Do you stan the revolution?

Stans may be one of the most annoying people to stand, yet I can't deny that their ability to organise and come together is to yearn for. Surprisingly enough, we have a lot to learn from them.

Jan 01, 2025

It might sound insane to say that, but as we are entering a new year, thought it was fair to share why I believe if stan culture was done right, it could lead us to the revolution.

Nowadays, stan culture has a pretty bad rep. Understandably so, if you hang out on platforms such as X, which brought that concept URL, you would ask yourself if any of those stans are actually doing OK. The super idolisation of a celebrity is somehow off-putting and over the top. I might be a bit biased here, for I have dreamt and prayed for the downfall of celebrities and the erasure of billionaires for the longest time, nonetheless, behind the dedication for their faves, stans are showing an unwavering and quite impressive sign of collective solidarity! The only drawback? That behaviour should be directed to organising and tearing down the very system those faves are benefitting from.

Origins and impact of stan culture

Contrary to popular belief, the term ‘stan’ is not something that is recent. In fact, we owe it to American rapper, Eminem (born Marshall Bruce Mathers) who released a song 25 years ago, titled ‘Stan’ featuring English singer-songwriter, Dido. The term is believed to be a portmanteau of the words ‘stalker + fan’. Therefore, distinguishing itself from the casual fan.

‘Stan’ is the story of a man (named Stanley or Stan) who is so creepily obsessed with Eminem; he goes to every of his concert, dresses like him, does his hair like him, and even tries to mimic him. He is so bewitched with Eminem that he spends his days and nights watching his videos, and writing him fan letters in front of a wall placated with his fave’s posters. The behaviour is so excessive, he completely neglects his currently pregnant girlfriend (played by Dido). Upset at Eminem not responding to any of his fan mails, he opts for a fatal ending for him, his girl and their unborn child.

The song is not based on a true story, but is a response to the unhinged letters Eminem was receiving from his IRL fans after the release of his sophomore album Slim Shady LP. ‘Stan’ is a message to those fans to not take his lyrics too seriously. It became such a massive success, it cemented Eminem’s career in the music industry, as well as granting an entry for the word ‘stan’ in the Oxford Dictionary.

Since then, stans have made themselves known on the internet through fandoms beefs and their very one-sided relationship with their celebrity crushes. Fandom beefs are not new, in fact, they date back before even social media was a thought. Ask your elders, and they will probably be able to tell you a lot about the feud between Beatles sweethearts, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Beatlemania1 and how the band’s influence shaped the landscape of the culture in the 60s2, giving a better understanding of fandom behaviours and the parasocial relationship that ensues.

Today, overly obsessed fans would bend over backwards to defend their celebrity crushes to shield them from any criticism. I am still not over Barbs (Nicki Minaj fandom name) who keep defending her left and right even when she is the one at fault. I don’t know, but why are people defending a 40-something woman that decided to marry and birth a kid with a sex offender? Who keeps beefing with up-and-coming female rappers? Who loves how unhinged her most loyal fans are that she will even encourage them to pile on, dox and harass her rivals. I am naming Barbs because they are the most virulent I came across during my time on X (formerly Twitter) but don’t believe I am giving some slack to the Swifties, Harries, Arianators, Beyhives, Navys and so on, they all have their fair share of questionable stan behaviours to point out, but this will perhaps be a piece for another day.

Fandoms doing capitalism bidding

The way stans go all out defending super-rich celebrities these days reveals a deeply concerning misalignment of class solidarity. It is like we have totally lost the plot about sticking together. Most of us trying to make ends meet, yet here we are investing significant emotional and intellectual energy into protecting the reputation and interests of millionaires and billionaires who probably don't even know we exist. We get so caught up in following these celebrities on social media and buying into their carefully curated personas that we start feeling like we actually know them. This is parasocial relationships for you: the illusion of intimacy that creates a false sense of connection that ultimately serves to distract us from genuine class consciousness.

Some stans would jump through hoops to defend their faves’ messy behaviours, even when it goes against their own morals and principles (if they have any!). It really shows how these one-sided relationships can override critical thinking and class awareness and make us forget who is actually on our team. Imagine what could be achieved if only we would put all that energy into actually helping each other out instead?

Despite it all, these stans communities are pretty amazing at bringing people together because they create a sense of belonging for a cause (or a person in that case) they all hold dear and deem important to them. Fandoms are responding to a growing need for community, an element that neoliberal capitalism is separating us from for the sole benefit of individualism, yet individualism ultimately serves to reinforce existing power structures rather than challenge them. The stans fantasise to be noticed by their faves and be pulled into their glamorous world. It is basically the new "rags to riches" fairy tale, keeping us hooked on defending a system that is not really doing us any favours. At the end of the day, this dynamic exemplifies how capitalism co-opts our natural human desire for belonging and community to redirect it from potentially transformative collective action toward the maintenance of existing hierarchies.

New Years’s Revolution?

Stan culture has evolved and showed us the remarkable potential for collective action. Stan communities demonstrate impressive organisational skills, rapid mobilisation, and unwavering dedication to their causes. However, instead of using these capabilities to protect wealthy individuals who don't need our defence, we could channel this power into meaningful social change. The current system has unfortunately successfully managed to veer our natural inclination for community and collective action into parasocial relationships that ultimately serve to maintain the status quo.

If you feel the same and this piece is speaking to you, feel free to share it around.

The exploitation inherent in our current system becomes particularly obvious with cases like the h-1b visa situation in the tech industry that has been tearing down the MAGA/fascist crowds on Twitter the past couple of days. Capitalists like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy demonstrate how capitalism pits workers against each other, abusing visa programs to create a vulnerable workforce that can be more easily exploited. These workers face a cruel choice: either accept poor working conditions or risk deportation. Meanwhile, domestic workers see their bargaining power only diminish and have those capitalists using their despair and scapegoat even more vulnerable communities to break unity and solidarity among the working people. This divide-and-conquer rule exemplifies how the wealthy elite manipulate various groups to maintain their power, all while fostering the illusion that we might someday join their ranks.

The path forward is clear: we must recognise that our strength lies in unity, community and solidarity among ourselves, not in defending those who benefit from our exploitation and misery. Real change won't come from hoping celebrities or billionaires will save us, it will come from collective action and solidarity among working people. Only by redirecting our energy towards genuine community organizing and class consciousness can we begin to challenge and transform the system that keeps us divided.

For all the disenfranchised by western imperialism, for the resistance in Palestine, the SWANA region, Congo, Mayotte, Venezuela, to back home in the belly of the beast in the West. For the ones who love humanity, for those who believe a better world is possible, for those who foster genuine care for others, for my fellow communists, socialists, anarchists, for everyone, I hope this new year 2025 will enlighten you, I hope you gear up for what is to come, I hope you make community organising and gathering a priority, I hope you learn about dialectic materialism. I wish for us all to start stanning solidarity, for we need to rid ourselves of the shackles of capitalism, neoliberalism and fascism.

Happy New Year, and never forget, we are getting closer to liberation!

Re(a)d musing the zeitgeist

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