Do boy bands outperform girl bands? Why are boy bands more popular? If you haven’t noticed that when people talk about music artists with multiple members, most of them are boy bands, some girl bands, and even less mixed gendered groups. Ever wondered why?

Why are Boy Bands more Popular?

One very obvious reason that we can notice is that it is usually girls who fall into the fan culture of the pop music industry, hence the term fangirl is more common than the term fanboy. The society is more accepting of girls diving deep into fandoms than boys. Besides, on the surface level, there seems to be an agreement that there are more heterosexual women than homosexual women; subsequently, more scope for attention being grabbed by physically attractive men than physically attractive women, therefore, making boy bands more popular.

And Why are Girl Bands not Popular?

As stated above, the difference in the socialization of girls and boys has caused different activities being acceptable for each gender; and fanboying over girl bands by heterosexual men is not one of those. Moreover, we have heard social scientists and psychologists profess their theories about genders hating upon their fellow gender members, which might be an answer to why are girl bands not popular. So it all has to do with fangirls being more in number than fanboys?

Boy Bands vs. Girl Bands: Is the Difference Based on the Music they Put Out? 

And not on the observations made above? Well, that could be true. We are no social scientists and things put out here are based on general inferences that can be made by observing our surroundings and culture. But let’s try making one argument to support our above-stated reasoning – Why do male actors have a greater and stronger fan following and much larger fan pages compared to their female counterparts? 

Doesn’t the above reasoning make sense here? Well, maybe it’s not the best argument because the roles played by actors on-screen make a much larger difference here. However, why are male actors given more appealing characters? Well, that’s a question to ponder over for another day. Or maybe not, it could be that they are given the better role because they have a larger market they appeal to. Why wouldn’t producers invest in products that cater to a much larger market and audience? Maybe it’s just an upward demand-supply spiral – more market leads to better content, which then leads to a larger audience, and so on.

So Can Things Change by the Quality of the Content Put Out by Girl Bands?

Yes, that might be possible. But it’s not like girl groups have not made a mark on the world with the works they have put out till now. We have had huge girl groups ranging from the Supremes, Destiny’s Child and Spice Girls to the more recent ones with Little Mix, Fifth Harmony, Red Velvet and Blackpink, who have been just as strong as the Beatles, NSync, Backstreet Boys, Euphoria, One Direction, 5SOS and BTS. 

Are Things Changing Though?

One thing to look at is that things are evolving with our society. With the increase in the emphasis of realising one’s self-worth and being comfortable (or rather proud) in one’s skin, the demand for a different type of content is increasing. Firstly, individuals today defying the theory of social scientists who claimed men hate men and women hate women, has brought the already existing adolescent girls’ huge market to demand content from women’s perspectives and not just love songs by lovesick boys. They are now demanding Lovesick Girls, songs that blast out that they are Worth It, and something about Strip-ping off all the makeup and body shaming issues that society almost forces upon them.

And secondly, the audience for them is growing larger too. With men’s perspective and issues being brought out into the light, about how women are not the only ones facing societal pressures or hold insecurities, men are increasingly finding it easier to be themselves – whether that be fanboying over the girl or boy bands. To Love Yourself has come into vogue and individuals today are being encouraged to like and dislike things freely, regardless of their gender and other identities And traditionally women being more open to expressing their emotional woes, the songs of girl bands tend to be more aware and inclusive of such issues; thus, appealing to all those who have felt that they are on the losing end of societal norms.

This is not to say that things have completely changed for men, but there has been some progress. Men still feel pressured to behave in a certain way and enjoy only certain activities and hobbies. The only breadwinner of the family, the necessity of being the stricter parent, a responsible citizen and to keep his options limited while he is growing up are just some of the things men have been pressured into. To add further, the little changes that are being seen are limited to only certain urban, internet using and intellectually open-minded pockets of the world. Like everything in culture, it’s a slow evolution but hopefully, it sustains. And we hope it becomes that way as soon as possible because what’s wrong with people with being confident with who they are and what they like?

Hey hey hey! You’ve completely forgotten about mixed bands! What about them? Where are they in this whole boy bands vs. girl bands topic?

We would imagine that they have the best or the worst here. Best – because they appeal to all, irrespective of their gender identity or sexual orientations.  Worst – because they have the potential of being disliked by all, as according to certain social scientists. But a bigger factor for less global mixed bands is that their sheer low number existence. The one group that we all can remember from the top of our heads is the Vengaboys, and no one else.

Let’s conclude because this is getting too long for something just based on general observations  It’s a reality that we can all see that boy bands do better than girl-bands. We tried to answer why boy bands are more popular and why are girl bands are not popular, or rather less popular. Ultimately, almost anything in our culture comes down to socialization of individuals. Because men and women are raised in different ways in most cultures, generic differences in their personalities can be easily observed; and similarities can be drawn among most men and most women of different cultures.