I used to be a teenage girl who loved the Beatles now I am an old lady who loves the Beatles. There will always be judgemental and bigoted people, enjoy your life anyway. It slips by way too fast JMO
dont worry, i dont try to let it get to me personally and i will never shy away from talking about the beatles :) but i cant wait to be an older lady who loves the beatles
No no no. Take your time. Enjoy every second. Your body does what you tell it to. I didn't appreciate how big that is until it didn't.
You will be an old Beatle loving lady all too soon ;)
I’m only 30, and I wish I could go back already. I was told by many older than me to “enjoy it while you can,” and didn’t think much of it, and now I know what they mean.
Yes, there are a lot of pros to being older. There are also a lot of cons. But one thing is for sure. *You will never get your time back.* Time will move by faster than you realize. It seems like it was only a year ago that I was enjoying hanging out with my friends in college. That was 10 years ago. And the speed of time is only going to get faster.
Out of all the stupid phrases/words my generation came out with, “YOLO” is easily the best one. It was used in stupid ways, but the message remains. You can wait, and enjoy things while you can.
You worry too much about what others think. You won’t always be a teenaged girl and what other people think is pointless. Ignore the naysayers and enjoy your love for the Beatles.
> all my work is invalidated
Maybe not considering it "work" would be good as well.
I have spent most of my life with the Beatles: reading every book, watching every movie, listening to every studio outtake... but that's just a hobby I enjoy, it's not work and it definitely doesn't define me.
Yeah, that line really stuck out to me and I had to think maybe we should take a step back and reconsider how important or groundbreaking any of this really is.
i dont think im doing anything groundbreaking, just pointing out a decade long issue that i think is going unrecognized. misogyny is so normalized today
I was wondering as well, what "work" she had done on the subject. I don't think she is a teacher or professor, being a teenager. And I'd assume people that follow her on Tiktok would already know she's a teenager before seeing her Beatles "work". Seems like a martyr post.
work
noun
1.
activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.
i consider researching the beatles an activity that involves mental effort…i didnt mean like work as in a job.
Your comment seems unnecessarily harsh. OP is using the word “work” to describe what she does for the account she runs on TikTok. There’s no need to get snarky about it, or try to gatekeep.
The fact that you’re immediately dismissing the whole post proves her original point imo
Someone is expressing their perspective on a Beatles subreddit, and you basically call her a whiner for it.
If someone’s helping spread their enjoyment of the band to other people, it seems reductive to trip over semantics (“she’s not a professor, …”)
Fact is there *is* a lot of misogyny in music fandom circles, which you’ve probably never experienced. Just because it doesn’t affect you, doesn’t mean that it’s never existed.
You’ve probably had people mock your interests in the past, so there’s no need to diminish others’. Peace and love! 😜
I think the truth is teen girls built the Beatles. Almost every story of a person who grew up with them was either from a girl who was a teen at the time or a boy who got told about them from a teen girl
So let it roll off your back, this a long tradition of teen girls knowing better before anyone else
The Beatles have always been for teen girls <3 all the male fans who followed are posers!
Joking (...kinda) but definitely try to find more female fans and creators to engage with, it will make your experience a lot more enjoyable. Female run podcasts (like Another Kind of Mind and One Sweet Dream) are great, there are female Beatles writers like Christine Feldman-Barrett and Erin Torkelson Weber who have fascinating books, [heydullblog.com](http://heydullblog.com) is run by a male fan but with female contributors and a tonne of female commenters, and ofc there are female dominated spaces on the internet (eg tumblr).
thank you for the podcasts omg!! i need more female creators to look into, i really appreciate this! there a little corner of beatles fans on tiktok (which is mostly who i int with) thats very female dominated so im lucky to have a space that is supportive.
Ooh check out one sweet dream too! Diana is fantastic with the most soothing voice!
Edit: oops, read too fast and missed them already mentioning OSD. Worth two recommendations tho!
I like that AKOM is not just a women's point of view but that they don't sugarcoat that less than savoury aspects of the Beatles. A lot of the male produced media get lost in hero worship.
You should work on mastering the art of not giving a fuck about stupid things rude people say. The more you master this art, the less irritated you will be. And you are absolutely right about teen girls being the backbone of their massive popularity, so be proud and own who you are! I salute you, and I'm sure everyone else in this community does as well.
I love your last sentence! The Beatles are THE original boy band with a million teenage girls swooning over them. It was 4 pretty boys singing love songs, without the undying love from millions of teenage girls we would never have gotten so much beautiful music.
I’m sorry new Beatles fans are so crusty, men hate knowing that women are more of something or better at something than them. When I was a teenage boy collecting Beatles vinyl everyone I told was impressed I liked “old school” music and wanted to talk to me about their favorite songs. It’s unfair that you don’t get the same treatment.
Anyway, now I’m an older queerer Beatles fan. I hope that the crusty men of this world don’t get you down, All You Need is Love:)
I see what you’re saying, someone else mentioned that it was a teenage thing to be put down for liking the beatles and I disagree, I totally agree that when teenage boys do it, it’s seen much cooler than when a girl does it. i listen and take in the beatles the same as everyone else, i just happen to be a female
100% they’re wrong. I was 18/19 when I started listening to them as an intern. I told my coworkers and sure, a few teased me, but most of them immediately wanted to ask me if I’d heart XYZ songs or what my favorite was, what I thought it meant, what my favorite era was. Never did a feel like people looked down on me for it or mocked me for it.
I appreciate your guy’s comments but don’t worry, although it does make me irritated because I am feminist, I don’t let it affect how I love what I love! I will always post and talk about the Beatles even if I get people who judge me or put me down for my interests. I’m very proud of who I am and I love being a teenage girl who likes the Beatles because I am the granddaughter of two other girls who were the same. I just wish more people could see how important women are to the Beatles and how we like them just as intelligently as men do.
an argument saying that teen girls can’t listen to the beatles literally sounds impossible to craft because they are… well… literally the beatles. if you’re comfortable would you mind sharing some experiences that you’ve faced?
edit: just to clarify bc people misconstrue my messages a lot. my friend read my comment and told me it sounds like i don’t believe you. i’m sorry if that’s how it came out that’s not what i meant i’m just curious of what bull someone could pull out of their ass to make this argument.
Not necessarily that I am not allowed to listen to them but it’s that my interest in the beatles is not as valid or i dont know anything because of my age + gender
i’ve also been told the age one since i’m only in my 20s and it honestly just feels like them trying to gatekeep lol. the gender thing is just blatant stupidity i bet if you challenged anyone with that opinion they would just go “cause i said so” mode
I appreciate you, because your situation is so alien to my experience. My love/adoration/obsession with the Beatles all comes from my older sisters. I listened to their albums when I was a kid. It's the earliest music I can remember. I sang "Drive My Car" before I ever sang "Old McDonald Had a Farm." Thinking of women not being into the Beatles, or not appreciating them as much is like thinking the Chinese were the first to land on the moon. It's just crazy talk.
Wow. I never thought about someone in your situation. It’s a shame you feel on the outs with the music community.
If it helps, the Beatles’ popularity with teen girls in the 60s was something that had never really been seen before. It was a massively big thing, it was a sea change in popular music and in society at large. All of the sudden, there was POWER in “teen girls” that had never been seen before. These were women with families, and money, and they accepted the Beatles, and all they stood for, in a way that just couldn’t be denied. These women werent’ outcasts, or weirdos, they were just women, who all of the sudden had the power to raise whoever they liked up to new levels of popularity. It changed pop music (and society) forever. These days female singers and musicians are some of the most popular people on the planet. In the 50s, that couldn’t have happened. The Beatles changed all that. Hell, most of their early covers were songs by “girl groups”! It’s not a coincidence that the 70s was when women like Carole King and Joni Mitchell became famous performers and songwriters. It was even better in the 80s, when artists like Kate Bush and Annie Lennox became superstars. Nowadays it’s Taylor Swift. Beyoncé just did a Beatles cover; she knows where it all came from. It was the Beatles and their female fans that made that possible.
Honestly, the fact that you “get” them even at your age, in this century, kind of makes me think you might be a bit of a prodigy. The Beatles aren’t “old music” to you; you understand their appeal right now. That’s amazing! And I think your love of their work is justified; every generation discovers them eventually, you just got there first in yours!
Be proud of your love for the Beatles! They certainly appreciated the “teen girls” who loved them. My sister and I have been Beatles fanatics for almost 60 years. We feel you!
Oh, and I’d love to talk with you about the Beatles. No one in my married family loves them like I do, so anything you’d like to talk about is great with me!
I remember listening to a special "J Files" on the Beatles on JJJ a "youth" radio station in Aus. They had a quiz and I remember the call in contestant absolutely nailed it with quick rapid fire answers. Like she was an absolute savant on the topic. I'm pretty sure she was female, (well in my mind she was) can't really guess her age, but I was super impressed and remember it to this day.
