At Bruce Springsteen’s recent show in Edinburgh, a fan managed to hand the 73-year-old rock icon a copy of his dissertation about masculinity. Pondering the masculinity of the Boss is logical: his themes include brotherhood, father-son conflict and the trials of physical labour; his songs are populated with downtrodden blue-collar workers, suicidal firefighters, forgotten soldiers returning from various wars, and economically disempowered men driven to murder. Indeed, he’s seen as one of the quintessential writers of the male experience. So why does he appeal to so many women?
A new book by Lorraine Mangione and Donna Luff, Mary Climbs In: the Journeys of Bruce Springsteen’s Women Fans, explores the reasons why. Both authors were aware of the stereotypes of female fans, be it the groupie or infatuated screaming teen, and their findings happily upended them: fans found community through concert experiences, and related to Springsteen as a result of loss, suffering, the quest for self-knowledge and for meaning in life. Luff says: “When I talked with other women fans, they were mostly not giddy about Springsteen in terms of sexual attraction. Instead, they spoke about identification with his writing and the emotions, experiences and feelings in his songs and concerts.”
