I've been watching sports for literally as long as I can
remember- I was basically born an Atlanta Braves fan, and over the years I've
been a fan of far too many sports to list. Thanks to the Internet, I've been
able to be part of great communities of fans, particularly female fans, but
with all of these communities there have always been those women who want to
tell you the right way to be a Real Fan. It happens with every single sport
(I'm assuming it also happens in ones I don't care about like basketball and
football) and honestly, it needs to stop.
Newsflash: if you like something, you're a fan. It doesn't
matter if you think one athlete is hot, or if you proudly support a team, or if
you just enjoy watching a sport in general. There is literally no wrong way to
be a fan of something, and there is no such thing as a Real Fan.
According to these women, a Real Fan is one who watches and
analyzes every single event, no matter how small, no matter if it's men's or
women's. A Real Fan is also definitely not physically attracted to any athlete
EVER because it's all about the sport itself, not the athletes' looks. I'm not
saying that these kinds of fans don't exist, but there are so many problems
with this definition of fan.
First off, there isn't anything wrong with finding athletes
attractive- they're in top physical shape, and sometimes they just happen to
have a great face to go along with their great body. If you think a swimmer is
hot and therefore watch their races, good for you. You're a fan. There's no law saying you can't be attracted
to athletes, and women shouldn't have to pretend to not find athletes hot in order
to be considered fans. (Conversely, if you aren't attracted to athletes,
congratulations, you're a fan too!)
Secondly, you don't have to watch every single event to be a
fan of something- if you do, congratulations, you're a fan, but you're not a
better fan than someone who only watches major competitions. I once woke up at
5am during summer vacation to watch a US Soccer warm-up tournament for the
Beijing Olympics. That doesn't make me a better fan than people who didn't get
up to watch that match (and if I remember correctly, we lost that game, so I
was probably the dumb one in that situation). Sometimes people have lives, they
want to sleep, they have things to do, or honestly they just don't care about
the smaller events. And that's honestly fine. If you watch any event and enjoy
it, congratulations, you're a fan.
Finally, these women always try to qualify their Real Fan
status by saying they watch the women's events as well as the men's in their
favorite sport. If you think about it, that's pretty messed up to start with-
it implies that, like with the smaller events, women's sports are something that
not everyone would watch, which is bullshit because women's sports can be just
as exciting as men's. But what these women think is that by watching women's
sports, they're definitely going to be considered Real Fans because there's no
way anyone could say that they're only watching for the hot guys, because it's
women. But the joke's on them because there are plenty of women who watch
women's sports and are also attracted to the women athletes. I'm not saying you
shouldn't watch women's sports (in fact, I honestly think everyone should), but
I'm saying you shouldn't watch women's sports in an effort to be a Real Fan.
You should watch them because you enjoy them.
I got a little ranty there, but the main point I want to
make is this: there is no wrong way to be a fan, and you should never have to
explain why you're a fan of something, especially to another female fan. We're
in the minority for pretty much every sport, and we should be sticking
together, not trashing each other and belittling our own support. If you like
something, you're a fan- that's all there is to it.
Fabulous!
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