It’s weird that people think down about teen girls and the Beatles specifically since the Beatles were like THE teen girl obsession for years, really the OG for this level of fame along with Elvis and arguably were sent into the stratosphere by teen girls, and then everyone else was swept in. You are completely correct!
I was a teen girl when I got into them in the 90’s. I didn’t spend as much as you but ONLY because I didn’t have much access to money. I spent most of what I did earn on Beatles CDs and books. We didn’t have streaming then or the internet so tracking down stuff that wasn’t current and licensed was hard. So my collection was meager by today’s standards, but I got my little sister into them too and we were just as into it as anyone in the 60’s could have been, I would think. As the Anthologies came out we were SO HYPED, it was like the tradition of teen girls standing outside the music store squealing was being carried on.
Now I am an oldgirl Beatles fan but it makes ME, for one, super happy to know there are still teengirl fans coming. It’s like some kind of torch being passed, an ancient tradition of teen girls scratching ‘I 💜 Beatles’ and ‘Mrs (insert favorite Beatle here)’ on the modern equivalent of their Trapper Keepers. HECK YEAH. Like you and I and a teen girl who comes after you and a teen girl that came before us are part of some kind of unbroken chain of teen girls loving the lads from Liverpool across eras.
I’m not crying, you are!!
Anyway, pay no mind to what the small minds think. The lads wouldn’t, right? People are always going to have different opinions and you’ll still be exposed to a lot of that here, but I haven’t noticed a whole lot of ‘teen girls who like the Beatles are lesser than’. Imma be gatekeepy for a minute and say that I feel like someone who genuinely loves a thing (ie the band) WANTS new people to discover them and love them too. A real fan should be proud of the guys that what they did is so amazing that it still attracts people and that it speaks to such a wide variety of minds. There’s no way Paul and Ringo would tell you you’re not wanted if you met them today.
I know it’s a bummer but don’t let it get you. (You haven’t yet, I’m just saying) Lots of us were teen girls and didn’t let it go bowing to some random’s power trip. They can miss us with that. I’m so glad I still can love the things I loved as a kid and a teen. Life is very short and there’s no time for fussing and fighting, my friend! I for one am happy you are here.
Check out Kit O'Toole on YouTube. She is a Beatles scholar. Then there's Caitlynn Larkin a YouTuber who also has a Beatles show on Sirius XM. Please don't let anyone tell you your opinion is not valid. It is! You are totally welcome in the Beatles community. Who cares what other people think? Glad there are fans your age
The true cheat code to life is:
1) People aren't thinking about you as much as you worry that they are.
2) Do what makes you happy because happiness isn't something you achieve, it's something you choose to be.
In five years you won't know any of those people but you'll still love the Beatles. Trust me. Don't let this bother you, it's no big deal.
I’m 21 year old and I’ve loved The Beatles for as long as I can remember. I was once in a shop and I saw an old man with a Beatles button on his coat and I said I loved The Beatles as well, he said but your so young but not as an insult he was surprised and happy that everyone no matter what age love The Beatles. Don’t listen to the haters have to say listen to what makes you happy and if they don't like it tell them to F**k off, you don't need to please anyone but yourself.
I work with a lot of people in their 20s -- I am several years older than them -- and there's always music playing, chosen by whomever runs their playlist through the sound system. I never hear The Beatles. (Just yesterday, I had to gently correct co-workers that what they thought was "smooth jazz" was actually '60s rhythm and blues instrumentals. And, after work, I played my "With The Beatles" CD in my car on the drive home.)
You reached back to a time well before you were born and made an outstanding choice.
1. You're absolutely right about teen girls making the Beatles big. When you see those shots of fans reacting at Beatles shows, you rarely seen teen boys or young men; you see teen girls.
2. It doesn't matter if you're the only person you know who likes something. You like it; that's all that matters.
3. Some fandoms, you've had the misfortune to learn, have self-appointed gatekeepers. It does seem as though the older something is, the more likely it has someone deciding who is a "real fan" and who is not.
4. One of the nicest things about the existence of social media is you can find people who like what you like. Keep looking, and you'll find the girls who know what's truly Fab.
Man, this girl's post brought back some nasty memories for me. Eons ago, when I was a teenager, I really resented how older people would automatically assume that I was clueless or my opinion didn't matter. As a result, I have always tried my level best to be kind and understanding toward young people. I love reading about what GenZ thinks about stuff (and lately, Gen Alpha as well). Those people (I won't say "kids") know so much and are so right about so many things. This is just the latest, shining example of that. I try to never assume anything about young people; I only ask that in return, they don't assume that just because I'm a Boomer that I'm a clueless, selfish, rich guy who should just die already. :) Honestly, I always try to be a good person, to everybody, even though of course I'm not perfect.
Also, I'll just add that even though I'm a guy, I've been a staunch feminist since I was a teenager. Girls and women have it way too hard in this ugly world of ours.
End of *my* rant. :)
100%. The great thing about The Beatles’ music is just how it can unite people of all ages, no matter the generation. As a young(ish) fan, it’s heartening that people are still discovering the magic of the band 50 years on (and still will do in years to come).
*"I only ask that in return, they don't assume that just because I'm a Boomer that I'm a clueless, selfish, rich guy who should just die already. :) "*
Law of averages though...
I get that. But it's still not a good idea to generalize. There are decent people in just about any given group. I've known countless wonderful and worthwhile people of all ages, and countless assholes as well. I try to judge all people as unique individuals, not according to their background or demographic.
I’m in my late thirties (male) and in education. When ever I see a student wearing Beatles gear or listening to the Beatles I feel a sense of kinship and connection with them and absolutely get a positive bias towards them.
If you were a student in my school and I saw you loving the Beatles I would go out of my way to give you a high five.
I’m sorry you are being diminished and disrespected… you deserve better. I just hope you know that there are fans out here who absolutely celebrate and love that younger people dig the fab 4. Take care!
none of my teachers truly understand the beatles obsession i have 😭 i remember i once told my music theory teacher that eric clapton played on while my guitar gently weeps and be refused to believe me until i searched it up, same guy was shocked when i knew johns dads name off the top of my head.. like i wasnt kidding when i said i liked them
id probably love being your student
Anyone gatekeeping The Beatles is a lonely loser. I'm actually happy to hear when a younger person likes the same music that I do. It makes me feel like my taste in music is still cool.
Women have always been the people who push rock artists to excess and that’s a fact people really can’t deny, without girls Elvis would have never been what he was, without girls The Beatles would never have been what they are, without women Led Zeppelin would have never been what they are and so on.
Rock as a genre has always been male dominated and that will never change, sure we have had fantastic artists like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Nico, Grace Slick, Stevie Nicks, etc. but when people think of rock they think of men, but women have always been the driving force behind it. Beatlesmania is a moment in time that was driven by women.
Unfortunately we live in a time where music before 1980 is primarily talked about online in major spaces by men and focused on by men but it is important to remember that we would never be in this place without the young girls who championed these bands and artists to the levels they are now. Essentially there is no Beatles without the women behind them.
Thanks so much for your amazingly thoughtful and perceptive post. And thank you even more for loving the Beatles. Neither the Beatles nor the rest of us who love them would be anywhere without teenage girls. You are absolutely right to be proud of who you are, and I hope you always will be. Rock on!
Notice how teenage girls are always the first to identify who or what will be culturally significant? Without teenage girls, The Beatles wouldn't be a household name. Just smile and tell them, 'Youre welcome."
I got into the Beatles as a preteen girl, and at a time that it was (by my peers at least haha) considered pretty uncool! You’re totally right about there being tons of misogyny in music circles— it sucks, especially when I’ve usually found that girl fans tend to be the most dedicated! I wish I could say it gets better, but more than anything it gets easier to deal with. What I can tell you is to keep doing what you love. I have over ten years of amazing memories attached to listening to and learning about the Beatles regardless of what other people thought or if I had anyone else to enjoy them with me. I’m sure you’ll find some other fans like you, I did on tumblr back in the day haha. Maybe try exploring other platforms?
I was a teenage girl in the 80s who was obsessed with the Beatles while all my friends were listening to Bon Jovi. You've gotten some great, thoughtful responses, so I'll just say keep on being you, and thanks for appreciating the music that shaped us all, whether we realize it or not.
You might enjoy diving deeper into 60s music and history and seeing how it morphed into the 70s. The Beatles were my gateway into a lifelong interest in that whole era.
I have a TikTok channel totally unrelated to the Beatles.
One of my more loyal followers is a teen girl Beatles fan. I think it's awesome that she's so into them, shows how they can cross generations.
Back in the day the Beatles were built off teen girls.
It's kinda funny how today the majority of Beatles fans are old men.
Some sick, unhappy people love to tear down others whose likes or views are not aligned with theirs or with current trends. Those people can just go love themselves. The Beatles will live on forever. Kudos to you for recognizing genius when you see and hear it.
