Harry Styles' Description Of His Fans Is Deeply Important

All too often, male artists are looked down upon if their fan base consists of young female fans. The singer or band isn’t taken seriously because their audience is comprised of teen girls, which is seen as a detriment to the artist’s credibility — not to mention just how harmful that way of thinking is to the fans in question, who are unfairly treated as if they are “lesser than” because of their gender; boxed into the stereotype of shrieking banshees, obviously only in it for the surface-level thirsting over cute boys. And then in comes Harry Styles, a feminist and a genuinely decent human being, who was having none of that and straight-up praised his young female fan base to Rolling Stone. PREACH IT, STYLES.

When the magazine asked him if he spends time thinking of a way to be appear more “credible” — aka an artist who broadens his fan base so that he doesn’t just appeal to teens — Harry was adamant AF.

"Who's to say that young girls who like pop music – short for popular, right? – have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That's not up to you to say,” Harry retorted. “Music is something that's always changing. There's no goal posts. Young girls like The Beatles. You gonna tell me they're not serious?”

“How can you say young girls don't get it? They're our future,” he continued passionately. “Our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kind of keep the world going. Teenage-girl fans – they don't lie. If they like you, they're there. They don't act 'too cool.' They like you, and they tell you. Which is sick."

There are not nearly enough hands-raised-in-praise emojis for these words. (Engrave them on my tombstone, plz.) Instead of wanting to distance himself from the fanbase who enabled him to have this career in the first place, Harry solidly embraced and fervently defended them, his words not only serving as a protection of his fans, but as a decrying of sexism as a whole. It’s a lesson that we all — and other artists with predominantly female fans — can certainly learn from.

Keep on preachin’ the good word, Harry Styles. Fans are fans because of the music first — no matter what their gender.  

Photo: Getty Images