An Alarming Look At The “Fake Geek Girl” Issue [VIDEO]

Ahh, this is awesome! :D

“Why on God’s green earth would someone *pretend* to be into Aquaman comics?”

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9qjbD8aifQA/TZkyGcCWmfI/AAAAAAAAAHw/ba-ckT-vxRA/s1600/aquaman-cthulhu.jpg

Hey, Aquaman has been SOLID since the reboot. It’s probably Johns’ best work as of late.

http://ur1.ca/c4ee0
http://ur1.ca/c4ee0
http://ur1.ca/c4ee0

I’ve been harassed for supposedly being a ‘fake geek girl’ before and I think it’s ridiculous, but in a way I understand where some of the ‘fake geek girl’ haters are coming from. In middle school I had glasses, braces, bad hair, and was the epitome of nerdy-ness, I was constantly made fun of and bullied because being a geek was uncool. Now that being a geek is cool and some girls are ‘faking it,’ I think that geeky girls who went through what I went through as a kid feel like they paid their geek dues and are legitimate geeks, and they don’t want to be supplanted by the very trend-following girls who used to be so cruel to them. So I’m not defending their behavior, I’m just saying I can understand where it stems from.

“And the zombie one with the actor from Love, Actually.” Hah!

The “fake geek girl” is actually a problem. A lot of young women are embracing the “geek” culture only to attract geeky guys. I’ve seen it in my classrooms, in my comic book shop. Sure, more sales of geeky things = good for the fandom. But poseurs leave quite a few of us who actually play for Team Unicorn wanting to vomit.

I agree completely. Also, I hate inauthenticity in women as a means to attract male attention, whether that means that they’re making out with their female friends and wearing slutty outfits, or wearing an Iron Man t-shirt and pretending to know about Doctor Who.

Critical Miss of The Escapist had a sort of similar comic about two months ago. Not really having anything to do with torture or serial murder but I think it works as a critique of the whole fake geek girl thing, in relation to cons at least.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/critical-miss/10060-Fake-Geek-Girls

But I like Aquaman…

Really?

Really?

What would be the point of that?

Ok. I just need to ask-

Honest to god, where in the hell are these fake geek girls you run into? I have yet to meet a single girl, in my (relatively short) 13 years of geekdom, who pretends to be a geek because it’s “cool” or to get a guy.

NEWSFLASH: Geeks… still aren’t super popular. Is some geeky stuff popular? Yes! But whenever I am around groups of girls who fall into the popular catagory (aka “mainstream and well-liked”) they talk about fashion. And celebrities. And make up. And their personal and business relationships. And the best way to do -many awesome things here that are practical-.

Do some girls not know more than a movie? Yes! And… why should I care? I will just gush about the movie with them and who we think is the cutest (for me- Bruce Banner, with RDJ a close second). I will save comic book gushing for people who know about comics. But yeah. Have yet to meet a “faker”.

Also, for all we know those girls could have been picked on too! Or actually nice to geeks! It’s this stupid idea that these pretty girls used to be mean girls and now that geeks are popular they are totes trying to get on that action. (Which is a view of women that is sexist as all hell, may I just say.)

(And yes, I do realize this is fairly gender normative. But mainstream girls and women tend to be fairly gender normative, roughly. I have occasionally talked about sports and “guy-coded” things with them too because individuals are awesome!)

I’m a geek and I didn’t go through anything in high school, I’m not less of a geek than you because I didn’t get picked on and it’s really really really fucking annoying that you think so.

1. The men are not watching and if they were, they would not be impressed. 2. I can’t even believe that you believe there are seriously a large number of women who pretend to like comics or video games to attract the attention of the people who don’t think women could possibly really like those things, or that giving Wonder Woman pants is an affront or that it’s reverse sexist to have an X-book with an all female team. It sounds like a lot of projecting to me.

I can only assume that’s why you’re doing it because I’m pretty sure you can’t read minds.

Geeks are apparently the new Hipsters. Zealously guarding all their geeky secrets because hey, they read The Avengers before it was cool. A bunch of people trapped in high school forever because they can’t let go of how uncool they were. You have a choice, you can wallow in your self pity and be evil to everyone you perceive as not One of Us or you can get over it. Either way, get off the cross, we need the wood.