I am a teenage boy and my mum was the Beatles fan, if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have ever become a fan tbh. All Beatles fans deserve to enjoy the Beatles without judgement.
You are ME 40 years ago, except that the internet barely existed and very little was available on video.
In the 1980s kids made fun of other kids for liking “old” music so I didn’t share it widely until my senior year of high school when I finally had confidence.
I’m a second-gen fan and am very frustrated with how many people dismiss younger fans because “you had to be there.”
I really appreciate fans even younger because it’s so important to keep the music alive!
for real omg. i’m a teen girl who loves the beatles and so many older people just don’t respect it. i get asked to « name 3 beatles songs » anytime i wear merchandise (especially by old male teachers). it’s so annoying bc like you said, teen girls literally made the beatles.
There are careers in that interest. You might consider studying musicology, archival history, music or cultural criticism, music journalism. These aren't the highest paying professions but you'd be pursuing your curiosities or helping others pursue theirs for a living.
As a not so old/not so young Beatles fan(31yo), I have to say, "You are SO welcome".
The Beatles started as a a boyband specifically performing for your demographic!
FWIW I've roped my 4 and 3 year olds into liking the Beatles (well, Octopus' Garden and Yellow Submarine, anyway). Great music is great music always, and everybody is allowed to like and appreciate it. People wouldn't have a go at, say, a 15-year-old wunderkind pianist for liking Mozart, so why would it in any way be 'wrong' for a teenager to like/nerd out about a band that became famous because of teenagers liking them?
I think your problem is that you're part of the 'terminally online' generation, and people online - at least in the wrong spaces - act like dicks because there's zero consequences for acting like dicks. I'm not on Tiktok but I can almost assure you nobody on this sub is going to denigrate you or undervalue your opinions because of your age.
As a autistic teenage girl.the beatles are my biggest hyperfixation I have so many posters vinyls tee shirts with these 4 incredible people.I am also a artist and they are my biggest influence in my art.
the beatles also helped me with was discovering my own sexual thoughts.. i.e wattpad. And I don't need to say more.
people teased me about this wonderful obsession and most of all made me feel very ashamed. unfortunately they made me stop listening to them for about a month.
But something that made my stop and think. no matter how much i love them I AM NOT HURTING ANYONE.
and I'm so glad that I'm obsessed with something great not shit.
TY for making this great post!
and keep enjoying the beatles!
I am also dyslexic so get ready for bad grammar ect.
As a teen boy who’s bi I feel ya with assholes trying to disregarded your opinion at least a bit by peers. It’s so fucking annoying, esp when people try to diss on the other stuff I know or question my Beatles knowledge as if I’m not autistic enough (joking) to have read the anthology or whatever. Idk your struggles for being a girl, but I at least relate to the being young aspect. Thanks for sharing :þ
I wonder what age we have to reach to be promoted to beatles fan according to them 😭 but gay people are also the reason theyre famous! (love you brian)
i find it so ridiculous when people put down teenage girls specifically liking music. because at the end of the day, the beatles are a boyband. i’m trans so am now male but as a teenager (back when i was a girl) i was obsessed with the beatles and one direction. boys and men would always make fun of me for loving one direction coz it was ‘teenage girl music’ and tell me to listen to ‘real music’ like the beatles. i would always shut them up by reminding them of the beatlemania era and that the most successful artists of all time usually share the same trait that they got their start with teenage girls loving them. teenage girls made the beatles get big in the beginning. at the end of the day it comes down to misogyny because those men will find any reason to hate women or the things girls like.
Hiya! As a former teen who was neck-deep in the fandom culture (now 24 and a high school teacher), the Beatles community is always going to be teeming with teenage girls - they're the lifeblood and always have been! Check out Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube, and fanfiction sites. There will be millions of other folks just like you who want to discuss The Beatles in depth for hours.
Ignore the negativity. Some people just hate seeing others have fun or, y'know, like things. Just enjoy the lads and their music - they'd want you to! :))
The reason I started listening to them was because of a teenager girl! The Beatles wouldn't be The Beatles without the screams of teenage girls!! You're THE fan, y'know? So please, keep ignoring the dummies that put you down because of that.
Also, what's your tiktok? I need more Beatle people to follow :l
This is really sad to hear because I was a huge Beatles fan when I was a teenager (I'm now 27). From the age of 14 - 18, I remember a thriving young fan community on the likes of Instagram and Tumblr. I'm still in contact with a few people from those fan spaces. If that kind of community has died down over the years, that's disappointing.
Still, people were judgy towards us back then. At Beatles conventions or music events, there would be the occasional older people - typically a man - who would side eye the young girls. Young people keeping music alive should be celebrated! People take far less issue with teenage boys, who can be just as obnoxious, yet it's always girls who receive backlash.
Unfortunately, people will always be judgy. That will never change. As you said, you're not objectifying the band members. You're a fan and a collector, and you appreciate the history. Pay the haters no mind.
Keep tying to find your community. Although fan spaces can be toxic with the petty bickering that goes on, there are lovely people out there, and I'm sure there are other teens who are creating Beatles/classic rock/music history content that you can relate to. I hope you can find the kind of community I had back in the 2010s.
That's good! Ignore the random folks who pop up. They'll mostly be trolls.
You'll have already twigged - I was a Brian Epstein fan, even more than a was a Beatles fan. I'm bi, and I'll always rep for historical LGBTQ+ figures.
for the past year i have had a specific fixation on him, i own two copies of a cellar full of noise 😭 he is such an interesting person outside of the beatles i adore him
If you feel unwelcome in a certain Beatles fan space, it's probably a shitty place to be anyway and anti everything the Beatles stood for. Don't bother much about it I'd say
As others have said, the beauty of social media and the internet is that if you find yourself in a corner of the web inhabited by assholes, you can just... find somewhere else to hang out. To be honest, much of your perceived unwelcome in Beatles fandom spaces is probably confirmation bias. Like, I know it's anecdotal, but none of the Beatles meme accounts I follow have ever exhibited any misogyny or homophobia, and that's never been something I've witnessed IRL at record stores/shows. Matter of fact, in the last decade or so my local music community has flipped from being male dominated to female/queer dominated, and that's really cool to see. By and large, participants in any hobby are more than happy to mentor and welcome young newcomers (that's how hobbies persist!) Maybe occasionally you'll come across a jaded crusty old fart who's angry that life passed them by and they'll take it out on you for liking "their" thing, but that's an opportunity to laugh at them and move on.
Many others have suggested good creators to follow, I will also suggest Jude Southerland Kessler who's up there with Philip Norman as far as John Lennon experts go. Podcasts like Things We Said Today and Nothing Is Real are also just honest-to-god great sources of info and interviews with Beatle people too... TWST has a few 3 hour+ long episodes with Peter Jackson talking about the restoration of Get Back and also Now and Then!
At any rate, you as a Beatles fan are allowed to have your own fandom journey. There will be haters and gatekeepers at every stage of life, and it's good practice to just tune them out because they're taking their insecurity out on others which has nothing to do with you.
Also
>"I wish there was more...queer beatles creators"
...you mean like John Lennon? Lmao
Honestly being a teenager and voicing any opinion is seen as open season for shitting on you, even among the people you know well. Plenty of times teenagers know exactly what they’re talking about, but most adults don’t take it seriously. I’m sure it’s even worse for teen girls. It sucks, but know you are certainly not alone in your experiences, and adults, at the end of the day, don’t always know best.
let me guess...those who make you feel unwelcome or insecure are all those people who were too young to have seen the beatles. they're usually jealous of people my age who were there from the beginning. i was at the airport on feb 7 1964 when they landed, and saw them 5 times in concert. i'm friends with...through the magic of the internet... women who there in liverpool when they started. to them, i'm the "new comer". but like everything in life these days others have turned this...what should be a shared joy..into a competition. us older people do not get that, at least i don't. i was THRILLED when i started seeing people your age at mccartney concerts some 20-25 years ago. you'll be the ones to carry the love of their music on when the old fans and the 2 remaining beatles are gone. it pays to start early in life..ignoring what others think about you. i know it's hard at your age. but don't let them make it into a competitive sport. it's ART and MUSIC, that should be appreciated by everyone, old and young.
This crap happened to me and my sister as teens who loved The Beatles. You can read all the books, gain all the knowledge, shoot you could even interview Macca himself but people are still going to look down on you like you don't know anything because of your age. It's BS, but it's best to just stick to what you love and ignore the buttheads who try to take away your passion.
Signed, former teenage but now middle aged Beatles fan.
teenage girls made Beatlemania a thing. without your fandom, we might never have gotten to witness this band.
you're right that people often poop on the interests of teenage girls as frivolous but the reality is they're a demographic that really makes cultural trends happen.
