Over the summer, I attended a Louis Tomlinson concert, one of the (former) members of One Direction. As I was sitting in line by the Armory, something caught my ear. The women sitting ahead of me were talking about how they felt old in comparison to everyone else in the queue. We got to talking and it turns out that they were in their early 30’s/late 20’s. We touched on what it was like to be teenagers during the height of the Tumblr age, the 2014 aesthetic, I also learned that they were fans of One Direction when they were seemingly on top of the world in the early – mid 2010’s. which is interesting because, they were about the same age of Louis and the rest of the (ex) band. In addition to Louis’ “branding” being more mature, contrasting the youthful and fun personality that was aimed towards tweens and teens.
Ageism is an example of privilege. Geeking out about a thing, or a person is seen as normal when teens do it, but unacceptable and childish when adults do it, almost like hobbies and Interests should just disappear. It’s ironic how adults are criticized for these types of things, but they are the ones who are more likely to have been fans for longer. Take Taylor Swift for example, she started her career in 2006 when she released her debut album: “Taylor Swift.” Most of her adult fans have been celebrating, dancing, and singing with her since, which is longer than some of her fans have been alive.
Take for example sports fans, who’s majority of the demographic is adult men. And even though at sporting events people are screaming and sometimes acting out in a violent matter, it is seen as normal and that they’re just “passionate” and “loyal” to their team. This can also apply to fans of an older. There is a social norm for people to as they get older: remove parts of their personal interests, essentially ripping away parts of their identity. By taking away their identity, it is easier to degrade and make fun of the older fans. Which is why there is not really a problem with taking older fans (and people in general) not seriously.
The conversation of ages spans much larger than just in fan groups. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 6.3 million cases of depression is a consequence of ageism. To put that into perspective: approximately 280 million people total have been diagnosed with depression, so about 44% of those people have depression because of agism. This bias against older people could potentially cost money. The negative stereotype against old people costed the U.S about $63 billion dollars in 2020 (world health organization). Ageism can also lead to loneliness and self-isolation. Isolation has been linked to physical manifestations such as heart disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes, dementia and even early death (CDC) Which is why having a sense of community is so important, especially in the age where everything is so accessible and where it is so easy to include people instead of ostracize people based on old age, which is something that is inevitable to all of us. By being more accepting to other listeners, there would be more of a sense of community surrounding this issue.
Through the differences between different ages within fan groups, there is still a common ground for love and appreciation of the artist. It really should not matter what the ages of the fan is, as everyone should celebrate music and everything that comes with it. The Grammys happened this past weekend and people tuned in to see if their favorite music artist won a highly prestigious award that is difficult to get. There was sort of this community with “fangirling”, there are other people who freak out as the same things as you that your friends in real life might not understand. Going back to friendship bracelet trend seen at the Eras tour, I personally traded bracelets at the tour and the bracelets were filled with inside jokes, and song abbreviations that others, simply could not understand. It was also interesting to see that it was complete strangers who were trading with each other, myself included. Even though I normally don’t like talking to strangers, the love for Taylor Swift made me and many others feel comfortable enough to talk to these strangers. Sitting in line for hours on end to see an artists brings people together, like the women who I was sitting near at the Louis Tomlinson concert, I would have never had that perspective if it weren’t for them