Fanboy

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You may be looking for the Doctor Who zine Fanboy.

Synonyms: fan
See also: fangirl, otaku
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A fanboy is a fan (male or female, but usually male) lacking in social skills and expressing their fandom in obsessive and maladaptive ways. A fanboy may not recognize that other people do not share his enthusiasm, or may not value people who fail to share his enthusiasm, or be otherwise unable to express himself in a way that would be considered socially functional.

The term implies immaturity and isolation, invoking the popular derogatory imagery from Science Fiction fandom of an overgrown teenager with poor sanitary habits living in his parents' basement. In contrast to fangirl, the boy in fanboy refers to childishness rather specifically than to gender.

Another derogatory use of fanboy paints fanboys as fandom gatekeepers, those who have decided they have the authority to determine who qualifies as a "real" fan, and polices other fans accordingly. They are fiercely protective of their fannish interest, the nerd identity, and the status quo. They fight back hard against any attempts to make fandom, or traditional fannish interests (such as comics) more inclusive. Fanboys are the people most likely to use fangirl in a derogatory sense.

However, many fans use both fangirl and fanboy purely as neutral synonyms for male and female fans.

Origins

According to the Harry McCracken's article Fanboy! The Strange True Story of the Tech World's Favorite Put-Down, the term first appeared in a 1973 zine of the same name, created by underground cartoonists. It says, "The magazine’s cover poked fun at disciples of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs--a class of overserious fan distinct from comics collectors." In 1976, the term was adopted by R. Crumb, and became part of the comics lexicon. It seems to have slowly filtered to online conversations, especially of operating system advocates (that is, accusations of "Apple fanboy" or "Bill Gates fanboy), in the early to mid 1990s [1]

References

  1. ^ Fanboy! The Strange True Story of the Tech World's Favorite Put-Down By Harry McCracken | Posted at 2:45 am on Monday, May 17, 2010, technologizer.com, accessed 2010-5-25