Crossing the Line: Fans/Fandoms - Comments

@ not here anymore
Beatles fans had invaded the privacy of Ringo Starr and he (Ringo) didn't enjoy it when fans touches him and get into his personal bubble. Yeahh it's bound to happen when your fans are mostly girls (especially teens) but still doesn't give the fans the right to touch them inappropriatelyy like that. I don't like being touched like that.

@ kittencore
This whole blog reminded me of the incident where 1D. fans gate crashed the wedding of Niall's brother and he locked himself in the bathroom.

While I agree with Jennifer on some level, I still stand my ground that touching someone in any way that makes them uncomfortable, as I've explicitly said, is wrong. If that means grabbing their arm, the person may respond with negativity and the fan will freak out and go telling everyone that he/she is rude. I know plenty of band members who will walk up and hold your hands the whole time they're talking to you, and I know plenty of band members who prefer to just talk and sign things. I'm talking about the fans who don't respect that.
Rape culture is prevalent in both sexes, so I don't see how you're coming up with that claim. While it is seen as more appropriate for a girl to behave this way towards males, I don't see the connection at all. It's still wrong. Again, some band members care, others don't. I'm summing up the majority of what I see that shouldn't be tolerated by females of all ages.

@ Jennifer Gentle It's still creepy and rapey to grab someone's ass or crotch no matter what gender you are or they are. It's still sexual harassment and a complete disregard for the personal boundaries and the respect of another human being regardless of gender. And speaking as a feminist, we do ourselves no favors by pretending it's different when it happens to a man instead of a woman. He can feel just as violated and disgusted as she can if/when it happens to him. Fangirls can be cruel, violent, and downright terrifying. Just because they're girls doesn't mean shit about their actions. They're still doing wrong things and if they're decent human beings at all, they know that. And consider that these girls knowingly grope men who are dating, engaged, and married and there's no excuse there. These men are taken; hands off. And a lot of the guys I listen to have made it clear it's creepy and scary to have their clothes ripped off or to be groped and that they don't like it, and it still happens to them.

PREACH
Maybe it's because I'm older- but all of it freaks me the hell out. Even at 14/15 I would have NEVER acted like that. People fail to remember that, just because we see them on a bigger/different platform that they are all people who in the end just want the same things we do. It's such a shame.

@ kittencore
Nah, I got that point the first time you said it. My original response still applies to this. I don't think the rule of consent applies to touching someone in the same way that it's applied to a sexual act or something like that. You're acting like a touch on the arm is the equivalent of rape. That's a completely over the top and ridiculous comparison in my opinion. It is to be assumed and expected to be touched in the scenario that they've willingly put themselves in, so if they don't want to be touched in any way, then they should explicitly say so. If then, people continue to violate their request, I'd see more of a problem with it.

I also must add that it's completely different when a young girl touches an older boy, than it would be if a boy/man was touching a girl/woman. A male has a penis, and rape culture focuses largely on men victimizing women. Women are constantly victimized and sexually violated by males so in my opinion it has completely different inferences and connotations when a girl behaves this way to a boy rather than vice versa.

Something similar to this happened just last night for my favourite band where news leaked that their drummer got married on Monday. That's all cool and dandy, but DON'T go looking for photos that were not shared by the drummer and posting them to HIS twitter with your congratulations. I feel like if someone wants news about their personal life out there and on the internet, then they'll put it out there themselves, first. Otherwise yeah... it's creepy.

It's a generalization of things that happen to a lot of bands; not just boy bands in particular.
Another thing about your comparison of reactions: While I agree that on such a big scale, this may not seem like a bad thing, I think it's just as important for people to know when to lay off and when it's okay. A lot of musicians put out there what they like the fans doing and what they don't like the fans doing. Not all people are the same; some won't tolerate behavior like that just because they're in a band. Those who announce this deserve respect.

It's a generalization of things that happen to a lot of bands; not just boy bands in particular.
Another thing about your comparison of reactions: While I agree that on such a big scale, this may not seem like a bad thing, I think it's just as important for people to know when to lay off and when it's okay. A lot of musicians put out there what they like the fans doing and what they don't like the fans doing. Not all people are the same; some won't tolerate behavior like that just because they're in a band. Those who announce this deserve respect.

Okay, let's try this because you obviously didn't understand what I was trying to say. They do not sign away their bodily rights just because they get onstage for a bunch of screaming girls. That does not happen. I think you misunderstand when I say that touching them WITHOUT consent, is a big fucking deal. It's an invasion of privacy that a lot of people aren't comfortable with. Parker Cannon from TSSF doesn't even like to take pictures with fans because he hates his space being invaded. He doesn't disappoint them, he just doesn't want to be touched, and if his fans can respect that why can't others too? I'm simply saying that it's not okay to touch someone without their consent in any way. And no, I'm not starting some kind of "defense campaign". It's a rant. It's my opinion. It's something I've noticed in a lot of bands that they are incredibly uncomfortable with a lot of this stuff happening to them.
This doesn't pertain specifically to 5sos. I was using the band as an example of what I've been seeing for a long time in bands with a much much smaller fanbase than that of 5sos.

@Jennifer Gentle, regardless of if they EXPECT it, it's not okay. They are still human beings who deserve the respect of giving consent before they're touched.

@Jennifer Gentle, regardless of if they EXPECT it, it's not okay. They are still human beings who deserve the respect of giving consent before they're touched.

100% agree. I don't listen to that band, but I just heard about something with them and it was super freaking terrible.

I'm sorry but a 14-year-old girl or whoever chasing or touching a boy band member who's not much older is not that big of a deal. Touching them in "inappropriate areas" is wrong but besides that, seriously, come on. People don't just accidentally become famous, and especially being in a boy band, it's to be expected. Besides, I don't think it causes any psychological turmoil.

Morrissey fans tend to jump on stage and kiss/hug him, which he actually loves. The Beatles were constantly chased and screamed at and whatever but they didn't complain (well, much) because that only meant that they were succeeding. I just don't think that someone who doesn't want attention and adoration would go on a stage, much less join a boy group formulated to create such a reaction out of girls. When it comes to things like what happened to Bob Dylan, where fans were desecrating his family home and journalists were going through his garbage looking for lyrics, that's when it crosses the line. But when young girls are going crazy over young boys, I don't think you should go off on some campaign in their defense.