What it means to be a trekkie

I'm not going to find my Guinevere at no STAR TREK convention! I want a woman I can be eXcited by. Big glasses, dirndl skirts and all that just won't do. I insist upon having Women of Quality™: All of their lovin' ... all of their huggin' ... and all of their kisses, too. And when I meet The Right One and she finds my Secret Stash of STAR TREK, I'll ...

I'll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

 

Not sure that there is anymore. Maybe back when the show was this “little cult thing” and fans were “Star Trek nuts” but these days, with ComicCon being the cultural and show business juggernaut it is, even people who dress up in costumes (Cosplayers) aren’t looked upon in the same way anymore. However, I’ve been to enough cons to see that there are people to conform to that stereotype. However, there are also a lot MORE people who don’t. But stereotypes don’t need vast numbers to exist, just attention. Just like not all sports fans paint themselves up, get stupidly drunk and urinate beer on each other.

Again, not so much these days. The Star Trek phenomena is pretty well respected. The only time I heard much in the negative was when a movie came out to lukewarm reviews with a “strictly for the Trekkies” label on it. actually, once the series took off in the 70's, every SF TV show was compared to Star Trek. Every. Single. One. So it's hard to praise a series on one hand yet condemn its fans.

I can only speak for myself, but meh, I see myself as a normal guy with a wife (who also loves Trek and sci-fi stuff), kid, grandkid, mortgage and a love of Star Trek. When I was in school, fine, kids picked on it. But kids pick on everything, that’s why it sucks being one. As an adult, it was refreshing to find out that more people liked the series than they admitted when younger. I have a picture of Kirk and Spock hanging in my office at work and it’s a real conversation starter. Come to my house and you’ll see Trek-a-brac adorning the walls. People usually say “hey cool.” Or nothing at all. I’m 46. Nobody’s gonna taunt me at this stage of the game. It’s not like I live next to Biff Tannen.

My family knows of my love of the series. Most of them share it, those that don’t just have different taste. I don’t like Duck Dynasty, but my brother in law and I still get along.

Oh and people who say "not Trekkie - TREKKER" take themselves to effing seriously. Actually, you just sound like a bigger geek.

 

If I may offer my two cents on this: A person (man or woman) "of quality" will be open-minded enough to not ridicule Star Trek or your interest in it as childish or something inept for an adult. They will instead be curious as to why you´re interested and invest your time and energy in it.
So stand by what you love

Mario

 

Personally, that's my perfect girl.

 

You may have just insulted the majority of the women on this site bro. Your "women of quality" and the women who attend con's need not necessarily be mutually exclusive. Just saying.

 

That sounds like my girlfriend! You've just pointed out another way she is definitely a "woman of quality", not that I didn't already know that, but thanks for the reminder. I guess not everyone is as lucky in that way.

 

And there you have it, a bunch of garbage stigma right here.

 

I've been to conventions and there are plenty of 'normal' people there. Normal looking and normal acting.
Plenty of people dressed up but you talk to these guys and they're mostly pretty interesting.
And there are people who probably take it too seriously but my husband used to be in the fan club for a football team. They had the same percentage of extremists.
But its not cool to make fun of football fans.

 

Yep and disgusting.

 

wow you guys are great im in the process of writing this paper ill keep you guys updated with how that turns out. I feel you guys are a more accepting fandom than most. I was almost afraid to post in here thinking id offend someone... but i love you guys!

 

It's interesting to ask why a Trek fan is considered a fucking weirdo when he dresses up as Starfleet officer or Klingon, but no one bats an eye when a football fan dresses up and smears warpaint over his face.

 

Sports teams represent the pride of entire communities, towns and cities. Olympic sports represent entire countries. Perhaps, that's why?

 

My husband isn't from the city that his football team represents. He's never lived there. Maybe its different in the US.

 

Nah, it's still just another aspect of extreme fandom. The main difference is, Star Trek fans don't break out into drunken, rage filled brawls and riots over the show.

Nerd rage is much more peaceful.

 

Actually I´m not so sure about that - just look at some of the verbal exchanges here at the TrekBBS

 

Like in the threads concerning Andrew Probert's Enterprise-C?

Bob

 

I've been known to do both

 

The slightest thought hadn't even begun to speculate about the merest possibility of crossing my mind.

Mario

 

Trek stigma is not that severe. I've never heard of anyone getting lynched or denied a job for being a Trekkie. At most, a fan of Trek might get laughed at or teased, but we should be careful here, because...

Trek "stigmatizing" is often playful and affectionate (i.e., not really stigmatization). Your friends rib you for being a Trek fan and make some Spock jokes, have you been stigmatized or recognized? Are you being laughed at or laughed with?

Trek stigma is not unique. Fan stigma attaches to fiction communities in general (Avatards, Twilighters, Bronies, etc.). At most, the Trek nerd is a sort of pop-cultural trope--a symbolic placeholder for all the various sorts of fandoms out there. And this raises another point...

Trek stigma does not really identify one as being really "out there." On the contrary, it's pretty safe/mainstream. Want to find a tribe that's hard to claim? Find the people who are seriously representin' Galactica 1980 or Automan or something. Star Trek has solid cultural recognition. Identifying as a Trekkie is to identify as something a lot of other people like.

Finally, the alleged stigma is hard to assess with the reversals of "nerd culture." We've gone through the looking glass where being a nerd is cool. Trek is just one brand of nerd that is safe for claim.

LOL, Trekkies see themselves as people - just like everyone else.

 

I remember as a child back in the 70's classmates and friends would at best, rib, or at worst (most often), ridicule me for being a huge Star Trek fan. I never understood it (the ridicule) and I never understood what people didn't see in TOS. I had a couple of friends who would often come over to watch it, but the moment we were in public, denial would be on their lips the moment the show was brought up.

My one buddy had an older brother who at 18, was considered "the guy", the coolest of the cool in our neighborhood. He happened to be watching "Spectre of the Gun" one afternoon when I stopped by. I said something to the effect of "hey, that's a really good episode" and in short order I began to watch what was left of it with him. Just like that my net value went up because my buddy's cool older brother suddenly saw me in a new light. A fine, cool, Trekker he was.

Odd thing about those that were doing the ridicule. They, in almost all cases, were the ones lining up to go see The Muppet Movie...something I would never have done if even under the threat of death. And I was "the nerd"?