The Pop Culture and Its Sense of Hysteria

A pregnant woman went into labour while attending Taylor Swift's concert in Australia. One would suppose the next logical step would be to leave the concert and rush to the hospital. However, the 31-year-old, Jenn Gutierrez, danced through the pain and gave birth days later, according to the New York Post.

Even though her due date was only two weeks away, she was determined to attend the Eras Tour with her husband, Michael Sin, and twin sister. However, during the 'Reputation' set, which was one hour into the concert, Ms Gutierrez began to have contractions. She continued to dance and sing despite the contractions, which lasted throughout the event.

Taylor Swift with her fans at a concert

Miss Swift's fandom is not the only cult that experiences strong emotions of frenzy. Throughout history, there have been numerous occurrences in pop culture history that have reaffirmed celebrity worship time and again. Beatlemania in the 1960s was one such high tide, with an enthusiastic, female-led fan culture around the Beatles from 1963 to 1966.

Paul McCartney with a herd of fans

Though it wasn’t all women. Kolya Vasin, the Beatles' biggest Russian fan during the Soviet era when communist authorities saw Western rock music as subversive. His devotion to the Beatles inspired him to transform his apartment into a Fab Four museum. He also wanted to dedicate a "shrine of love" to John Lennon in St Petersburg, but the concept was never realized, even though city officials located a good location for it. Many fans backed the shrine idea. Answering questions about the reasons for dedicating such a large part of his life to the Beatles, he went on to say that having children would not have provided him with the same joy and affection that the band had. 

Kolya Vasin, the Russian Beatles fan who turned his fan into a museum for the band

Teenage girls have a significant impact on mainstream culture and the perceived panic has always been associated with them. Whether it is the Beatles or in recent times, One Direction and the K-pop bands, teenage girls have always had a major contribution in cultivating the culture. And they face a lot of flak for it. The criticism is primarily based on the filth of misogyny; it is simpler to characterize anything that a naive young girl enjoys as foolish and frivolous since it perfectly conforms to society's conventional hierarchy of importance. 

Enthusiastic female fans at concerts

The world is a scary place and we are constantly chasing a sense of belonging. Fans gain a personal and social identity from their fandom. There are associated memories about the various phases of their lives and how their loyalty and enthusiasm towards a specific pop culture entity stood the test of time. Yes, celebrity culture did not completely emerge organically. It has long been promoted by advertisers, marketers, and the media. Yet passion and enthusiasm for the artists have always been at the heart of it for the fans. But more often than not, the line between passion and frenzy gets blurred. 

 

Inputs: Agencies

Image Source: Multiple agencies

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