‘Superiority Complex’ and K-pop Fandoms
A few days ago, I was scrolling through my Twitter timeline when I saw someone who tweeted about the older K-pop fans knowing so much more than younger fans nowadays. I think it’s normal for many people who have supported their favorites longer than the newer fans to feel that they have the rights to brag about things that other people didn’t experience back then.
In a smaller context, for instance, in a fandom, I’ve met some people who actually feel like they’re better than the newer fans. Have been to numerous concerts? Check. Have been to a hi-touch for their idols? Check. Own too much overpriced merchandise? Check. Have millions of internet friends in the same fandom? Check. Have the energy and power to do so many projects in a fandom? Check.
I’ve been wondering about this issue for quite some time. Why do older, or may I say ‘senior’ fans, experience that ‘superiority complex’ phase? Do they want younger or newer fans to acknowledge them for being more experienced?
To think about this is rather useless. It’s just a fandom, a place where you entitle yourself in a community for liking idols. It’s meant to be a place to enjoy your hobby, your sweet escape; but why do people brag and try to exert dominance in this place? I couldn’t help but ask whether a sense of superiority actually exists within a fandom.
A sense of superiority, according to Alfred Alder, is “a psychological defense mechanism in which a person’s feelings of superiority counter or conceal his or her feelings of inferiority.” Why does it happen? It happens because we live in a world of competition, and being a fangirl is surely a competition too—for a lot of fans.
If such feelings between fans is normal, what is the result? Based on my experiences, having friends (who are also fans) who act superior in front of you can make you less interested in joining the fandom. Those friends would spoil many things about the fandom, which sucks because you’re still in the exploring phase. Being a new fan means that you’re deep in the excited feelings of infatuation, the same feelings of liking someone for the first time.
If we examine this from another point of view, maybe people who feel like they’re superior just want to show their ‘achievement’ (re: happiness) for being able to do what most people can’t. In a K-pop fandom, we can see this from those who are always attending (or watching) concerts, meeting their faves at fansign events, or maybe publicly declaring why everyone has to know about their existence in the fandom? Just kidding. I mean you know those kids who are always bragging that they existed in the fandom earlier than everyone else. Or maybe, they just don’t know how else to express their happiness.
Anyway, I think it’s normal to experience feelings of superiority. Even in a fandom, a place that supposedly makes us happy, we will still find those people who act like that—and it’s normal.
However, if you have a tendency to have feelings of superiority, it’s your job to manage that feeling. Let’s not ruin it for people who are in the fandom to have fun. Fangirling is for fun, folks!
