This is something I've always kinda been curious about. Just based on my own experiences, I've had people act a little surprised that I was a fan of certain female singers with me being a guy. That isn't to say there aren't guys who like women artists (of course alot of them do), but it does seem like it's the minority with some of them, compared to their female fanbase at least.

Over the years it invariably comes up when I mention a certain female artist I like, that someone will go, "Oh it is 'cause you've got a crush on her?" Now, even if that is true with some of them, lol, it's like an extra thing. It certainly would never be the reason I enjoyed their music or was a fan of theirs in the first place, though. ;)

I tend to like male artists more than female artists, but I wouldn't say that for me, it's necessarily because they are male or female. I do like quite a few female artists too.

This is a stereotype that has been around for a long time though, the peak of which seems to be when your in middle school/high school. At that point, it would generally not be considered "cool" for a guy to like too many women artists.

And I know this from personal experience. I was in the 7-10th grades at the apex of the teen pop movement in the late '90s, and I knew quite a few guys that got put down alot, because they liked songs by Britney, Mandy Moore, etc.

I think you're probably right, and I noticed the division around that point too. Like when I was 10 in 1991, it was perfectly normal for me to like Paula Abdul, Mariah or Amy Grant. But a few years later in, say 1997, if I told people I still liked them, friends might've halfway assumed it was just because I was attracted to them, and not from being just a fan.

Do you think another part of it may have to do with the idea that people (more in middle and high school or older) tend to look up to celebs they like, as kinda role models/advanced friends? So therefore it's halfway expected to be more into someone of your own gender, as if to emulate them. Like, to turn it the other way, I've met far more male Weird Al fans than female (although just like in my case, it ought to be pointed out, that alot of girls like him as well).

I would say that's pretty much always the case. The only male artists that I would think have a predominantly female fan-base would be boy bands like New Kids On The Block, or The Backstreet Boys, or other groups of that ilk. I can't really think of many female artists that had a huge male crossover off the top of my head though.