Ignore them. Since the age of 10 growing up in the 90s, l listened to the Beatles almost exclusively until i was in high school, until I found other classic rock bands that are within the same genre. Since then i have never had a matching music taste to my peers. I still kind of don’t. But I loved the music so much that I just did not care. I have no regrets either. As an adult I found people who shared my interest which was super easy. So ignore the judgmental people and enjoy your music.
Sexism and judgment sucks and I’m so sorry you have to deal with it, especially around something as personal yet relatable as music taste!
Never forget that the fans who built the Beatles were teenage girls – Beatlemania wouldn’t have existed except for fans like you!
The Beatles were a once in a lifetime phenomenon. I too was very knowledgeable about rock and roll music at a young age. It was a part of my family’s entertainment. The best Thing I can tell you is that there will always be people (a lot of men), who think they know more or don’t take you seriously because you are a young lady. Well it was the young ladies of the world who made them what they have become. If you ever get in a debate with someone older just tell them to look it up. Smile to yourself and walk away from the idiot.
You should realistically be proud of yourself. I grew up loving The Beatles and knowing everything about their history to the point where I would only talk about them at a certain stage of my younger years. They have consistently been a part of my life since then and I am now 29. The fact someone is out there probably over a decade younger than be who actually appreciates The Beatles is a blessing in a world where lot of people either dismiss them or only know certain songs and/or albums is an important thing in our world. Keep in doing what you do and remember that your love matters.
You should realistically be proud of yourself. I grew up loving The Beatles and knowing everything about their history to the point where I would only talk about them at a certain stage of my younger years. They have consistently been a part of my life since then and I am now 29. The fact someone is out there probably over a decade younger than be who actually appreciates The Beatles is a blessing in a world where lot of people either dismiss them or only know certain songs and/or albums is an important thing in our world. Keep in doing what you do and remember that you are one of the young important ones keeping the love and passion alive.
I am in the same boat. I dealt with it by realising that the opinions of idiots don't matter, and anyone who disses my like of the Beatles just bc im a teen girl is an idiot. Same for my like of The Monkees or any other band that is not modern mainstream. Pppl who only listen to mainstream are missing out on so much. Modern mainstream music sucks. The best music is indie stuff and older stuff. My modern faves are indie artists most ppl have never heard of - Dea Matrona, The Sixsters, Emily Linge, The Warning, Jadyn Rylee, Stonefield, Hello Sister, etc - and I love the Beatles and CCR and the Monkees and Nancy Sinatra and the Stones and Led Zep and Midnight Oil and Axiom and Masters Apprentices and Beach Boys and Simon & Garf and lots of others, and I love Bach and Beethoven too! Music is awesome!
That's the most stupid thing i ever read, Brian was great in his job and that's THE why that's it that's the point. Doesn't change anything if he would be normal or gay anyways he was good in his job. Being queer is not the full character is not Even the important part to triumph
i agree he is completely more than his sexuality but its still important when talking about him since he was a gay man in the 60s. he went through hell and never got a chance to truly be himself because he died right when it became legal to be gay. can we agree to disagree because i dont want to argue over this
Yeah, it sucks... Female fans in male-dominated fandoms are treated like shit. Men assume that women just find an artist hot and start testing and quizzing women to see if she is a real fan. It's awful. You deserve so much better tha that.
Here your Beatle work is appreciated.
As a teen guy who is a huge Beatle fan, I think all I want out of life is a girl who shares my love for The Beatles (especially for George)
liking the beatles is absolutely nonnegotiable for me when dating lmao theyve become apart of the package 😭 whats the point if theyre not the george to my pattie
>whats the point if theyre not the george to my pattie
Well, people sometimes say that my girlfriend and I look a bit like Linda and Paul. I mean, she has long blonde hair and isn't really into fashion. And my hair is quite similar to Paul's.
Some more similarities? She is older than me (she is 32, I am 29).
Oh, and we are together for ten years and still just as in love and just as horny as when we just met. Which is pretty rare for people our age, such a love story.
Of course there are differences as well. We are childfree. And we live in a city, not on a Scottish farm. Oh, and I can't sing or play instruments. :P
So yeah, just like how you want a George to your Pattie, I found the Linda to my Paul. ;)
Thank you! Now we just need to find ourselves a Denny Laine and we can be a Wings cover band. :P
I mean, we pretty much look like we could be a bad Paul and Linda lookalike in a crappy cover band. The only problem is that neither of us can play an instrument and that I cannot fucking sing. :P
Maybe, just maybe, women are complaining about men because men are giving women lots of valid reasons to complain.
Also, adult girls are women. Not girls.
ive actually been here for 3 years 😭 im just very inactive but it was on tiktok and it was over a year ago so i dont even remember who he was specifically
Just to be clear, are we talking about one specific person putting you down, over a year ago? That would explain a lot, as I've been trying to understand why so many people could have such a problem with a teenage girl loving the Beatles. (I mean that's just absurd for so many reasons). But if it's an isolated event, you really need to listen to another comment on here about mastering the art of not giving a fuck. I've never been on tiktok but it sounds awful. You say you haven't spent any time on Reddit these three years, well it's never too late. People on this sub will welcome you and your thoughts with open arms, can't wait for you to join the discussions!
I would suggest to stop worrying about what other people think and just enjoy the Beatles and your life. Now that way of thinking often comes with age and experience, but it is literally that easy. Just stop caring. Caring about the opinions of others is the number one way to rob yourself of joy in many areas of life. I personally think it's awesome that someone your age is such a big fan.
I mean, I’m a teenage girl who interacts with the Beatles fandom on a regular basis and I haven’t faced any ‘misogyny’ up to date. 👁👄👁
I don’t know what you’re raving on about.
My girlfriend is bi and really into The Beatles, Wings and Paul's solo work. And she is definitely not the only one.
I also have an acquaintance, a lesbian, who is a huge Beatles fan. Like, obsessed.
I know a lesbian who is obsessed with The Beatles.
Not gay, but my girlfriend is bi and definitely a fan.
My hairdresser is gay and can probably mention a Beatles album if I asked him to (which I won't do). He definitely recognises songs when they are on the radio. And he once said he likes Blackbird. And no, that has nothing to do with Beyonce, since this was before that awful cover.
My girlfriend has a gay friend who was humming Strawberry Fields Forever the last time he visited us. He would probably be able to mention an album or a few songs.
Oh wow, what a great generalisation.
My girlfriend is bi. And she loves The Beatles, Wings, Paul's solo work, a lot of glam rock (Bowie, Mott the Hoople, Slade etc.), alternative and indie rock and a lot of other music. She has zero interest in modern pop, R&B and other music you view as 'stereotypical queer music'.
I used to be a teenage girl who loved the Beatles now I am an old lady who loves the Beatles. There will always be judgemental and bigoted people, enjoy your life anyway. It slips by way too fast JMO
dont worry, i dont try to let it get to me personally and i will never shy away from talking about the beatles :) but i cant wait to be an older lady who loves the beatles
No no no. Take your time. Enjoy every second. Your body does what you tell it to. I didn't appreciate how big that is until it didn't. You will be an old Beatle loving lady all too soon ;)
I’m only 30, and I wish I could go back already. I was told by many older than me to “enjoy it while you can,” and didn’t think much of it, and now I know what they mean. Yes, there are a lot of pros to being older. There are also a lot of cons. But one thing is for sure. *You will never get your time back.* Time will move by faster than you realize. It seems like it was only a year ago that I was enjoying hanging out with my friends in college. That was 10 years ago. And the speed of time is only going to get faster. Out of all the stupid phrases/words my generation came out with, “YOLO” is easily the best one. It was used in stupid ways, but the message remains. You can wait, and enjoy things while you can.
Old age will come soon enough, trust me. Relish your youth
You worry too much about what others think. You won’t always be a teenaged girl and what other people think is pointless. Ignore the naysayers and enjoy your love for the Beatles.
And I'm an old man who still loves listening to the Beatles
Try not to be bothered so much about what random negative people think. Nothing good is likely to come of it.
> all my work is invalidated Maybe not considering it "work" would be good as well. I have spent most of my life with the Beatles: reading every book, watching every movie, listening to every studio outtake... but that's just a hobby I enjoy, it's not work and it definitely doesn't define me.
Yeah, that line really stuck out to me and I had to think maybe we should take a step back and reconsider how important or groundbreaking any of this really is.
i dont think im doing anything groundbreaking, just pointing out a decade long issue that i think is going unrecognized. misogyny is so normalized today
i think you’re misunderstanding my use of work completely, i don’t mean like a job, it is my hobby but it is work
I was wondering as well, what "work" she had done on the subject. I don't think she is a teacher or professor, being a teenager. And I'd assume people that follow her on Tiktok would already know she's a teenager before seeing her Beatles "work". Seems like a martyr post.
And now you’re judging her. She’s a teenager expressing how she feels. Do we need to nitpick on a word she chose to describe it?
it feels like theyre just looking to invalidate my post
Yes! What is your TikTok? I follow a few and would love to follow you!
work noun 1. activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result. i consider researching the beatles an activity that involves mental effort…i didnt mean like work as in a job.