Slutty outfits, huh? Because women aren’t allowed to dress however they want for whatever reasons they want. That’s ‘inauthenticity’. Or something.

You probably believe in the friendzone, too.

Please project more of your suspicions, frustrations and obnoxious standards onto more women. Because we’re not pressured enough yet.

“Honest to god, where in the hell are these fake geek girls you run into?”

They exist. I’ve encountered a few in the wild. In my experience, they’re only slightly less common than the basement dwelling man-child who is only vaguely aware of deodorant.

Honestly, I know more than a couple people who have had their lives devastated by these psychic vampires. That stereotype of the girl who uses geek culture as an in to get attention from sexually inexperienced guys. I watched that happen to a friend firsthand back in high school. I got a front row seat for that train wreck and it irks me a bit when people claim it doesn’t happen.

If that doesn’t describe you or your friends, awesome. Carry on. Be a better example.
Just like I try to be a better example of a male geek by showering daily and having things like a job and an apartment.

But these elements do exist in our sub-culture and pretending they don’t exist isn’t going to make them go away.

But the “making sexist and homophobic remarks about other women to make yourself look good to the MRA fedora brigade” sort of inauthenticity is fine and dandy, I see.

No, it actually isn’t a problem. Thanks for playing.

Except this is more than just my friends. I am a very friendly person at cons and in the geek zone. If I’m looking at the same item as someone else (and my tastes can run very mainstream), I discuss it with them! I will chat with whoever is next to me in a line! I will help someone if they are standing around looking lost! I have aided random people at Barnes and Noble in the Manga and Comic and Fantasy sections!

Also, question. Did these girl’s TELL YOU that’s what they were doing? ’cause I can think of about 100 more plausible explanations then them faking geekiness to get with… inexperienced guys.

Um. Why? Inexperienced guys aren’t, well experienced. And (shhh!) it’s kinda hard for us ladies to get a O when the guy doesn’t know what they are doing.

I’m not saying that these types NEVER EXIST NEVER. But… I’m a girl. I hang with girls. I hear gossip about all kinds of girls and what’s goin’ on. I also have guy friends who gossip so I’m in touch on that side as well.

What I’m saying is… I have yet to hear of a actual fake geek girl. Do some guys who are slighted call them that? Yes. But that is rarely what it is. I have seen the “Really crushes on the guy and so pretends to like X to get them to notice her, and then either falls out of crush or realizes it’s not all sunshine and bails”. But that is a far cry from the “psychic vampires” (I mean, REALLY DUDE. WTF IS THAT. That’s like hilariously bad sexist trope.).

You and your friends either have really bad like and have managed to attract a unheard of number of these mythical women, or maybe (juuust maybe), you might be getting a biased account of events because oh right, it’s your friend who was dumped.

Also, in all my geek years I have only met like, five actual basement dwellers. And the BO is both a male and female problem trust me. Ah, my stinky ladies… /douses random women in Lysol (Girls are slightly cleaner on average, buuuut not by a whole lot.)

I don’t think that just because you didn’t get picked on you aren’t geeky enough, what I’m saying is that I can see how some people who were picked on school or as adults and are still carrying around a lot of anger about it might lash out at people they perceive as ‘fake’ or outsiders. I don’t think they should be mean to people that they think are ‘fake geek girls’ I’m just saying that’s probably why some of them do it, because they are angry about getting picked on and haven’t been able to let that go.

I personally don’t think that there’s a huge ‘fake geek girl’ problem, I’m just saying that some women who pick on other women for being ‘fake geeks’ might be doing so because they were picked on or bullied in the past for being a geek, and they haven’t been able to let that anger go. So when they perceive someone as being a fake geek or an outsider, they may be mean to them because of their anger at being bullied in the past. I’m not saying it’s right or that they should do it, I’m just postulating that as a possible reason WHY they react with such anger at the people they think are ‘fake geek girls.’

Oh okay. Well if it hasn’t been in your experience, I guess it’s never happened.

