Boy crazy, but not in a straight way: The ‘truth’ about Larry in the One Direction fandom

Abstract

This article explores the queer practices of a subgroup of One Direction fans known as Larries. The Larries believe that former One Direction boyband members Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson (referred to by the portmanteau ‘Larry Stylinson’) were, or are, in a relationship. This article draws on a digital ethnography with the Larry fandom conducted on Twitter across 2018 and argues that their digital practices involve queer reading strategies to disrupt heterosexual narratives and create space for queer desire. While Larries are invested in the ‘reality’ of the ship, we also suggest that their fan practices are oriented towards challenging dominant heterosexual logics. Larries do not simply seek representations of queer desire in popular culture but rather, through shipping Larry, create a community online that celebrates queer sexuality, whether actualized in popular culture or not. Our findings challenge typical representations of fangirls as heteronormatively ‘boy-crazy’. Far from understanding fangirls as a single monolithic group primarily motivated by heterosexual longing, this article argues that Larries encourage us to rethink gender, desire, the queer potential of fan practices and even the relationship between power and ‘truth’ in a ‘post-truth’ world.