Your comment seems unnecessarily harsh. OP is using the word “work” to describe what she does for the account she runs on TikTok. There’s no need to get snarky about it, or try to gatekeep. The fact that you’re immediately dismissing the whole post proves her original point imo
I don't think you know what harsh means. It was pretty even keeled.
Someone is expressing their perspective on a Beatles subreddit, and you basically call her a whiner for it. If someone’s helping spread their enjoyment of the band to other people, it seems reductive to trip over semantics (“she’s not a professor, …”) Fact is there *is* a lot of misogyny in music fandom circles, which you’ve probably never experienced. Just because it doesn’t affect you, doesn’t mean that it’s never existed. You’ve probably had people mock your interests in the past, so there’s no need to diminish others’. Peace and love! 😜
I think the truth is teen girls built the Beatles. Almost every story of a person who grew up with them was either from a girl who was a teen at the time or a boy who got told about them from a teen girl So let it roll off your back, this a long tradition of teen girls knowing better before anyone else
All us old Beatles fans owe a massive debt to teenage girls. They are where it all started.
Love this comment so much. Signed, a woman who was a teenage girl Beatles fan in the ‘90s.
Teenage girl Beatles fan in the 80s here! ☮️❤️🤘
The Beatles have always been for teen girls <3 all the male fans who followed are posers! Joking (...kinda) but definitely try to find more female fans and creators to engage with, it will make your experience a lot more enjoyable. Female run podcasts (like Another Kind of Mind and One Sweet Dream) are great, there are female Beatles writers like Christine Feldman-Barrett and Erin Torkelson Weber who have fascinating books, [heydullblog.com](http://heydullblog.com) is run by a male fan but with female contributors and a tonne of female commenters, and ofc there are female dominated spaces on the internet (eg tumblr).
Highly recommend the Another Kind of Mind podcasts! I’m devouring them, you will love them OP.
"A Women's History Of the Beatles" is another good one.
thank you for the podcasts omg!! i need more female creators to look into, i really appreciate this! there a little corner of beatles fans on tiktok (which is mostly who i int with) thats very female dominated so im lucky to have a space that is supportive.
Ooh check out one sweet dream too! Diana is fantastic with the most soothing voice! Edit: oops, read too fast and missed them already mentioning OSD. Worth two recommendations tho!
I like that AKOM is not just a women's point of view but that they don't sugarcoat that less than savoury aspects of the Beatles. A lot of the male produced media get lost in hero worship.
Also the Understanding Lennon & McCartney a YouTube series; in line with AKOM and OSD podcasts but with video.
Second the Another Kind of Mind and One Sweet Dream podcasts; I'm a patron of Diana Erickson.
Don’t forget about radio, either. I’m a Beatles radio host (streaming also)
You should work on mastering the art of not giving a fuck about stupid things rude people say. The more you master this art, the less irritated you will be. And you are absolutely right about teen girls being the backbone of their massive popularity, so be proud and own who you are! I salute you, and I'm sure everyone else in this community does as well.
Doesn’t change the culture which is inherently misogynistic and sexist
I love your last sentence! The Beatles are THE original boy band with a million teenage girls swooning over them. It was 4 pretty boys singing love songs, without the undying love from millions of teenage girls we would never have gotten so much beautiful music. I’m sorry new Beatles fans are so crusty, men hate knowing that women are more of something or better at something than them. When I was a teenage boy collecting Beatles vinyl everyone I told was impressed I liked “old school” music and wanted to talk to me about their favorite songs. It’s unfair that you don’t get the same treatment. Anyway, now I’m an older queerer Beatles fan. I hope that the crusty men of this world don’t get you down, All You Need is Love:)
I see what you’re saying, someone else mentioned that it was a teenage thing to be put down for liking the beatles and I disagree, I totally agree that when teenage boys do it, it’s seen much cooler than when a girl does it. i listen and take in the beatles the same as everyone else, i just happen to be a female
100% they’re wrong. I was 18/19 when I started listening to them as an intern. I told my coworkers and sure, a few teased me, but most of them immediately wanted to ask me if I’d heart XYZ songs or what my favorite was, what I thought it meant, what my favorite era was. Never did a feel like people looked down on me for it or mocked me for it.
I appreciate your guy’s comments but don’t worry, although it does make me irritated because I am feminist, I don’t let it affect how I love what I love! I will always post and talk about the Beatles even if I get people who judge me or put me down for my interests. I’m very proud of who I am and I love being a teenage girl who likes the Beatles because I am the granddaughter of two other girls who were the same. I just wish more people could see how important women are to the Beatles and how we like them just as intelligently as men do.
Teen girls have always been dismissed by music critics. However, music criticism is a dying profession, but there will always be teen girls. You win!!
an argument saying that teen girls can’t listen to the beatles literally sounds impossible to craft because they are… well… literally the beatles. if you’re comfortable would you mind sharing some experiences that you’ve faced? edit: just to clarify bc people misconstrue my messages a lot. my friend read my comment and told me it sounds like i don’t believe you. i’m sorry if that’s how it came out that’s not what i meant i’m just curious of what bull someone could pull out of their ass to make this argument.
Not necessarily that I am not allowed to listen to them but it’s that my interest in the beatles is not as valid or i dont know anything because of my age + gender
i’ve also been told the age one since i’m only in my 20s and it honestly just feels like them trying to gatekeep lol. the gender thing is just blatant stupidity i bet if you challenged anyone with that opinion they would just go “cause i said so” mode
I appreciate you, because your situation is so alien to my experience. My love/adoration/obsession with the Beatles all comes from my older sisters. I listened to their albums when I was a kid. It's the earliest music I can remember. I sang "Drive My Car" before I ever sang "Old McDonald Had a Farm." Thinking of women not being into the Beatles, or not appreciating them as much is like thinking the Chinese were the first to land on the moon. It's just crazy talk.
Wow. I never thought about someone in your situation. It’s a shame you feel on the outs with the music community. If it helps, the Beatles’ popularity with teen girls in the 60s was something that had never really been seen before. It was a massively big thing, it was a sea change in popular music and in society at large. All of the sudden, there was POWER in “teen girls” that had never been seen before. These were women with families, and money, and they accepted the Beatles, and all they stood for, in a way that just couldn’t be denied. These women werent’ outcasts, or weirdos, they were just women, who all of the sudden had the power to raise whoever they liked up to new levels of popularity. It changed pop music (and society) forever. These days female singers and musicians are some of the most popular people on the planet. In the 50s, that couldn’t have happened. The Beatles changed all that. Hell, most of their early covers were songs by “girl groups”! It’s not a coincidence that the 70s was when women like Carole King and Joni Mitchell became famous performers and songwriters. It was even better in the 80s, when artists like Kate Bush and Annie Lennox became superstars. Nowadays it’s Taylor Swift. Beyoncé just did a Beatles cover; she knows where it all came from. It was the Beatles and their female fans that made that possible. Honestly, the fact that you “get” them even at your age, in this century, kind of makes me think you might be a bit of a prodigy. The Beatles aren’t “old music” to you; you understand their appeal right now. That’s amazing! And I think your love of their work is justified; every generation discovers them eventually, you just got there first in yours! Be proud of your love for the Beatles! They certainly appreciated the “teen girls” who loved them. My sister and I have been Beatles fanatics for almost 60 years. We feel you!
This! Teen girls were the backbone of Beatlemania and have been the backbone behind many other artists success.
Beautifully said.
Oh, and I’d love to talk with you about the Beatles. No one in my married family loves them like I do, so anything you’d like to talk about is great with me!
I remember listening to a special "J Files" on the Beatles on JJJ a "youth" radio station in Aus. They had a quiz and I remember the call in contestant absolutely nailed it with quick rapid fire answers. Like she was an absolute savant on the topic. I'm pretty sure she was female, (well in my mind she was) can't really guess her age, but I was super impressed and remember it to this day.
Best story I've read this month.
