Myth of the fake geek girl.

[thestrangequark]

^ That was great!

[lurok]

[Alidar Jarok]

Santa Hooves wrote:

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Yeah. Not to be disgusting, but most of the geeks I know salivate at the prospect of a girlfriend who loves comics, sci-fi, and fantasy like they do. It's practically a match made in heaven!

Honestly, I suspect part of it is the anger that there can be someone who shares their interests but still doesn't like them. At least if they "weren't geeks" they wouldn't share the same interests and that can be grounds for rejection. Once they find someone unobtainable who says they share the same interests, they have to pretend that person isn't real and is just faking it.

[JoeZhang]

I'm not even sure what geek means anymore - from the stereotypes presented - since I can see my own dick, don't have a throat beard and don't dress like a homeless person or have a house full of toys - does that mean I'm not a geek?

So what is a geek?

[sonak]

Alidar Jarok wrote:

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Honestly, I suspect part of it is the anger that there can be someone who shares their interests but still doesn't like them. At least if they "weren't geeks" they wouldn't share the same interests and that can be grounds for rejection. Once they find someone unobtainable who says they share the same interests, they have to pretend that person isn't real and is just faking it.

that's a good analysis.

[Robert Maxwell]

sonak wrote:

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that's a good analysis.

I have my own thought about it, too.

Being a nerd/geek (the two terms are often used interchangeable) was predominantly a male affiliation, and one that often came along with being socially ostracized, bullied, etc. It became its own subculture, with its own ethos and rites of passage. Any women who were part of it were generally expected to have come up the same way: socially awkward, few friends, little socialization outside the "geek" circle. Her gender was essentially irrelevant.

That's not really the situation anymore, though. Being a geek is mainstream now. It's cool. But you still have the guys holding onto this nostalgic idea of what it is to be a geek, and what you have to go through to be one, and they don't like that just "anyone" can be one now. This is a status that's supposed to be reserved for the brilliant yet misunderstood, and instead you've got attractive young women who play video games and read 4chan and call themselves geeks. Some people can't handle that, because they don't like their subculture being "invaded" or "taken over" by people who haven't "paid their dues."

I'm not saying I agree with them at all, because you just can't control a subculture in that way. I can understand where they are coming from, though. However, I think it is incorrect to assume the motive is sexist. I don't think sexism enters into it. It's more like a fear of something different, and especially the fear of these "different" people coming into your subculture and making it into something else, and then what have you got left? There are people whose lives basically revolve around living in geek/nerd culture, and once that is changed into something unfamiliar, it's like they don't have a "home" anymore.

In my opinion, the answer is for those people to grow up and realize nothing stays the same, and to get over their fucking childhood trauma already.

[Agent Richard07]

There's a blog written by someone who goes by the name "Dr. NerdLove" who has some interesting things to say about this topic...

On "Fake" Geek Girls
Don't Date Geek Girls

[Davros]

JoeZhang wrote:

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I'm not even sure what geek means anymore - from the stereotypes presented - since I can see my own dick, don't have a throat beard and don't dress like a homeless person or have a house full of toys - does that mean I'm not a geek?

So what is a geek?

Geek, used to refer to a guy who bit the heads off of chickens in a circus sideshow.

[Sky]

Alidar Jarok wrote:

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Honestly, I suspect part of it is the anger that there can be someone who shares their interests but still doesn't like them. At least if they "weren't geeks" they wouldn't share the same interests and that can be grounds for rejection. Once they find someone unobtainable who says they share the same interests, they have to pretend that person isn't real and is just faking it.

I think this is a big part of it, based on some of my experiences of when I was still single and young and went to conventions a lot.

[WillsBabe]

Robert Maxwell wrote:

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I have my own thought about it, too.

I think that's an excellent analysis. The same thing happened to the UK con scene back in the early 90s when TNG fans started attending. Cons went from being twice yearly affairs with 300 people attending to a burgeoning con scene with over 1,000 attending. Some of us were shell shocked for a long time!

[teacake]

And yet you call yourself WillsBabe and not KirksBabe..

[WillsBabe]

teacake wrote:

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And yet you call yourself WillsBabe and not KirksBabe..

True!

[ElimParra]

07 Geese a Laying wrote:

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There's a blog written by someone who goes by the name "Dr. NerdLove" who has some interesting things to say about this topic...

On "Fake" Geek Girls
Don't Date Geek Girls

Both interesting articles. Over the last few days I've seen posts on FB about this issue. It's one a lot of my female friends in the cosplay scene have been posting about.

There maybe fake geeks out there, but I don't know them.

[Nerys Myk]

When I worked at a bookstore we came up with a test called the geek-o-lizer. The guy who scored highest was into video games, comics, science fiction and sports. The one who denied his geekdom the most was Dead Head. Somehow, following a band from gig to gig and recording their shows, then trading those recording for the ones you don't have doesn't make you a geek. To me being a geek means you're border line obsessed with something. Be it a TV show, a sports team or a band.

A nerd is just someone who excels at intellectual pursuits.

[teacake]

Forget the geek girls, go for the geek women. That way you know this is not some college fad, but rather a long term personality attribute.

None of the people I was geeky with in high school (Trek, LOTR, D and D) have ANY interest at all in anything pop culture today. They had probably completely divested themselves of these pursuits long before they hit 30. They, as one person somewhat scathingly said to me, "grew up".

Watch out for that people, the ones that grow up.