40 OPINION
Staff ed: the implications of word choice
The Globe examines the differences in word choice when describing women’s topics of interest.
ELLA CUNEO | EDITOR IN CHIEF
Southern Methodist University fans cheer at a football game.
PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
T
he morning after the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2018, city workers were left to board up shattered shop windows, sweep broken glass and repair street signs. The night before, the predominantly male crowd flipped cars, destroyed the awning of the Ritz-Carlton hotel and brought traffic lights down in an all-night rally to celebrate the win. Our cultural ethos determines these men to be passionate. Dedicated. Celebrating. In the media, while predominantly male fan bases are seen as overly passionate, those that are mostly female are often described as ‘hysterical.’ The term ‘hysteria’ originates from the Greek term ‘hystera,’ meaning uterus. The oldest record of hysteria dates back to 1900 B.C. recorded on an Egyptian medical papyrus. The Egyptians diagnosed women with hysteria when they believed their uterus was no longer in its original position. The ancient Greeks furthered this definition to include anytime a woman could not bear children. Between the fifth and thirteenth centuries, with the increasing influence of Christianity in the Latin West, people began to believe that hysteria was the satanic possession of a woman. Now, we consider hysterical, or hysteria, to mean being affected by uncontrollable or extreme emotion.
In March, 2011, thousands of fans gathered outside The Hard Days Night Hotel Liverpool to catch a glimpse of pop star Justin Bieber. The article reminiscing on the 10-year anniversary of the incident was titled: “Justin Bieber’s ‘Plea’ to ‘Hysterical’ Fans who Waited Outside Liverpool Hotel in 2011,” reported by ECHO. It describes how police officers were required to keep the crowds of teenage girls “under control” but no damage was caused. Alternatively, “Eagles Fans Celebrate Super Bowl Victory by Attempting to Destroy the City They Love,” was the title of the article reported by the Daily Beast. They described their fans as “overzealous” and “passionate,” and the title discusses their love for their city. The media coverage of both incidents paints the fans in very different ways. The younger female fans were reported to be experiencing ‘mania’ and out of their minds with emotions while adult male sports fans, who caused far more destruction, were described as simply being excited. Both fan bases are driven by their excitement and emotions of the situation, yet only the predominantly female group seems to be shamed. When conducting research for this article, we investigated online the term “passionate fans” and obtained thousands of articles and
images depicting male sports fans screaming and cheering. When searching “hysterical fans,” images and articles of women yelling and crying came up. There was no overlap between the two searches. Ultimately the perception of the fans comes back to the larger idea of how we value men and women, and the things they tend to favor. There is a double standard about emotional responses to things people like. Women are often viewed as crazy for being passionate about the things they enjoy. Men are thought of as dedicated. The media’s portrayal of women’s interests tend to give things with large female fan bases a negative connotation. They are thought of to be “uncool,” or too stereotypical to be well-liked. As the message about female fans continues to be spread, more young people are exposed to this line of thinking and are pushed away from things they may have grown to enjoy. The description of emotions in relation to gender is frequently how society deems its worth. One particular example of this is in the literary genre of women’s fiction and romance. Often given a distasteful reputation, romance novels give way to a variety of emotional characters. Twentieth century author Virginia Woolf
