Femininity and Cringe Culture

I remember when the animated movie Turning Red was officially released to the public, I knew I had to watch it. I fell in love with it immediately. Mei as a main character was highly compelling and relatable, especially as someone who was heavily into fandom and fan culture when I was younger. However, the movie received heavy backlash, especially from male demographics discussing how unrelatable and boring the movie felt for some people. It made me take a step back and reconsider some outlooks on certain interests I had or currently have. Which leads me to the term cringe.

Cringe as a word is almost inescapable in the online world. Cringe is one of the worst things to be according to the internet because it means your content/statements have caused someone to have a visceral, horrified reaction to you. What I noticed however is that this idea of cringe tends to be most used when it comes to interests that are considered highly feminine. For example, I remember becoming so embarrassed of my love of One Direction at a certain age I stopped buying merchandise and listening to music. Not because I stopped loving them. It was because I was so tired of everyone treated it like it was something to be ashamed of. While it definitely is not the only source of "cringe" on the internet, many people find fan culture more cringe when it is associated with women. In a weird way, it is almost a form of oppression, as those who try to express themselves freely are hated upon and ridiculed online. I think about how much sooner I could have come into my own interests if I had stopped fearing what others thought of what I liked. So, really this is just a long ramble just to say that if you are a fellow nerdy woman, embrace your cringe. Even if you aren't and just love fan culture, I say go for it. Who knows? It could end up being a major part of who you are in the future.