Something happened the other week that stuck with me.
There's been a lot of talk of late about "Fake Geek Girls" and guys been "gatekeepers" of their various fandoms/cons. Not having been to any conventions, I've never really noticed this being an issue, but I have heard some absolute horror stories about the abuse and harassment that some women face just because they happen to love something and want to immerse themselves in a culture.
A quick aside:
Now, I know that being a "geek" is cool these days. There are t-shirts and bags and "geek glasses" for sale in any high-street store you care to mention. You see girls and guys wearing shirts with "mathlete" across the chest. It's cool.
You know what's not cool? Having been a geek/nerd/loser/swot and having been called all of these things, and being made fun of for wearing big glasses and loving things that are outside the norm, and then having people who have obviously never been called any of those things as a derogatory term saying "I'm such a geek, look at my big glasses". The general public needs to take a long, hard look at itself at the moment, and consider how it treats those who like things they don't understand.
Sorry, moving on. Where was I? "Fake Geek Girls", that's right. I'm a geek, not a "I bought big glasses from H&M" geek, but a "I've loved Star Trek/Star Wars/fantasy/sci-fi/reading/science/school" my entire life. I'm not ashamed or embarrassed by it, I'm rocking a Star Wars t-shirt right now, in fact.
But when I went to HMV to buy the new Star Trek film, the guy behind the counter asked me "Have you actually watched any of the other films?". Yes, actually, I have watched the other films, from the Motion Picture to Nemesis, and then the J.J Lensflare reboot. I'd say I loved them all, but really, Nemesis was fucking horrible. The interaction we had wasn't a conversation but a test of my geek-status. His use of language was accusatory throughout and he was unimpressed when I was able to answer his damn questions, and challenge him too. At least we agreed on Enterprise...
This then got me thinking, I was in the Star Trek club at school. It was a nice place to go at lunchtime, obviously there were mostly guys in the club, but I didn't really think much of that at the time. But then I thought about some of the things that were talked about, and some of the jokes that were cracked, and I remembered the reason I left was because I got tired of the comments about Seven and her costumes (yes, they were a bunch of teenage boys, and yes, that was the demographic her outfit was aimed at, but social mores still apply), and Troi's cleavage and Dax's bum. Women were simply there to be oogled, and I wasn't happy being part of a club that thought that way.
And remembering all of this made me sad and cross. And watching Wil Wheaton's wonderful defence of geeks, and John Scalzi's scathing comments against "gatekeepers" of fandoms made me sadder. These big-hitters in geek culture shouldn't have to tell these guys off. They should listen to the women who tell them "don't be a dick" and stop being a dick. They should be chuffed that some of the other 50% of the population gets them, and understands why they love the things they do, because hey, even with my XX chromosomes, I love that R2D2 crops up in both of the new Star Trek films, or that the costumes for Starship Troopers were used in Serenity, and playing spot the Harmony in Supernatural. I love all of this wholeheartedly, and shouldn't have to be tested on it to prove my credentials.
There's been a lot of talk of late about "Fake Geek Girls" and guys been "gatekeepers" of their various fandoms/cons. Not having been to any conventions, I've never really noticed this being an issue, but I have heard some absolute horror stories about the abuse and harassment that some women face just because they happen to love something and want to immerse themselves in a culture.
A quick aside:
Now, I know that being a "geek" is cool these days. There are t-shirts and bags and "geek glasses" for sale in any high-street store you care to mention. You see girls and guys wearing shirts with "mathlete" across the chest. It's cool.
You know what's not cool? Having been a geek/nerd/loser/swot and having been called all of these things, and being made fun of for wearing big glasses and loving things that are outside the norm, and then having people who have obviously never been called any of those things as a derogatory term saying "I'm such a geek, look at my big glasses". The general public needs to take a long, hard look at itself at the moment, and consider how it treats those who like things they don't understand.
Sorry, moving on. Where was I? "Fake Geek Girls", that's right. I'm a geek, not a "I bought big glasses from H&M" geek, but a "I've loved Star Trek/Star Wars/fantasy/sci-fi/reading/science/school" my entire life. I'm not ashamed or embarrassed by it, I'm rocking a Star Wars t-shirt right now, in fact.
But when I went to HMV to buy the new Star Trek film, the guy behind the counter asked me "Have you actually watched any of the other films?". Yes, actually, I have watched the other films, from the Motion Picture to Nemesis, and then the J.J Lensflare reboot. I'd say I loved them all, but really, Nemesis was fucking horrible. The interaction we had wasn't a conversation but a test of my geek-status. His use of language was accusatory throughout and he was unimpressed when I was able to answer his damn questions, and challenge him too. At least we agreed on Enterprise...
This then got me thinking, I was in the Star Trek club at school. It was a nice place to go at lunchtime, obviously there were mostly guys in the club, but I didn't really think much of that at the time. But then I thought about some of the things that were talked about, and some of the jokes that were cracked, and I remembered the reason I left was because I got tired of the comments about Seven and her costumes (yes, they were a bunch of teenage boys, and yes, that was the demographic her outfit was aimed at, but social mores still apply), and Troi's cleavage and Dax's bum. Women were simply there to be oogled, and I wasn't happy being part of a club that thought that way.
And remembering all of this made me sad and cross. And watching Wil Wheaton's wonderful defence of geeks, and John Scalzi's scathing comments against "gatekeepers" of fandoms made me sadder. These big-hitters in geek culture shouldn't have to tell these guys off. They should listen to the women who tell them "don't be a dick" and stop being a dick. They should be chuffed that some of the other 50% of the population gets them, and understands why they love the things they do, because hey, even with my XX chromosomes, I love that R2D2 crops up in both of the new Star Trek films, or that the costumes for Starship Troopers were used in Serenity, and playing spot the Harmony in Supernatural. I love all of this wholeheartedly, and shouldn't have to be tested on it to prove my credentials.
No comments:
Post a Comment