via Slashdot: new geek-inspired words in Merriam-Webster. One of those words is "fanboy", which Cnet appear to be attributing to the juggernauting Apple craze. Because of course, the only people who like Apple, technology, and hell - are geeks in general! - are boys. Duh!

Although, a lot of the new entries seem to be from very old words that M-W is totally, like, cool, to integrate. Here's the definition of "fanboy":

_Fanboy (1919): boy who is an enthusiastic devotee, such as of comics or movies. (via here)

But, it's not exactly nothing new to have male groups legitimised by being instated officially in and therefore acknowledged by the dominant lexicon...

But is there an alternative female term that's legitimising/positive (I won't go so far as to say "neutral"...) rather than being pejorative? One that hasn't just been re-appropriated and used by the 'subculture', but now has mainstream use? I mean, does "fangirl" mean the same thing as 'fanboy' does above? In my experience it has more negative connotations than simply being enthusiastic about it.

When "fangirl" is a noun and you're talking about someone else being a fangirl, it's mildly critical of that person's behaviour or manner - i.e. "and then the crazy fangirl attacked Jensen".

When it's about yourself, "I'm a total fangirl", it's kind of ironic and self-aware - same way you compare yourself to a teenage girl going into hysterics because you want to have Jensen Ackles' babies. (Even if you don't seriously want that, you're poking fun at yourself as you express how enthused you really are.)

Then there's the verb, "fangirling" - which is self-aware like the above, but still connotes that out-of-controlness when you ironically say to someone "I'm totally fangirling you right now!" to evoke the image of yourself jumping up and down and squealing.

Not that there's anything wrong with jumping up and down and squealing. But fangirl still connotes that distasteful history of 'female hysteria' and being out of control, whereas 'fanboy', while it might have once been a pejorative term, is now linked with cool, smart and stylish geekery (like Apple).

[note: just musing on my experience, I certainly don't expect that the term has the same connotations for everyone.]

Anyway, rambling. Just seems to me that a girl can't be an enthusiastic devotee, such as of comics or movies in such a way that it's perfectly fine and dictionary-ised.


On a slight tangent, Mary and I were bitching about the ageism in the blatant othering/generalisations of "Gen Y" and whatnot when she came across a newspaper article talking about how "Gen F" adopted technology.

"Gen F" as in: Generation Female. As in, more than 50% of the population. As in, that OTHER group of people who aren't NORMAL but require categorising as DIFFERENT. Females. And in relation to new technology, no less. WHAT THE.