While women certainly participate in this element of “watch party culture” – take women’s football fan culture, over half of women’s football fans (53%) have developed their interest in the game in the last three years alone – it is so often co-opted by “lads”, and therefore does not and cannot in current climate always feel like a safe space.
Marty, 30, went to a TSITP finale watch party in a bar in London’s Kings Cross, and it was way busier than anyone expected. People were packed into the bar, sitting on the floor or standing when seats ran out.
“People were sat on the floor in their Team Conrad (the only correct choice) t-shirts, and everyone was vibing and looking forward to watching the finale together,” she told GLAMOUR. “We all spoke before/after (and commented throughout, and groaned whenever Jeremiah appeared on the screen), and it was nice to debrief.
“After we finished the episode, we found out about the movie, which made it all that much better! Was it super chaotic? Yes. Were the vibes great though? Yes. Did I have to watch it again when I got home because I couldn’t quite see and hear it? Yes. But would I do it again? Yes.”
It was also a decidedly women-dominated event, with all the female energy that comes with that. “I did not see a single man there, it was great,” Marty says. “I do feel like it’s very much the kind of show your boyfriend would pretend not to care about, but get super involved with, though.”
Megan, 28, threw a small watch party at her house with her friend and her boyfriend, who may have been “unwilling” at first but ended up dressing up as Conrad and making a peach cake for the event (if you know, you know). “It was really fun, overstimulated, emotional and manic,” she says. Once news of the upcoming movie dropped, the party then descended into an “emotional” debate as to whether it was needed or necessary.
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