March 19, 2015. A day that shall live in infamy. Don’t know what happened on March 19? Well, sit down because it’s a doozy. That was the dreadful day Zayn Malik left One Direction. You don’t care? It’s okay because I didn’t either. But to millions of young girls this was the end of the universe. Videos of crying, screaming fans flooded all facets of social media. And yes, it was easy to laugh at how much they had overreacted to something I didn’t care about.
Now flash forward to April 4. The undefeated, 38-0 men’s basketball team of the University of Kentucky lost to Wisconsin in this year’s Final Four in March Madness. Now what does this have to do with One Direction and crying girls? Much like directioners, Wildcat fans were angry, crying over the loss of their beloved team whom they felt deserved to win. While 1D fans may not have rioted in the streets like Kentucky fans did, the similarities between the two are pretty extraordinary.
Young girls and grown men react almost identically to very different situations. But only one of those groups is told they are overreacting. Can you guess which one? Society has allowed male sports fanatics to act the way they do, saying it is natural and normal for them to have that reaction. For example, whenever I attend a baseball game at Dodger Stadium, I can always expect screaming, cursing men and at least one or two fights to break out. Their reactions are expected. Adult men can be seen crying hysterically – or even worse, in a fit of anger and rage – after their favorite sports team loses. And it happens among all the sports: soccer, football, baseball, basketball, you name it.
Society perceives these reactions as completely separate, never relating the two to each other. Even though the reactions have exceedingly similar aspects to them, they are always categorized as two different entities: normal and not normal. We may not even realize we perceive them this way. I know I never did until I really stopped and thought about it. You might have never thought about it until you saw this article.
When thinking about the two, I’m sure that a majority of people would have a conversation with themselves that sounds something like this: “Well it’s perfectly normal for these sports fans to be upset. I mean their favorite team just lost the big game. They were so deserving to win. They worked so hard, and it slipped through their talented, athletic fingers. Now on the other hand, it’s not normal for these young girls to be so upset about what’s-his-face leaving the band. Who even cares? Why are they overreacting? It’s just a boy band. Those girls and their crazy hormones need to calm down.”
Why do we do this? I’m not even entirely sure, but I bet age and gender have a play in what is deemed appropriate and what is deemed irrational. But reactions happen and emotions are natural. We may think that some are a tad crazier than others, but we need to accept all of them. If society allows one group to react a certain way, then it should grant others the permission to react in the same way.
We don’t need to pick sides because I don’t believe this is an issue that involves picking sides. If men want to cry over their sports, then let them cry. If girls want to cry over their favorite band, then let them cry too. Both reactions are valid, no matter the age, gender or reason behind the reaction.
If people want to cry, then give them a box of tissues instead of telling them they’re overreacting. And no I’m not crying, I just have a bit of society’s expectations stuck in my eye.
“Young girls and grown men react almost identically to very different situations. But only one of those groups is told they are overreacting. Society has allowed male sports fanatics to act the ways in which they do, saying it is natural and normal for them to have that reaction.” (Photos courtesy of Creative Commons Archive)
