Anyone else sick of Star Trek fans being called "geeks"?

Not caring.

 

As long as you're ok with yourself what others call you is of no importance.

 

"We have news for the beautiful people. There's a lot more of us than there are of you.

"You might've been called a spazz, or a dork, or a geek. Any of you that have ever felt stepped on, left out, picked on, put down, whether you think you're a nerd or not, why don't you just come down here and join us."

 

the issue isn't whether you are proud to be a geek or not, that's fine

what bugs me is that plenty of potential fans are turned off from watching the show because of preconceived notions of geekiness/lameness. Is that their own fault for being insecure? yeah, sure, but it still sucks for the franchise. I want the population of trek fans growing, not decreasing.

 

Sigh, it's high school all over again.

Adults do not look down upon other adults for watching Star Trek. It's all in your head.

 

it's arbitrary. As others have pointed out, there's no difference in enthusiastic fandoms for Star Trek versus ones for soap operas, bands, sports teams, etc. It's just what you happen to like. There's stuff that may show you have good taste vs bad taste, but there aren't ones that are inherently "geekier" than others.

Why is wearing a costume to a convention "geekier" than wearing a costume to a football game?

 

There isn't a difference between wearing team colours to a sporting event or wearing a costume to a convention. That being said one is considered more socially acceptable than the other. Not that it should matter.

 

No there's not. Taste is subjective. There's no objective way to determine if any one persons subjective opinion is better or worse than another persons. It's just pissing contest bullshit to say any different.

It's also pretty goddamn geeky.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-x_ba4s5mw[/yt]

 

I like being a geek, but I guess it depends on if a person uses it in a derogatory manner. I am happy to call myself a geek and I love fellow geeks.

 

I disagree, but you're welcome to your opinion.

 

The main negatives of being a geek, culturally, are the holdover ideas that have always been attached to the word. It's that people are dismissive of you because you're perceived to not have grown up. You're still reading/watching/participating in what is considered "kid stuff." It's the old idea of geeks living in their parent's basement and not having a girlfriend kind of thing. Of course, these days, plenty of geeks have girlfriends or boyfriends and have their own homes, etc. What a geek is has evolved, but, to a lot of people, that main idea of you not growing up and doing kid stuff is still around. If you're mature enough to dismiss their dismissiveness, then you'll be fine.

 

"Although being described as a geek tends to be an insult, the term has recently become more complimentary, or even a badge of honor, within particular fields. This is particularly evident in the technical disciplines, where the term is now often a compliment, denoting extraordinary skill."

I've grown to like this diagram that puts the term Geek and all the related others into perspective:



Notice how Nerd resides in the sphere of social ineptitude, while Geek just barely touches it.

 

^ First time I have seen this 'chart'. I like it. Thanks for posting.

 

Hmm...I read that chart like this:

Geek = Intelligence + Obsession
Dork = Obsession + Social Ineptitude
Dweeb = Social Ineptitude + Intelligence
Nerd = Intelligence + Obsession + Social Ineptitude

 

I'm not sure you know how Venn Diagrams work.

This. This is the correct answer.

 

Um...what's so wrong with what Gary7 said? Is it the "barely touches" part? I guess that's a valid point, but he's not that far off. In the chart (which is awesome, by the way) "nerd" is presented within "Social Ineptitude" while "geek" is not. I always thought of it the other way around, to be honest.

 

I like this chart as it gives the best definitions of the words although I personally use the phrase "XYZ nerd" to describe somebody who is obsessed with something.

 

I'm not sure you realize how my phrasing can be interpreted as a figure of speech.

 

Me too. I have read there is a distinction between the two although today they are used interchangeably. I hear that a geek is really tech savy which I am not.

 

This is the way that I feel as well. It is the name calling and such that I am sick of.

I hope people understand it it is not that I am offended by being called a "geek" because I don't like the term. It is the very fact that certain people have a disregard for Star Trek or to a larger extent, Science Fiction fantasy and so on.