Personally, I’ve never seen the clerk at my LCS patronize a girl with “quizes” while a creepy guy drools at them from the corner. So I guess that’s never happened either. No need to address that issue anymore. It’s officially not a thing that happens! So I decree!

In all seriousness though, it’s odd though that you seem to think my experience is such an isolated incident considering it’s a solid ten years later and people are still describing the exact same behavior.

More over, it’s also odd that you say you’ve yet to hear an actual fake geek girl and then say this…
“I have seen the “Really crushes on the guy and so pretends to like X to get them to notice her, and then either falls out of crush or realizes it’s not all sunshine and bails”.”

I’m fairly certain that IS the exact definition of “fake geek girl.”

And yes, I’m fully aware that the particular case I cited is an extreme example (god help us all of she were the norm) and that being a “fake geek girl” was only the tip of a very crazy iceberg.

Fact is though, it happens. And it apparently happens more than I thought it did.

Also, I’m not about to spend the rest of my night chronicling every insane detail I can remember from that drama just to justify myself to you. I was there. You weren’t. Only one of us has any insight to that particular mess, and it isn’t you, so you’re just going to have to take my word for it. Or not. Just keep pretending only your experience matters, but I doubt that’s going to make for a very productive conversation.

What? I’m not even sure how any of these comments relate to mine. I’m simply saying that women (and men) sometimes engage in behaviors simply to impress or attract women (or men). And I hate it when people do that. I’ve met many of these “fake geek girls.” Like Travis, I’ve seen them hurt my male and female friends. I suspect that every subculture/fandom/what-have-you has such people.

Read Ariel Levy’s Female Chauvinist Pigs. She discusses the misleading “feminism” of dressing provocatively far better than I could explain it here, and I really dig what she has to say.

There is no friendzone.

1. Heterosexual women making out to impress/attract men is a regular occurrence at “mainstream” clubs and bars throughout the US and Europe. It might happen in geek culture, too, but I’ve never seen it.

2. I have met at least ten. They are typically popular, formerly preppy girls who see a few movies, buy a few t-shirts (now readily available, cheap, in the juniors section of every major department store). One is a student of mine. She came into class wearing a shirt depicting many Marvel characters. I said, “I like your shirt. What comics do you read?” Student: “Oh, I don’t read comics, I just like superheroes.” I was too flabbergasted to respond. Another is a coworker. She plays Call of Duty “because boys like it.”

I’ve wondered for a long time.

Really.

Not sure what you mean here.

She didn’t say that, though!

You know what? I don’t read comics, either. It is a medium that does not appeal to me, personally, though I respect its value. And I think superheroes are fucking awesome. I’m hugely engaged in several different superhero fandoms. And I’ve been a geek almost since I can remember. I wrote weird sci-fi-ish fairy tales in elementary school. I discovered “Stargate SG-1″ at 11 and consumed everything sci-fi I could find from then on. I started reading Asimov at 13.

And if I entered your class wearing a Marvel shirt, and you asked me what comics I read, I would say THE SAME GODDAMN THING your student said. And that response would tell you NOTHING about whether or not I am a geek.

And I’m simply saying that you’re making a big problem out of something that isn’t nearly as common or damaging as you think.

Do you not realize, or just not care, that women are painted with this broad brush all the time? That we are constantly assumed to be fake unless ‘proven otherwise’?

If you say that women and men engage in these behaviors, then where is the ‘fake guy meme’? I mean, it’s true, but one group seems to be let off the hook a lot more easily than the other.

I am a geek girl and I am fairly attractive. (Or at least I think I am) I do have a severe stutter, so despite looking like I could have fit in with the popular kids in high school, I was bullied and I did not have any close friends because of communication barriers. Embarassingly, I was even outcasted by the nerd group at my school. I was as low as you could possibly get on the social ladder. I’m not married and still geeky. My speech has gotten better but I still do stutter. At cons, I like to discuss the things that I like with other people. But I feel like I have to keep my husband around so that some guy doesn’t feel that I’m hitting on him. (And it has happened even though I don’t think I gave any indication that I was interested in a guy) And I have been accused of being a fake.

