Season of Sexism #2: The Fake Geek Girl; plus Origins Award Winners, and Red Aegis' designer dream t

Umbran · Jun 18, 2013

Alan Shutko said:
Perhaps it would make things much simpler if we had a worldwide geek certification organization.

Because, as we all know, geeks "organizing" anything makes it simpler!

Dragoslav · Jun 18, 2013

I wasn't aware that the "fake geek girl" label was being thrown around so frequently as to have become a problem until just now. My first exposure to the phrase was in the context of people scoffing at the use of "generic sexy woman + video game paraphenalia/references" in order to pander to or appeal to nerds.

If my only exposure to the phrase had been from this video, I would assume that the phrase "fake geek girl" was being used to assert that all girls who claim to be geeks are fake, and that the label was therefore completely exclusionary based solely on sex. However, in truth, the phrase is used (or at least originally meant) to contrast "people who pretend to be geek girls" with "girls who are actually geeks." Therefore, the exclusion isn't based on sex but more broadly on people who try to cash in on what's currently "cool" in a disingenuous fashion. It's the same reason that some people have a problem with the show The Big Bang Theory, that it isn't truly an outgrowth of geek culture but rather an attempt to cash in on a contemporary trend.

Beyond that foundation, this issue becomes a gender issue by nature of the largely secondary status of women in the creation of mainstream culture. Nowadays, video games are extremely popular, but while a significant majority of men regularly enjoy them, far fewer women do. So if a woman wants to be a part of the mainstream, i.e. to not relegate herself to traditionally "woman's" areas and hobbies (cooking, sewing, fashion, etc.), then she has to essentially make her way into a "man's world," since what's mainstream tends to be what men enjoy. The problem arises, I would say, from a disconnect between what those in the mainstream believe and what someone entering from the fringe of the mainstream believes is required to be a part of the mainstream, e.g. a person who says, "I play Angry Birds all the time on my phone when I'm at work and my boss isn't looking. That makes me a geek, right?"

Alan Shutko · Jun 18, 2013

Dragoslav said:
If my only exposure to the phrase had been from this video, I would assume that the phrase "fake geek girl" was being used to assert that all girls who claim to be geeks are fake, and that the label was therefore completely exclusionary based solely on sex. However, in truth, the phrase is used (or at least originally meant) to contrast "people who pretend to be geek girls" with "girls who are actually geeks."

Even that is exclusionary because there's no phrase for "fake geek boy". Nobody talks about it. On the other hand there's a fairly consistent experience that geek girls have of people assuming they're only there because of their boyfriend, or (more recently) that they're faking it to be '"cool" in a disingenuous fashion'.

My thought is folks should get over the fears that someone is "attempt[ing] to cash in on a contemporary trend" and let folks apply whatever labels to themselves they wish. Life is too short to be some sort of identity police, making sure people are "True Whatevers" or reviling them for being fakes.

Dannyalcatraz · Jun 18, 2013

Once you were certified, you would be given an NFC badge that would advertise your certification level. Fellow geeks could determine your specialization by using their smartphones. Obviously, people who have iPhones aren't geeks so the fact that iPhones don't do NFC doesn't matter. I suppose an iPhone-wielding geek could add-on an nfc reader of some sort.

Personally, I'd rather have an iPhone than the Android I currently own...and if I get the chance, my next phone will not be a smartphone at all. I kinda hate them. I want my phone to be a phone first, and not a single one is like that.

Alan Shutko · Jun 18, 2013

Dannyalcatraz said:
Personally, I'd rather have an iPhone than the Android I currently own...and if I get the chance, my next phone will not be a smartphone at all. I kinda hate them. I want my phone to be a phone first, and not a single one is like that.

I'm going to have to strip your geek card, unless you find one with a rotary dial. Perhaps retrofitting one of those ancient Bell telephones that are more durable than a tank with a cellular antenna.

Dannyalcatraz · Jun 18, 2013

Bah, humbug!

