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Brigade

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Synonyms:
See also: fan club, Estrogen Brigade
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Brigades were a type of fanclub focused on specific celebrities. While "estrogen brigades," which were composed mainly of women focused on a male celebrity, were the most common, "testosterone brigades" existed as well. Early brigades had a focus on actors. Later brigades also included characters. The term "brigade" was also incorporated into the names of many early online fiction archives. Brigades are commonly abbreviated using the actor's initials followed by the letters TB for testosterone brigades (e.g. Gillian Anderson Testosterone Brigade: GATB), and EB for estrogen brigades.

History

Brigades were first created by Star Trek fans in order to express their appreciation for specific celebrities.

Brigades began in 1993 with the creation of Siddig El Faddil Estrogen Brigade. Shortly afterwards, Patrick Stewart Estrogen Brigade (PSEB) was formed. [1]

The first estrogen brigades were closed mailing lists, and some had highly-sought after memberships. The original David Duchovny Estrogen Brigade, or DDEB, (formed in late 1994 by former members of the PSEB), for instance, had only 38-40 members, before it branched out into other mailing lists called "DDEB2" and "DDEB3." Fans not on the actual mailing list were able to visit the FAQ page, a website that had a lot of information about the star. Many fans confused being able to access the FAQ page with being on the mailing list, and perhaps didn't even know a mailing list existed.

The "David Duchovny Estrogen Brigade" was especially influential in that the media gave it much exposure. This was due to 1) how media latches onto things and doesn't let go or dig deeper, 2) the DDEB's spokespeople were very charismatic and visible, 3) people were just becoming aware of the internet and all the wonders therein, 4) X-Files was wildly popular, and 5) the idea of women gathering together and talking frankly about sexual desire was novel. DDEB is discussed at length in the first chapter of Rhiannon Bury's Cyberspaces of Their Own: Female Fandoms Online.

The movement spread with the Mitch Pileggi Estrogen Brigade (MPEB), which was formed in early 1995 "as a fan club for women on Delphi Internet who admire Mitch and his work. The club soon expanded to include women on all services."[2] The Lone Gunmen Estrogen Brigade [3] soon followed.

The term spread out to other fandoms as well, and estrogen brigades were eventually formed for a wide range of actors and characters, including Darth Maul, Jon Stewart, Yoda, Paul McGann, Robert Beltran, and Leonard Nimoy, pretty much most popular media male actors of the time. An example of a rare one, this one for a BNF, was the Barney O'Borg Estrogen Brigade.

Brigades, at least in title and history:

Brigades and Gender

Although brigade members were almost overwhelmingly female and the objects of their admiration tended to be male, fans were not required to be of one gender. A fan in 1994 said: "Despite the naming conventions the DDEB and GATB do NOT discriminate based on gender." [4] This caveat, however, was more for show than reality. Most brigades were generally made up of women, and were originally devoted to a (male) actor. "Testosterone Brigades," whose members were mainly males appreciating female actors, were less common. One very rare example of a brigade that did not fit the usual mold was the Mitch Pileggi Pheromone Brigade.

Shortly after Gillian Anderson married in 1994, a fan mentioned their attempts to maintain boundaries regarding celebrities' personal lives and their professional work: "There is now talk of forming a DSTB (Dana Scully Testosterone Brigade) in deference to Anderson's marital status...." [5]

Estrogen Brigades

An estrogen brigade was first a form of a type of fan club. As the name implies, it's generally made up of women, and were originally devoted to a (male) actor, although later characters had estrogen brigades as well.

splash page for the David Duchovny Estrogen Brigade (1997)

The first estrogen brigades were private mailing lists, and later ones moved to public websites.

Estrogen brigades were enjoyed by fans across the spectrum, ranging from the fanatical stalker to the casual appreciator, with everything in between. Some estrogen brigades were created as parody, and some were created as tongue-in-cheek groups.

Testosterone Brigades

Testosterone brigades were considered to be an offshoot or parody of the estrogen brigade phenomenon.

Brigade Examples

Celebrities

Characters

Archives

References

  1. ^ Note: many get this wrong, and recount PSEB as the first. It was not. See alt.startrek.creative, post by Maria Lynn Jason Rightley, September 29, 1993.
  2. ^ About the MPEB/MPPB, accessed November 9, 2008.
  3. ^ The Lone Gunman Estrogen Brigade
  4. ^ "Weekly Post: Acronyms explained!".
  5. ^ "Weekly Post: Acronyms explained!".
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