There are several problems with the “fake” geek girl argument and several problems who think that it’s an issue.

1. Our definition of geek is very narrow. As someone else said, there’s nothing wrong with liking superheroes but having never read a comic book. It’s also okay to wear a t-shirt depicting this. Nothing about this situation says that person can/can’t be a geek. Especially if their field of expertise lies elsewhere.

2. Say you find one of the allusive brand of “fake” geek girls, what exactly are you going do to prove that they’re not a geek? For all you know, this person has a deep love for Arthur Conan Doyle’s works and steampunk, yet you’re boring them to death asking them about superheroes/sci-fi. They were just passing through the comics section of the con to get to the steampunk, yet they’ve already been dismissed.

3. I’m not denying that their aren’t fakes, since this is a sub-culture which is gaining popularity, but honestly why should we care/do anything about it? Congratulations, something we like has gained in popularity. Now we’re at the cool kids table so to speak.

I was asked this another board, since my GF had been harassed by some douche bags who assumed she knew nothing about comics at a con. In fairness, she doesn’t know much about comics, but she can speak fluent Elvish and Klingon. After being quizzed for two minutes she was dismissed and laughed at. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there at the time and now she’s not too keen to go back to cons.

So, back to my point. I was asked on another board if I was given a magic wand, would I remove the douchebags or the fakes. I would easily, without hesitation remove the former.

Ahhh I see the problem here. You’re an elitist nerd. A person doesn’t count as a nerd unless they match your definition. But, as I myself learned a long time ago, you have no right to say what makes someone a nerd. I used to quiz people about comics or various other nerd things (mostly because I wanted to prove I knew everything before it was asked) and if they couldn’t answer, I decided they weren’t a nerd. It took a bit but I realized that I don’t get to dictate whether or not they’re a nerd. You don’t either. So maybe these people aren’t your ‘level of nerd’ but that doesn’t make them any less of a nerd than you. Just either newer or more specific.

I’m in the same boat. Ever since I heard about this phenomenon, I’ve kept my eyes peeled for a “fake geek girl” that reads comic books to get guys (and uses them as virgin sacrifices later).

So far zero – and I do frequent anime conventions, comic book shops and the manga section of my local bookstores. All the girls I’ve encountered seemed really geeky to me.

The only thing I can think of is that they were geeky about different things. Not everyone is a comic book geek – some girls prefer manga and that doesn’t make them any less geeky. Some girls are even geeky about books without pictures!

What I want to know is who is handing out the geek cred.

2:13-2:18
Her psychotic, childish, sadistic, laughter brings me back so many memories of my ‘terror’ of a certain ‘other’ “child” of psychotic, childish, sadistic, laughter…. Good times, good times.

http://youtu.be/MmH6XPCp1as?t=25s

Maybe, someone should make a ‘game’ about this???? C:

Thank you. Just thank you.

See, that’s the problem. We shouldn’t have to have our be-penissed keeper around to shield us at cons, or to vouch for our authenticity. Men should be able to function around women, regardless of their attractiveness, instead of assuming that an attractive women is out to get something from them.

I mean, sure a part of me gets it. I’m super smart, excelled in all my classes, and I constantly had d00ds approaching me in a flirtatious manner, in an attempt to ingratiate themselves and manipulate me into helping with(read: doing) their homework. Sometimes, I was even naive enough to fall for it. But you know what I don’t do? Castigate every man who approaches me, or attends the same events I do, or dares to appear handsome in public. You learn from these mistakes, and move on.

Nobody’s pretending they don’t exist.

They just don’t exist.

Thanks for playing.

“blah blah wah wah only your experience matters”

And yet you expect us to believe that YOUR experience matters more than ours.

Again: “fake geek girls” do not exist. You are just another misogynist douchebag who is butthurt that icky girls are infringing on what used to be the sole property of your He-Man Woman-Haters Club.

Thanks for playing.

Pretending to be stupid is pretty inauthentic too.

As opposed to the misleading “feminism” of telling other women what they should and shouldn’t wear, right?

Why are you so convinced that all these women making out with other women are straight and just trying to impress men?

Funny, no fandom/subculture/what-have-you I’ve ever been in has had “fakes” in it.

