Maybe it started with The Osmonds. Or maybe The Beatles. Since the beginning of the century, boy bands have been a staple in our American culture. Just what is this shameless male worship we are so hooked on?
There is always the Bad Boy. And the All American. And the Funky Clotheshorse Type. There have always been these same roles, ever since Donnie, Jordan and Joey started Hangin' Tough. The Pretty Boy. The Pure Sex. The Sweet Sensitive. The Tall, Dark, and Mysterious one. Look at any of the current boy bands gracing our radio airwaves today. A five year old could place each member in their respective positions. The people who so meticulously put these groups together aren't dummies. They know what sells and they know how to tap into young female teenage obsession. Everything about these boy bands is planned. These are not a bunch a kids who started playing in their fathers' garages and then decided "hey, maybe we can make it big!".
These boy bands are created, packaged and shipped for ultimate Obsessive-Compulsive potential. The coy smiles, the hip clothes, the perfectly coiffed hair. Every atom of these guys is designed to overwhelm the average teenage girls mind and senses. In this day and age of Mtv, home videos and CD Roms, these guys are as accessible ever. And that is the point. Their whole appeal is to get the teenage girl to believe that one day Joey or Howie or Justin will ride into her dull hometown, sweep her off their feet and take her away from her boring and pathetic life.
And this type of obsession knows no bounds. Simply enter "The Backstreet Boys" into an internet search engine and you will get over 1,000 links at your fingertips. These fansites are detailed, extravagant, chock full of boy band pictures, bios, fact sheets and music sound bites. You can almost see the young obsessed fan sitting in front of the computer for five hours trying to pick just the right picture of A.J. to put on her page. For many girls, these boy bands become their whole lives. It effects how they live and what they do. Suddenly they are spending their babysitting money on issues of Tiger Beat and Bop. They are using their evening hours after homework and before bed to tape and replay the latest N Sync video. They're pleading with bewildered parents to please, please let them go see The Backstreet Boys in concert even though the closest show is a two hour drive away.
And what is obsession getting our young girls? Nothing. Despite what many parents and even some doctors may think, these obsessions are not rehearsals for real relationships to come. These addictions to boy bands are not going to prepare our young girls for honest, meaningful relationships. Because these obsessions aren't relationships. They are infatuations and yes, there is a difference. For these girls there is no reciprocation. None of these girls will ever meet, see, touch, talk to or form a relationship with the members of 98 Degrees or Hanson. And what happens when the teenage girl fan finally realizes that this is so? What happens when it turns out the Justin never liked women at all, and was waiting for his bands popularity to wear off so he could come out of the closet? What happens when it turns out that Davie or Howie or Donnie are actually snorting coke and screwing high class prostitutes? And what is sad is that it won't be the immorality of the situation or the downfall of a hero that will upset these American girls...it will be that they don't think they are as thin as the prostitutes.
The Backstreet Boys' video for "As Long as You Love Me" features the five pouty-lipped, clear skinned boys auditioning for a bunch of female talent scouts. The director of the video was very sure to have six talent scouts in the video even though there are only five Backstreet Boys. Why? He didn't want it to look like any of the boys were paired with any of the talent scouts. The manipulation is obvious here...the Backstreet Boys must looks as single, open, vulnerable and accessible as possible. That's what their fan following is based on. The belief that any run of the mill 8th grader could really be good enough to date one of the Backstreet Boys.
"I don't care who you are, where you're from, what you did...as long as you love me." "I'd rather die than live without you." "I drive myself crazy thinking of you." Have any of these statements ever, in the history of time, ever been uttered in a real, honest relationship? I don't think so. Yet these are what these young hearthrobs are crooning to the teenage girls of America. Talk about a false sense of what the real world is like. It's the whole fairytale theme, the belief that a knight in shining armor will ride in on his white horse and rescue you from a life you don't enjoy.
Shouldn't we be telling our girls that it DOES matter who you are and what you did? The Backstreet Boys seem to have missed a major point....the things that don't matter should things like looks, weight, body type, ethnicity, heritage. Unconditional love is not about not caring what a girl is like as long as she's hot.
What does Lance Bass of N Sync look for in a girl? "I like natural looking girls, but I mean somebody who likes to keep herself up," he tells us. "I like
somebody who respects herself (enough) to want to make herself look as good as she can." In other words, No Fat Chicks. One of the most destructive aspects of the boy band phenomenon is the fact that millions of young girls are measuring themselves up against what Howie, Joey or J.C. find attractive. 'Oh, Lance doesn't like girls who aren't slim. Better go on a diet!' This statement might sound ludicrous, but how many teenage girls have really thought this to themselves? More than you think. These girls live for these boy bands. They drool over their pin ups in Bop, they can't wait to read what Lance's favorite food is or what kind of car Justin drives. Every detail is incredibly important because it brings them one step closer (they believe) to really knowing these guys. But they don't know them at all. They just think they do. They want to become everything Kevin or Nick could ever want in a girl. And often that means thin, thin, thin. Howie D. of The Backstreet Boys made this intelligent statement about the girls that he likes: "I know this is going to sound superficial, but I do look at girls appearance. I like
athletic girls, especially when they can tag along with me when I go jogging. It's
important to be healthy, after all, when you love someone, you want to spend a long
life with that person. I'd still love a girl as much if she wasn't gorgeous, because
beauty is only skin deep. There are many things like personality, humor, and
goodness that can make someone beautiful on the inside. A mixture in that would
succeed in seducing me." Need I say it again? NO UGLY FAT CHICKS, PLEASE. Yeah, you can be whoever you want as long as you're pretty. Notice how Howie did not tell us good character ALONE will be enough to seduce him. You got to be hot too. But what is sad is that a teenage girl reading this statement will become very concerned with what Howie has said. It's one more pressure put upon a teenage girl who is already being bombarded every second of her life with images of Nicki Taylor and Kate Moss. Does she really need to now worry about how attractive she is in The Backstreet Boys' eyes? When you are obsessed, you lose all rational.
We are encouraging these girls to be obsessed. They enter into their local grocery store and on the cover of Tigerbeat are the blaring words "Justin of N Sync wants to be YOUR valentine". No he doesn't. But it sells another magazine and that's what counts. What's a little dignity and self esteem in trade for a extra large color poster of Howie D.?
You may think I am going too far, or that I am overexagerating the obsession of these fans. Afterall, haven't we all had a celebrity crush? Well, I don't know about you, but I would much rather have my daughter be obsessed with Emily Dickinson or Janet Reno or Walt Whitman or even the president than with Nick Carter of The Backstreet Boys. Trust me. Do some research as I have. The obsession of these young fans will amaze and disturb you. It's almost as scary as a 17 year old blond haired blue eyed hearthrob singing about true love and heartache.
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BSB, N Sync, 98 Degrees, Hanson and Five fans please send deaththreats here
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More Info on Boy Bands
A word on Anti-Boy Band sites I have seen...
The cast of characters we're dealing with
Play the Boy Band game
Are you obsessed?...check out one anti-boy band site to find out
The Leave Them Alone trend