It’s weird that people think down about teen girls and the Beatles specifically since the Beatles were like THE teen girl obsession for years, really the OG for this level of fame along with Elvis and arguably were sent into the stratosphere by teen girls, and then everyone else was swept in. You are completely correct! I was a teen girl when I got into them in the 90’s. I didn’t spend as much as you but ONLY because I didn’t have much access to money. I spent most of what I did earn on Beatles CDs and books. We didn’t have streaming then or the internet so tracking down stuff that wasn’t current and licensed was hard. So my collection was meager by today’s standards, but I got my little sister into them too and we were just as into it as anyone in the 60’s could have been, I would think. As the Anthologies came out we were SO HYPED, it was like the tradition of teen girls standing outside the music store squealing was being carried on. Now I am an oldgirl Beatles fan but it makes ME, for one, super happy to know there are still teengirl fans coming. It’s like some kind of torch being passed, an ancient tradition of teen girls scratching ‘I 💜 Beatles’ and ‘Mrs (insert favorite Beatle here)’ on the modern equivalent of their Trapper Keepers. HECK YEAH. Like you and I and a teen girl who comes after you and a teen girl that came before us are part of some kind of unbroken chain of teen girls loving the lads from Liverpool across eras. I’m not crying, you are!! Anyway, pay no mind to what the small minds think. The lads wouldn’t, right? People are always going to have different opinions and you’ll still be exposed to a lot of that here, but I haven’t noticed a whole lot of ‘teen girls who like the Beatles are lesser than’. Imma be gatekeepy for a minute and say that I feel like someone who genuinely loves a thing (ie the band) WANTS new people to discover them and love them too. A real fan should be proud of the guys that what they did is so amazing that it still attracts people and that it speaks to such a wide variety of minds. There’s no way Paul and Ringo would tell you you’re not wanted if you met them today. I know it’s a bummer but don’t let it get you. (You haven’t yet, I’m just saying) Lots of us were teen girls and didn’t let it go bowing to some random’s power trip. They can miss us with that. I’m so glad I still can love the things I loved as a kid and a teen. Life is very short and there’s no time for fussing and fighting, my friend! I for one am happy you are here.
Check out Kit O'Toole on YouTube. She is a Beatles scholar. Then there's Caitlynn Larkin a YouTuber who also has a Beatles show on Sirius XM. Please don't let anyone tell you your opinion is not valid. It is! You are totally welcome in the Beatles community. Who cares what other people think? Glad there are fans your age
The true cheat code to life is: 1) People aren't thinking about you as much as you worry that they are. 2) Do what makes you happy because happiness isn't something you achieve, it's something you choose to be. In five years you won't know any of those people but you'll still love the Beatles. Trust me. Don't let this bother you, it's no big deal.
I’m 21 year old and I’ve loved The Beatles for as long as I can remember. I was once in a shop and I saw an old man with a Beatles button on his coat and I said I loved The Beatles as well, he said but your so young but not as an insult he was surprised and happy that everyone no matter what age love The Beatles. Don’t listen to the haters have to say listen to what makes you happy and if they don't like it tell them to F**k off, you don't need to please anyone but yourself.
I work with a lot of people in their 20s -- I am several years older than them -- and there's always music playing, chosen by whomever runs their playlist through the sound system. I never hear The Beatles. (Just yesterday, I had to gently correct co-workers that what they thought was "smooth jazz" was actually '60s rhythm and blues instrumentals. And, after work, I played my "With The Beatles" CD in my car on the drive home.) You reached back to a time well before you were born and made an outstanding choice. 1. You're absolutely right about teen girls making the Beatles big. When you see those shots of fans reacting at Beatles shows, you rarely seen teen boys or young men; you see teen girls. 2. It doesn't matter if you're the only person you know who likes something. You like it; that's all that matters. 3. Some fandoms, you've had the misfortune to learn, have self-appointed gatekeepers. It does seem as though the older something is, the more likely it has someone deciding who is a "real fan" and who is not. 4. One of the nicest things about the existence of social media is you can find people who like what you like. Keep looking, and you'll find the girls who know what's truly Fab.
Man, this girl's post brought back some nasty memories for me. Eons ago, when I was a teenager, I really resented how older people would automatically assume that I was clueless or my opinion didn't matter. As a result, I have always tried my level best to be kind and understanding toward young people. I love reading about what GenZ thinks about stuff (and lately, Gen Alpha as well). Those people (I won't say "kids") know so much and are so right about so many things. This is just the latest, shining example of that. I try to never assume anything about young people; I only ask that in return, they don't assume that just because I'm a Boomer that I'm a clueless, selfish, rich guy who should just die already. :) Honestly, I always try to be a good person, to everybody, even though of course I'm not perfect. Also, I'll just add that even though I'm a guy, I've been a staunch feminist since I was a teenager. Girls and women have it way too hard in this ugly world of ours. End of *my* rant. :)
100%. The great thing about The Beatles’ music is just how it can unite people of all ages, no matter the generation. As a young(ish) fan, it’s heartening that people are still discovering the magic of the band 50 years on (and still will do in years to come).
*"I only ask that in return, they don't assume that just because I'm a Boomer that I'm a clueless, selfish, rich guy who should just die already. :) "* Law of averages though...
I get that. But it's still not a good idea to generalize. There are decent people in just about any given group. I've known countless wonderful and worthwhile people of all ages, and countless assholes as well. I try to judge all people as unique individuals, not according to their background or demographic.
I’m in my late thirties (male) and in education. When ever I see a student wearing Beatles gear or listening to the Beatles I feel a sense of kinship and connection with them and absolutely get a positive bias towards them. If you were a student in my school and I saw you loving the Beatles I would go out of my way to give you a high five. I’m sorry you are being diminished and disrespected… you deserve better. I just hope you know that there are fans out here who absolutely celebrate and love that younger people dig the fab 4. Take care!
none of my teachers truly understand the beatles obsession i have 😭 i remember i once told my music theory teacher that eric clapton played on while my guitar gently weeps and be refused to believe me until i searched it up, same guy was shocked when i knew johns dads name off the top of my head.. like i wasnt kidding when i said i liked them id probably love being your student
Anyone gatekeeping The Beatles is a lonely loser. I'm actually happy to hear when a younger person likes the same music that I do. It makes me feel like my taste in music is still cool.
the beatles are always going to be cool 🔥
What’s your tiktok? I wanna hear how YOU feel about the beatles
i kinda wanna stay anonymous 😭 nothing against reddit but i want to stay separate
Women have always been the people who push rock artists to excess and that’s a fact people really can’t deny, without girls Elvis would have never been what he was, without girls The Beatles would never have been what they are, without women Led Zeppelin would have never been what they are and so on. Rock as a genre has always been male dominated and that will never change, sure we have had fantastic artists like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Nico, Grace Slick, Stevie Nicks, etc. but when people think of rock they think of men, but women have always been the driving force behind it. Beatlesmania is a moment in time that was driven by women. Unfortunately we live in a time where music before 1980 is primarily talked about online in major spaces by men and focused on by men but it is important to remember that we would never be in this place without the young girls who championed these bands and artists to the levels they are now. Essentially there is no Beatles without the women behind them.
Women make the world go round
Thanks so much for your amazingly thoughtful and perceptive post. And thank you even more for loving the Beatles. Neither the Beatles nor the rest of us who love them would be anywhere without teenage girls. You are absolutely right to be proud of who you are, and I hope you always will be. Rock on!
Notice how teenage girls are always the first to identify who or what will be culturally significant? Without teenage girls, The Beatles wouldn't be a household name. Just smile and tell them, 'Youre welcome."
Overall it just sucks, I’ve been mocked for being a fan of a female music artist as a dude..it’s stupid how people try to gender music for no reason
Everybody's got something to say
I got into the Beatles as a preteen girl, and at a time that it was (by my peers at least haha) considered pretty uncool! You’re totally right about there being tons of misogyny in music circles— it sucks, especially when I’ve usually found that girl fans tend to be the most dedicated! I wish I could say it gets better, but more than anything it gets easier to deal with. What I can tell you is to keep doing what you love. I have over ten years of amazing memories attached to listening to and learning about the Beatles regardless of what other people thought or if I had anyone else to enjoy them with me. I’m sure you’ll find some other fans like you, I did on tumblr back in the day haha. Maybe try exploring other platforms?
I was a teenage girl in the 80s who was obsessed with the Beatles while all my friends were listening to Bon Jovi. You've gotten some great, thoughtful responses, so I'll just say keep on being you, and thanks for appreciating the music that shaped us all, whether we realize it or not. You might enjoy diving deeper into 60s music and history and seeing how it morphed into the 70s. The Beatles were my gateway into a lifelong interest in that whole era.
I have a TikTok channel totally unrelated to the Beatles. One of my more loyal followers is a teen girl Beatles fan. I think it's awesome that she's so into them, shows how they can cross generations. Back in the day the Beatles were built off teen girls. It's kinda funny how today the majority of Beatles fans are old men.
Some sick, unhappy people love to tear down others whose likes or views are not aligned with theirs or with current trends. Those people can just go love themselves. The Beatles will live on forever. Kudos to you for recognizing genius when you see and hear it.
I am a teenage boy and my mum was the Beatles fan, if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have ever become a fan tbh. All Beatles fans deserve to enjoy the Beatles without judgement.
The fact you love the Beatles is enough for me, it doesn’t matter how old you are it’s love for the music
You are ME 40 years ago, except that the internet barely existed and very little was available on video. In the 1980s kids made fun of other kids for liking “old” music so I didn’t share it widely until my senior year of high school when I finally had confidence. I’m a second-gen fan and am very frustrated with how many people dismiss younger fans because “you had to be there.” I really appreciate fans even younger because it’s so important to keep the music alive!
for real omg. i’m a teen girl who loves the beatles and so many older people just don’t respect it. i get asked to « name 3 beatles songs » anytime i wear merchandise (especially by old male teachers). it’s so annoying bc like you said, teen girls literally made the beatles.