But they have had plenty of elitist, sexist, homophobic douchebags like you.

Not really.

I love it! Someone better warn my geek boyfriend.

Sure, maybe. But you have to admit that a large percentage of guys lie through their teeth to try to have sex with women ALL THE TIME about EVERYTHING. Guys hurt and use too. Why is there some sub-genre of jerkness just because of gender and topics lied about? A jerk should be a jerk period. I shouldn’t be mocked, stalked and threatened regularly just because one of your friends got his feelings hurt once. You friend took a chance and got hurt, big freaking deal! That happens to everyone. My first boyfriend, a geek, told me he loved me but it was bull just to get me to have sex with him. Boo-hoo, young people can be cruel and callous, what a shock. I didn’t suddenly start attacking every man who claimed to like/love me! If I did, that would be personal and affect just me. The perpetuation of the fake geek myth (as anything more than standard human jerkery found in every group) HURTS and alienates a lot of girls and women (already outcasts for having niche interests) who have done nothing wrong aside from being born with ovaries. You are lying to yourself if you think there is any justification for any little girl crying herself to sleep because she isn’t accepted by any of her peers, male or female. Treating any female with prejudice because of the action of another is rampantly bigoted, shameful and downright unstable.

This. Do they hold the men around the girl they’re grilling to the same standard? I know some guys who come to con just to look at the women dressed like superheroes who have no actual interest in costuming, comics, or respect for women. I don’t call them fake geek guys, I call them shallow poozers. If somebody just likes the movies, that doesn’t make them fake. Also, it’s a great opportunity if you think they’d like the comics, to introduce them. There are no fake geek girls. There are only newbies or the as-yet-to-be Browncoats. :)

I think we all can figure out motivations behind this awful concept, but it doesn’t excuse it. I can find compassion for them, but I’m not going to stand by and let them work out their problems by being a jackhole to my newbie friends, or to me, who has many fandoms, some that run deep in my blood and some that are just something I occasionally dabble in.

There is no way you could possibly know the inner knowledge, inner workings of her mind, nor what all her various interests and fandoms are, nor what went down in those relationships, because you are only coming across that information second hand, from one of the parties involved; the party who was dumped and may (naturally) have a bias against. If she was just faking all her interests to get with him, wouldn’t HE have been the one to dump her? If she were so desperate as to fake all this, it seems unlikely that she would be the first to jump ship after sacrificing so much time away from her other interests.

I would say there’s generally just as much inauthenticity in the male population as the female population, in the geek subcultures as well, and yet I don’t see a fake geek guy meme running ragged across the nets.

There’s the difference in a nutshell: this a game to you. For us (women, LGBTs, PoC) we live with the rejection, the threats, harassment, stalking, cruel memes, vitriolic online gaming scene, silencing, along with accepting and trying to find our place in a culture that marginalizes and stereotypes us. Every. SINGLE. Day. Thanks for playing? Thanks for dismissing my pain so easily.

I love The Avengers movie, because Marvel was my first comic-related love (started with the animated X-Men series) and also because I am a Whedonite. But most of my comics are by Dark Horse and Slave Labor Graphics. I couldn’t afford large collections when I was younger. I had to choose. So though I do have Marvel comics, some Thor, some Hulk (and She-Hulk), they don’t make up the large part of my knowledge base or collection. Do you know how many guys like Invader Zim but know nothing about Squee or JtHM or i Feel Sick, or Filler Bunny? That doesn’t make them fake geek guys. I love that we share an interest in Vasquez’ works and maybe I can introduce my guy friends to his comic books. Just because they only got into him through the TV show doesn’t mean they are any less of a geek than I am. My fandom may not be your EXACT fandom and that’s okay! :)

I don’t think mean behavior is excusable either, just because they may have been bullied doesn’t make bullying others okay. Besides, we ALL started out as newbies at some point, nobody is born with a vast knowledge of all things geek. It’s all about perception, it seems that every group has a subset of people that some people in that group are going to view as ‘posers.’ It happens in every community…in the Native community, for example, some Natives believe that if you are less than 1/2 blood and didn’t grow up on a Rez, you aren’t Native enough.