I still carry an iPod Touch, an iPad2, and occasionally, a laptop- its not like I'm not wired.

Part of my issue with smartphones is the interface. If I get a call, I have to use those virtual buttons to pick it up...but, for whatever reason, they don't like my fingers. I can't tell you how many calls I have lost because my phone refused to recognize that I was trying to interact with it. Then, of course, I have to call them back.

Real, physical buttons don't have that issue.

And a device like an iPod Touch or tablet usually doesn't have that time pressure built in, so if it takes me a couple extra seconds to launch an app, its no big deal.

Dragoslav · Jun 18, 2013

Alan Shutko said:
Even that is exclusionary because there's no phrase for "fake geek boy". Nobody talks about it. On the other hand there's a fairly consistent experience that geek girls have of people assuming they're only there because of their boyfriend, or (more recently) that they're faking it to be '"cool" in a disingenuous fashion'.

That's part of the larger, systemic problem that I addressed in the last part of my post, that women don't have the agency that men have in defining mainstream culture. A man can pretty much do whatever he wants and be assured that he will fit into a more-or-less mainstream niche, while women don't have that luxury. Until a sex becomes more entrenched in a particular sphere, unfortunately a person's sex sets him or her apart from the people who are more typically associated with that sphere, which is why, on the flip side, you had phrases like "male nurse" for men in typically woman-dominated occupations. Hence, nobody would have thought to use the phrase "geek boy" at all.

The pejorative "fake geek girl" developed as a response to a previous phenomenon of the specifically gendered "geek girl" trend. With competitive gaming groups or individuals marketing themselves or being marketed as "geek girls," it suddenly became a gender issue. Before the advent of the "geek girl" label that grew in popularity a few years ago, nobody would have used the phrase "geek boy" not just because geekdom was male-dominated, but because female geeks--while less common--were more often just considered geeks who happened to be female. The "geek girl" label wasn't really a "thing." The "geek girl" label is a mixed bag because, on the one hand, it's a statement of empowerment, i.e. an assertion that women can enjoy and be as knowledgeable of/competent with the geeky things that men enjoy, but on the other hand it risks creating an even greater divide between the sexes by highlighting the differences between "geek guys" and "geek girls" instead of the similarities that unite geeks.

So, unfortunately, just like many things in society, there's a difference in how this fraudulence is expressed based on sex and gender. Men who fraudulently make use of geek culture tend to do so in non-sexual, gender-neutral ways like corporate marketing (pandering to "geeks" in advertising, The Big Bang Theory [according to some], etc.), whereas with women, due to having less agency in mainstream culture, it has a specifically gendered expression. And in that respect, this issue is no different than the myriad other issues in society related to gender inequality.

I'll note that I've always been one of the ones to argue that we're all just "geeks" regardless of gender, and that it didn't need to become a gender issue in the first place. Unfortunately, that's a pretty Utopian ideal.

EDIT: Oops, this post ended up being longer than I intended, so I'll add the disclaimer to not mistake my wordiness for conviction, as I'm more interested in just exploring ideas rather than making absolute conclusions. As usual, play whatever you please.

Umbran · Jun 18, 2013

Dannyalcatraz said:
Personally, I'd rather have an iPhone than the Android I currently own...and if I get the chance, my next phone will not be a smartphone at all. I kinda hate them. I want my phone to be a phone first, and not a single one is like that.

I am also a dumphone user. If I want a computer, I have a computer that is a bazillion times better at computer tasks than my phone would be - and if making my phone a computer compromises my ability to make phone calls (which it does), then I say no thanks!

Vyvyan Basterd · Jun 18, 2013

Dragoslav said:
instead of the similarities that unite geeks.

Geeks are united?! Someone should inform the intrawebs!

Dannyalcatraz · Jun 18, 2013

Hmmmm...

Somebody go down to the trademark office and file for the organization, "Geeks United International".

...G.U.I. for short.

Season of Sexism #2: The Fake Geek Girl; plus Origins Award Winners, and Red Aegis' designer dream t

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