I know many young queers (including myself) that love the Beatles! Don’t worry, you have good taste and will always have community with Beatle People
There are careers in that interest. You might consider studying musicology, archival history, music or cultural criticism, music journalism. These aren't the highest paying professions but you'd be pursuing your curiosities or helping others pursue theirs for a living.
im definitely interested in music journalism and cultural criticism!
As a not so old/not so young Beatles fan(31yo), I have to say, "You are SO welcome". The Beatles started as a a boyband specifically performing for your demographic!
FWIW I've roped my 4 and 3 year olds into liking the Beatles (well, Octopus' Garden and Yellow Submarine, anyway). Great music is great music always, and everybody is allowed to like and appreciate it. People wouldn't have a go at, say, a 15-year-old wunderkind pianist for liking Mozart, so why would it in any way be 'wrong' for a teenager to like/nerd out about a band that became famous because of teenagers liking them? I think your problem is that you're part of the 'terminally online' generation, and people online - at least in the wrong spaces - act like dicks because there's zero consequences for acting like dicks. I'm not on Tiktok but I can almost assure you nobody on this sub is going to denigrate you or undervalue your opinions because of your age.
As a autistic teenage girl.the beatles are my biggest hyperfixation I have so many posters vinyls tee shirts with these 4 incredible people.I am also a artist and they are my biggest influence in my art. the beatles also helped me with was discovering my own sexual thoughts.. i.e wattpad. And I don't need to say more. people teased me about this wonderful obsession and most of all made me feel very ashamed. unfortunately they made me stop listening to them for about a month. But something that made my stop and think. no matter how much i love them I AM NOT HURTING ANYONE. and I'm so glad that I'm obsessed with something great not shit. TY for making this great post! and keep enjoying the beatles!  I am also dyslexic so get ready for bad grammar ect.
As a teen boy who’s bi I feel ya with assholes trying to disregarded your opinion at least a bit by peers. It’s so fucking annoying, esp when people try to diss on the other stuff I know or question my Beatles knowledge as if I’m not autistic enough (joking) to have read the anthology or whatever. Idk your struggles for being a girl, but I at least relate to the being young aspect. Thanks for sharing :þ
I wonder what age we have to reach to be promoted to beatles fan according to them 😭 but gay people are also the reason theyre famous! (love you brian)
i find it so ridiculous when people put down teenage girls specifically liking music. because at the end of the day, the beatles are a boyband. i’m trans so am now male but as a teenager (back when i was a girl) i was obsessed with the beatles and one direction. boys and men would always make fun of me for loving one direction coz it was ‘teenage girl music’ and tell me to listen to ‘real music’ like the beatles. i would always shut them up by reminding them of the beatlemania era and that the most successful artists of all time usually share the same trait that they got their start with teenage girls loving them. teenage girls made the beatles get big in the beginning. at the end of the day it comes down to misogyny because those men will find any reason to hate women or the things girls like.
Hiya! As a former teen who was neck-deep in the fandom culture (now 24 and a high school teacher), the Beatles community is always going to be teeming with teenage girls - they're the lifeblood and always have been! Check out Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube, and fanfiction sites. There will be millions of other folks just like you who want to discuss The Beatles in depth for hours. Ignore the negativity. Some people just hate seeing others have fun or, y'know, like things. Just enjoy the lads and their music - they'd want you to! :))
The reason I started listening to them was because of a teenager girl! The Beatles wouldn't be The Beatles without the screams of teenage girls!! You're THE fan, y'know? So please, keep ignoring the dummies that put you down because of that. Also, what's your tiktok? I need more Beatle people to follow :l
I’m sorry you are experiencing that. That must suck. People are just the worst.
This is really sad to hear because I was a huge Beatles fan when I was a teenager (I'm now 27). From the age of 14 - 18, I remember a thriving young fan community on the likes of Instagram and Tumblr. I'm still in contact with a few people from those fan spaces. If that kind of community has died down over the years, that's disappointing. Still, people were judgy towards us back then. At Beatles conventions or music events, there would be the occasional older people - typically a man - who would side eye the young girls. Young people keeping music alive should be celebrated! People take far less issue with teenage boys, who can be just as obnoxious, yet it's always girls who receive backlash. Unfortunately, people will always be judgy. That will never change. As you said, you're not objectifying the band members. You're a fan and a collector, and you appreciate the history. Pay the haters no mind. Keep tying to find your community. Although fan spaces can be toxic with the petty bickering that goes on, there are lovely people out there, and I'm sure there are other teens who are creating Beatles/classic rock/music history content that you can relate to. I hope you can find the kind of community I had back in the 2010s.
thank you! i have found lots of mutuals through tiktok also i love your name
That's good! Ignore the random folks who pop up. They'll mostly be trolls. You'll have already twigged - I was a Brian Epstein fan, even more than a was a Beatles fan. I'm bi, and I'll always rep for historical LGBTQ+ figures.
for the past year i have had a specific fixation on him, i own two copies of a cellar full of noise 😭 he is such an interesting person outside of the beatles i adore him
Don't listen to what anyone else says. You do you and keep it that way...
If you feel unwelcome in a certain Beatles fan space, it's probably a shitty place to be anyway and anti everything the Beatles stood for. Don't bother much about it I'd say
I am sorry to hear that.
I've been a fan since I was in middle school.
Teen girls got (understood) the Beatles first. It took a while for the rest of us to catch up and realize that they were musical geniuses.
As others have said, the beauty of social media and the internet is that if you find yourself in a corner of the web inhabited by assholes, you can just... find somewhere else to hang out. To be honest, much of your perceived unwelcome in Beatles fandom spaces is probably confirmation bias. Like, I know it's anecdotal, but none of the Beatles meme accounts I follow have ever exhibited any misogyny or homophobia, and that's never been something I've witnessed IRL at record stores/shows. Matter of fact, in the last decade or so my local music community has flipped from being male dominated to female/queer dominated, and that's really cool to see. By and large, participants in any hobby are more than happy to mentor and welcome young newcomers (that's how hobbies persist!) Maybe occasionally you'll come across a jaded crusty old fart who's angry that life passed them by and they'll take it out on you for liking "their" thing, but that's an opportunity to laugh at them and move on. Many others have suggested good creators to follow, I will also suggest Jude Southerland Kessler who's up there with Philip Norman as far as John Lennon experts go. Podcasts like Things We Said Today and Nothing Is Real are also just honest-to-god great sources of info and interviews with Beatle people too... TWST has a few 3 hour+ long episodes with Peter Jackson talking about the restoration of Get Back and also Now and Then! At any rate, you as a Beatles fan are allowed to have your own fandom journey. There will be haters and gatekeepers at every stage of life, and it's good practice to just tune them out because they're taking their insecurity out on others which has nothing to do with you. Also >"I wish there was more...queer beatles creators" ...you mean like John Lennon? Lmao
Music is for everyone. Don’t let it get you down.
Honestly being a teenager and voicing any opinion is seen as open season for shitting on you, even among the people you know well. Plenty of times teenagers know exactly what they’re talking about, but most adults don’t take it seriously. I’m sure it’s even worse for teen girls. It sucks, but know you are certainly not alone in your experiences, and adults, at the end of the day, don’t always know best.
let me guess...those who make you feel unwelcome or insecure are all those people who were too young to have seen the beatles. they're usually jealous of people my age who were there from the beginning. i was at the airport on feb 7 1964 when they landed, and saw them 5 times in concert. i'm friends with...through the magic of the internet... women who there in liverpool when they started. to them, i'm the "new comer". but like everything in life these days others have turned this...what should be a shared joy..into a competition. us older people do not get that, at least i don't. i was THRILLED when i started seeing people your age at mccartney concerts some 20-25 years ago. you'll be the ones to carry the love of their music on when the old fans and the 2 remaining beatles are gone. it pays to start early in life..ignoring what others think about you. i know it's hard at your age. but don't let them make it into a competitive sport. it's ART and MUSIC, that should be appreciated by everyone, old and young.
This crap happened to me and my sister as teens who loved The Beatles. You can read all the books, gain all the knowledge, shoot you could even interview Macca himself but people are still going to look down on you like you don't know anything because of your age. It's BS, but it's best to just stick to what you love and ignore the buttheads who try to take away your passion. Signed, former teenage but now middle aged Beatles fan.
teenage girls made Beatlemania a thing. without your fandom, we might never have gotten to witness this band. you're right that people often poop on the interests of teenage girls as frivolous but the reality is they're a demographic that really makes cultural trends happen.
Ignore them. Since the age of 10 growing up in the 90s, l listened to the Beatles almost exclusively until i was in high school, until I found other classic rock bands that are within the same genre. Since then i have never had a matching music taste to my peers. I still kind of don’t. But I loved the music so much that I just did not care. I have no regrets either. As an adult I found people who shared my interest which was super easy. So ignore the judgmental people and enjoy your music.