This. Or maybe they’re even a higher level of nerd than you are, but their area of focus is different than yours.

She’s making excuses for people to treat others like garbage because they had a bad experience once. Being picked on in high school doesn’t actually give you an excuse to be a jerk for your entire life.

Pretty sure feminism means that women can wear whatever they want.

How do you test the men and women in your classrooms and shop? Do you hold the men to the same standard as the women? Do you realize how many different comics there are? Do you grill both men and women on every single character EVER created? Then how do you know they’re not a geek? Maybe they would share their loves and knowledge with you if they weren’t approached or considered with such hostility. Maybe they’re a newbie (plenty of guy newbies too) that you just turned off your comic book store forever because they felt harassed or judged by your approach.

1. So you asked them or read their minds? Because there’s no possible way you could know for a fact that’s what was going on there. 2. So a person can only like X-men if the read the comics? A person can only play video games for reasons you approve? Can you not see how you are drawing arbitrary boundaries and deciding for people what they can and can’t like and the reasons it’s okay for them to like those things? Do those people even identify as geeks or are you just frothing at the mouth over nothing?

I get that. But the problem with this ‘fake geek girl’ idea is that it unfairly targets women. There’s no equivalent ‘fake geek guy’ meme, which would just run the two together into ‘poser’ of either gender.

Thank you for posting this. Your wording gets right to the crux of it.

I had severe childhood asthma, I look healthy now but was tortured for it for most of my childhood. Even in high school the geek group was a boy’s club. Not surprisingly most girls in my high school days had a variety of ‘geeky’ hobbies but never wanted the boys to know because they feared judgment (gee, I wonder why?). Maybe that is the reason for the disbelief in girls turning to geekdom more these days? At cons I feel the same way, I nearly panic if I find myself standing without a trusted man or two at a con. I’ve only ever had two uncomfortable occurrences at cons but I’ve been accosted twice in crowds. I’m ashamed to be dependent but even more afraid and just want to have a good time. *sigh*

It’s probably all part of the larger problem of geekdom being considered a boys-only club in many ways. Like I was watching an episode of Big Bang Theory and the girl walked into a comic book store and all the men in the store were staring at her. The comic book store owner explained that they had never seen a girl, much less a pretty girl, in a comic book store before. So it’s that stereotype that women, especially pretty ones, can’t be into things like comics.

That show is just horrible. My husband calls it “geek blackface.” It is designed to encourage “normal” people to laugh at intelligence.

No, I mean, I honestly have no idea what you mean. I don’t consider pointing out the existence of fake geek girls (or fake geek guys, who also exist) to be sexist or homophobic. Nothing I said was sexist or homophobic. People here are being very quick to accuse.

I didn’t. There are many straight women who make out with each other to impress men. They are not lesbians or bisexual. They could be said to be manipulating the expectations/fetishes of male heterosexual culture, but I don’t find that feminist. Read Levy’s book. She’s extremely articulate about it, in a way that I don’t have room to explain here. Again, you’re awfully quick to accuse me of not being “feminist,” or “pretending to be stupid,” considering that you know nothing about me or my background. I’m just trying to discuss.

It would tell me that you didn’t know much about the fandom you were choosing to represent by wearing that t-shirt. Superheroes LIVE in comic books. I honestly don’t see how anyone can be “hugely engaged” in a superhero fandom without reading comics. It doesn’t make any sense. That’s like saying you love Final Fantasy, without having played any of the games. It would be like me wearing a Stargate t-shirt. (I’ve never seen the show.) It’s a form of misrepresentation, and it’s rampant among both sexes.

Right, but see, you would SAY this if asked why you were wearing an Avengers t-shirt, no?

Because I watched them. And they were.

As I said before, of COURSE there are tons of homosexual and bisexual women who can make out with each other as much as they want, without any relation to heteronormative culture. But a pair of heterosexual women kissing in an obvious attempt to titillate nearby heterosexual men? It does indeed happen.

Wow. It’s interesting that I’ve never been called any of those things in my life until just now. Thanks for playing.

I agree. I agree completely. Let’s make one?

