsy, crazy, obsessive and desperate, they are ridiculed and vilified as soon as they declare themselves as a fan of Formula 1. Many of the female followers of our page ,who I asked to help me with this blog, justified this exact statement from Toni. This is just a few examples of what our readers have been told:
“Watch love island instead”- Liz
“Girls only like F1 for the drivers”- Tyler
“You’re clearly part of the Drive To Survive generation”- Kayla
“I’ve been present when guy friends have insinuated that there is no room for a woman’s presence, branding others as F1 wannabes and obsessed” - Frankie
“I get eye-rolls from my parents”- Liv
“So which driver do you have a crush on then?”- Millie
“I have been told by other girls that I have not been into F1 long enough to not be from the DTS generation of fans”- Anonymous
A detail to remember about all of these statements said to these women was that they were coming from male and female fans, parents, and friends. This tired idea of young female fans spreads across to everyone.
The next stage of being a female fan is being asked to prove yourself as if there is a certain number of statistics, width of knowledge, or skills you must obtain to even dare label yourself as such. Being asked ridiculously challenging questions on minuscule details of F1 as if the answer justifies adoration for the sport, or the complete rejection of the idea that you could know more about the sport than them.
“I didn’t know girls could like the technical side”- Anonymous
“People challenge my knowledge and why I want to work in F1 because I’m a girl?”- Arabella
“I was told to name the years Nelson Piquet won his World Championships and when I did they said to me it was lucky guess” - Anonymous
Toni elaborates on how sexism and constrictive gender roles are a huge reason for this problem but also mentions how, luckily, these age-old gender roles are starting to fade away ever so slightly. A sport that was perceived as masculine for decades is finally starting to see a shift, thanks to a large number of women breaking down stereotypes by building their own successful careers in the male dominated industry of motorsport. Steps are being taken in the right direction towards a gender balance for F1 in the future. The removal of grid girls in Formula 1, helping to stop the sexualisation of female motorsports fans. The introduction of the W series which has helped to shine a light on female talent in motorsports, providing young girls with role models they can look up to and creating the much needed female representation in motorsports. Initiatives like FIA Girls on Track exposes young girls to opportunities to gain experience in an industry that has been male dominated for so long, inspiring these young women to follow the paths they desire and believe that there is a rightful place for them in this industry.
Toni perfectly explains the power that young female fans hold and how “the teams and athletes who respect and recognise their weight in this industry will win big”. Having a female fandom behind you can benefit your brand in so many ways, as Tori states teen girls don’t act cool, if they don’t like you they will tell you . “They have their finger on the pulse”. Listening to your female fanbase on the issues that matter will pay off in relevancy and financially. Tori specifies how the female fandom pushes industries to face issues head-on such as, racism, sexism, LGBTQ+ support, the climate emergency, and much more. They help your brand to become inclusive and conscious about the ever-changing society we live in. Female fans pay attention, the way drivers and teams behave off the track is paramount to their success in this era of relevancy and influence, slip ups can be costly to your brand.
An industry where you have a strong female fandom as well as male, is an industry that will continue to thrive for decades to come.
Thank you to all of the amazing women who responded to me and helped me with this blog, I really appreciate it. A huge shout-out to the main inspiration for this blog post, Toni Cowan-Brown make sure to follow her on tiktok @f1toni and to have a listen to her podcast ‘Unapologetic Women’.
Toni’s tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@f1toni/video/6987828534643281158
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post as much as I did writing it! If you did let us know on our instagram @fs_formulas
Thanks!
Soph
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