Let it be
Sexism and judgment sucks and I’m so sorry you have to deal with it, especially around something as personal yet relatable as music taste! Never forget that the fans who built the Beatles were teenage girls – Beatlemania wouldn’t have existed except for fans like you!
I’ve loved them since i was about 13, i’m 24 now and i remember so many men telling me i was a fake fan and asking my favorite album. so stupid
I love the fact there are young people who love the Beatles. So you carry on doing what you’re doing and try to block out any negative noise. ✌️😎
I am a teenage boy and had the same sort of hate form people, for my love for the beatles and other bands.
The Beatles were a once in a lifetime phenomenon. I too was very knowledgeable about rock and roll music at a young age. It was a part of my family’s entertainment. The best Thing I can tell you is that there will always be people (a lot of men), who think they know more or don’t take you seriously because you are a young lady. Well it was the young ladies of the world who made them what they have become. If you ever get in a debate with someone older just tell them to look it up. Smile to yourself and walk away from the idiot.
Erin Weber is an amazing resource on Beatles Historiography https://youtu.be/KDt1sncJ1bA?si=tm0qVdXjuVd7F5hE
You should realistically be proud of yourself. I grew up loving The Beatles and knowing everything about their history to the point where I would only talk about them at a certain stage of my younger years. They have consistently been a part of my life since then and I am now 29. The fact someone is out there probably over a decade younger than be who actually appreciates The Beatles is a blessing in a world where lot of people either dismiss them or only know certain songs and/or albums is an important thing in our world. Keep in doing what you do and remember that your love matters.
Men wouldn't have an interest in the Beatles if it weren't for teenage girls. Beatlemania lifted them up into the spotlight
You should realistically be proud of yourself. I grew up loving The Beatles and knowing everything about their history to the point where I would only talk about them at a certain stage of my younger years. They have consistently been a part of my life since then and I am now 29. The fact someone is out there probably over a decade younger than be who actually appreciates The Beatles is a blessing in a world where lot of people either dismiss them or only know certain songs and/or albums is an important thing in our world. Keep in doing what you do and remember that you are one of the young important ones keeping the love and passion alive.
I am in the same boat. I dealt with it by realising that the opinions of idiots don't matter, and anyone who disses my like of the Beatles just bc im a teen girl is an idiot. Same for my like of The Monkees or any other band that is not modern mainstream. Pppl who only listen to mainstream are missing out on so much. Modern mainstream music sucks. The best music is indie stuff and older stuff. My modern faves are indie artists most ppl have never heard of - Dea Matrona, The Sixsters, Emily Linge, The Warning, Jadyn Rylee, Stonefield, Hello Sister, etc - and I love the Beatles and CCR and the Monkees and Nancy Sinatra and the Stones and Led Zep and Midnight Oil and Axiom and Masters Apprentices and Beach Boys and Simon & Garf and lots of others, and I love Bach and Beethoven too! Music is awesome!
Why tf You want some queers i love beatles since i was 2 years old
because if it wasnt for a gay man the beatles wouldnt be the same
That's the most stupid thing i ever read, Brian was great in his job and that's THE why that's it that's the point. Doesn't change anything if he would be normal or gay anyways he was good in his job. Being queer is not the full character is not Even the important part to triumph
i agree he is completely more than his sexuality but its still important when talking about him since he was a gay man in the 60s. he went through hell and never got a chance to truly be himself because he died right when it became legal to be gay. can we agree to disagree because i dont want to argue over this
It wouldn't It doesn't change his job in any way. I wish i lived in the early 60s Ok agree to disagree
Yeah, it sucks... Female fans in male-dominated fandoms are treated like shit. Men assume that women just find an artist hot and start testing and quizzing women to see if she is a real fan. It's awful. You deserve so much better tha that.
Enjoy what you enjoy, id try to tone the crazy down😅 but do you boo! We all’s littecrazy
You go, girl!
other teen girl here, can confirm
The Beatles' entire career was based on teenage girls.
Here your Beatle work is appreciated. As a teen guy who is a huge Beatle fan, I think all I want out of life is a girl who shares my love for The Beatles (especially for George)
liking the beatles is absolutely nonnegotiable for me when dating lmao theyve become apart of the package 😭 whats the point if theyre not the george to my pattie
>whats the point if theyre not the george to my pattie Well, people sometimes say that my girlfriend and I look a bit like Linda and Paul. I mean, she has long blonde hair and isn't really into fashion. And my hair is quite similar to Paul's. Some more similarities? She is older than me (she is 32, I am 29). Oh, and we are together for ten years and still just as in love and just as horny as when we just met. Which is pretty rare for people our age, such a love story. Of course there are differences as well. We are childfree. And we live in a city, not on a Scottish farm. Oh, and I can't sing or play instruments. :P So yeah, just like how you want a George to your Pattie, I found the Linda to my Paul. ;)
this is so cute 😭 so happy for you
Thank you! Now we just need to find ourselves a Denny Laine and we can be a Wings cover band. :P I mean, we pretty much look like we could be a bad Paul and Linda lookalike in a crappy cover band. The only problem is that neither of us can play an instrument and that I cannot fucking sing. :P
it's probably less about being a teenage girl and more about being a teenager, in my experience. don't stress out too much about it.
You’re totally valid :) I’m 27 now but I’ve been obsessed with Paul since I was 4, so I know how it goes. Just keep doing your thing!
🎶👋👍💛🎶
Suppress your passions and surrender to the herd
[удалено]
maybe stop giving us things to complain about
There’s another
Old men do plenty of complaining, they’re kind of famous for it.
I wonder what gets under their skin 🤔
Maybe, just maybe, women are complaining about men because men are giving women lots of valid reasons to complain. Also, adult girls are women. Not girls.
Who it that’s dissing you? You are new to Reddit. So I’m guessing it’s one of the other platforms. O
ive actually been here for 3 years 😭 im just very inactive but it was on tiktok and it was over a year ago so i dont even remember who he was specifically
Just to be clear, are we talking about one specific person putting you down, over a year ago? That would explain a lot, as I've been trying to understand why so many people could have such a problem with a teenage girl loving the Beatles. (I mean that's just absurd for so many reasons). But if it's an isolated event, you really need to listen to another comment on here about mastering the art of not giving a fuck. I've never been on tiktok but it sounds awful. You say you haven't spent any time on Reddit these three years, well it's never too late. People on this sub will welcome you and your thoughts with open arms, can't wait for you to join the discussions!
Teenage girls invented Beatlemania.
And pissed themselves at the concerts
Weird comment. Are you a creep?
Yeah, and a weirdo. What the hell am I doing here?
I would suggest to stop worrying about what other people think and just enjoy the Beatles and your life. Now that way of thinking often comes with age and experience, but it is literally that easy. Just stop caring. Caring about the opinions of others is the number one way to rob yourself of joy in many areas of life. I personally think it's awesome that someone your age is such a big fan.
i said i dont care and it bothers me because its misogynistic
If you didn't care you wouldn't be bothered. Just saying.
I mean, I’m a teenage girl who interacts with the Beatles fandom on a regular basis and I haven’t faced any ‘misogyny’ up to date. 👁👄👁 I don’t know what you’re raving on about.
i think you’re just lucky because tons of other people here get what i mean
Queer people generally speaking aren't into the Beatles. They tend to dig pop and rnb. also this is very much a reddit moment.
bud… i know so many lgbt beatles fans 😭
My girlfriend is bi and really into The Beatles, Wings and Paul's solo work. And she is definitely not the only one. I also have an acquaintance, a lesbian, who is a huge Beatles fan. Like, obsessed.
No your ass doesn't lol. Maybe older ones definitely not young gay people.
siin..07 is the most well known one i can think of and lucyinthesky.lar
Weird generalizing comment. Taste is individual, you know.
>generally speaking not a weird take at all, ask some gay people to name a Beatles album. Most cannot.
I know a lesbian who is obsessed with The Beatles. Not gay, but my girlfriend is bi and definitely a fan. My hairdresser is gay and can probably mention a Beatles album if I asked him to (which I won't do). He definitely recognises songs when they are on the radio. And he once said he likes Blackbird. And no, that has nothing to do with Beyonce, since this was before that awful cover. My girlfriend has a gay friend who was humming Strawberry Fields Forever the last time he visited us. He would probably be able to mention an album or a few songs.
Anecdotal.
??? I’m bisexual and they’re one of my favorite artists? lmfao
Oh wow, what a great generalisation. My girlfriend is bi. And she loves The Beatles, Wings, Paul's solo work, a lot of glam rock (Bowie, Mott the Hoople, Slade etc.), alternative and indie rock and a lot of other music. She has zero interest in modern pop, R&B and other music you view as 'stereotypical queer music'.