1. It happens like this. Girls are actively flirting with fratty-looking boys. Boys lose interest. Girls begin making out. Boys make wolf-whistles and cluster around to watch the free show. It happens a LOT, at college bars throughout America. And sure, I assume some of those women might be bi-curious, and acting on that, and that’s awesome. But the context in which they are acting on that urge is one in which they are clearly engaging in the behavior to provoke or attract heterosexual men.

2. I think it’s pretty weird if someone who likes X-Men doesn’t read the comics. It would be strange if I said I really like Buffy, but I’d never seen the show. That’s all I’m saying here.

‘ I said, “I like your shirt. What comics do you read?” Student: “Oh, I
don’t read comics, I just like superheroes.” I was too flabbergasted to
respond.’

Wow. Get over yourself. She just likes superheroes. That…that’s FINE.

Hell, I didn’t read comics with any regularity until I was well into college. But I still identified as a geek. I loved me some Spider-man cartoons and Batman TAS. And y’know what–the Avengers, Iron Man, Thor…those were all excellent movies that anyone can enjoy without needing to read the comics. They might even decide they’re a Captain America fan after only seeing the movie once. Sure, they don’t know anything about Baron Zemo, but the LIKE what they do know, and they bought t-shirt. That’s. FINE.

(And if they like it because they thought the actor was cute, again, there really is nothing wrong with that. I had no real care for Hawkeye at all until Renner and his manly thews. Which were a terrible gateway drug into explodey action movies, and also one of the best drawn comics to come out this past year. David Aja, never stop…)

Do you know that a lot of guys walking around with a Batman shirt they bought at Walmart have never actually picked up a Batman comic? THOSE FRAUDS!

We don’t need to be some kind of vanguard against low-level geekery.

If you’re “flabbergasted” like some pearl-clutching Southern belle hearing a swear word over the fact that some people buy shirts for things they like on the periphery, the problem is not those people, who are enjoying themselves. It’s you.

(And as for Call of Duty…does she actually hate playing it? Or does she enjoy playing it with boys, but it’s not something she’d do on her own? Because there’s all sorts of reasons to enjoy a video game.)

Okay. Fine. I would argue that superhero movie-verses are somewhat separate entities, and that it’s possible to be highly engaged in the movie-verses without having engaged with the actual comic-verse itself. Yes, you don’t get as much backstory as you would from comics, but there’s still a ton there to love and think deeply about. The Marvel Cinematic Universe contains enough fascinating characters and plot points on its own, with nothing else, to be considered an awesome fandom, IMO. And I consider myself a part of that fandom.

BUT. Whatever, we can agree to disagree on that. My real point was, that SPECIFIC thing–the fact that I enjoy Marvel movies without having read the comics–DOES NOT TELL YOU whether or not I am a “fake” geek. It doesn’t tell you about all the other geek things I’m involved with, both fannishly and creatively. It doesn’t tell you about my history as a geek. The fact that you would instantly dismiss me as a “fake geek girl” based on that alone tells me a lot about your blind elitism.

And contrary to what you would instantly assume, I’m not pretending to like Marvel superheroes to impress anyone. I’m asexual, I couldn’t give a flying fuck whether geek guys are attracted to me. I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe because it’s awesome, because it’s well characterized and plotted and acted, and if comics were my thing, I would absolutely dive headfirst into the backstory behind that.

But some people DO NOT READ COMICS because the medium does not work for them! Is that impossible to understand? I almost never read books with illustrations even as a child, because it is very difficult for me to follow the flow of a story if it keeps getting interrupted by pictures. You read graphic novels using a different part of your brain than reading ordinary books, and it just doesn’t work for me. I have tried; I always end up frustrated and suffering from a headache. And finally I gave up, and decided that while comics are awesome and I would love to read and enjoy them, they just aren’t for me. Does that mean I am barred from enjoying, and sharing my enjoyment of, anything comics-based? Why the hell do you get to say so? Are you the arbiter of geeky enjoyment, standing outside the doors of theaters making sure everyone who goes to see “The Avengers” has read a sufficient number of comics?

No, it’s not remotely like saying you love Final Fantasy or Stargate without having played the games or seen the show. (Although hello TF2 fandom, which thrives on quite a few people who fell in love with the character design and fun movies but just aren’t big fans of FPS games).

Superheroes are a part of our culture. They’re literally modern mythos for a lot of the English-speaking world (and a lot of the non-English-speaking world as well). Superheroes may LIVE in comicbooks*, but they don’t JUST live in comicbooks. They live in movies, they live in cartoons, they live in video games, they live in Lego sets, they live in cheesy live action shows…in short, they live in the collective pop culture consciousness. You don’t have to have ever picked up a comicbook to that Bruce Wayne is Batman, that Superman is an alien Moses, or that Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider.

And with people like you around, treating it like it’s some kind of sacred knowledge and only Those Who Are Worthy may express any kind of interest in a thing…those people will be even less likely to pick up a comicbook.

Here, try this instead: “Oh, you should read _____(learn a few easy-to-hop-on titles), it’s really good.” Or, “Did you see the movie?” (Honestly, you can talk for hours about the Avengers movie without needing a Complete History of Marvel to back up the conversation.) At best, you move a baby geek on to the hard stuff. At worst…you didn’t come off as a pretentious jerk whose identity is totally wrapped up in Being Special For Liking Something More Than Normal People.

*(Oh, yeah, Word of Stan says if you’re referring to superhero books, it should be “comicbook” not “comic book”–the latter implies a book that is funny. C’mon, if we’re playing the game of who’s got the biggest geekdick, surely you should know that.)

Oh, and by the way, I can’t imagine that you would ever wear a Stargate t-shirt without ever having seen ANYTHING Stargate. But if you were wearing one, and I asked you about it, and you had only seen the two movies that were produced after the show ended, or if you had only seen the new “darker and sexier” spin-off, or even if you just thought one of the actors was hot, you know what I would say? “AWESOME! It’s a great fandom! You have so much left to discover! You should totally start with SG-1 and move on to Atlantis!”

Because I am not an elitist asshole who tries to dictate to people whether or not they’re “real” enough to enjoy the things I enjoy.

If this were tumblr, I’d give you an Orson Welles applauding right about now.

Now I’m just reminded of how one of my coworkers reads oodles of superhero comics, but knows virtually nothing about comic creators beyond “Liefeld is awful, Frank Miller is insane.” And another knows most mainstream and Vertigo-type superheroes, but none of the B-listers. Or how I thrive on B-listers, but only know as much about horror, classic, and EC comics as I haven’t forgotten since college. Or how my housemate LOVED the X-men First Class comics and the Floating Hands X-men cartoons, but never really wanted to dive headfirst into the Marvel canon.

Shoot, wait. Which one of us is fake?

If you said you really like Buffy but had never seen the show, but you DID read the comics…that wouldn’t be weird. Or if you liked Buffy but had only seen a few episodes (a boat I was in until a few years ago). Or maybe you liked Buffy, but you mean the movie…

It still doesn’t change the fact that there are…wait, let me count…at LEAST six ways to be into X-men that don’t EVER involve picking up a comic. Hell, in highschool, I was in love with Nightcrawler, he was my absolute favorite. Oh, wait, but that was during Chuck Astin’s run where he sucked, so I really didn’t read any X-comics. I just meant that I really got a kick out of Kurt in X-men Evolution. Is that okay?

No. No, let’s not be exclusionary jerkholes tied up in the idea of being better than someone because we like obscure things more.

Being a geek is about ENTHUSIASM, not elitism.

To this day, the reason I don’t play Magic is because back in grade school, I got grilled and made fun of for not knowing anything about it other than I thought the cards looked pretty.

I have a lot of friends who play it now, and would be happy to teach me, but, eh, that was a really bad memory for me. (Plus, it’s expensive and so are action figures.)

Contrawise, as a wee little kid who only knew as much about comics as she could glean from catching some of the X-men cartoon every now and again during Girl Scout meetings, I was lucky enough to have an older cousin who told me a bit about them and gave me a whole bunch of his old trading cards. I had a lot of favorite characters based just on what I knew of the show and the cards, and that was fine. I’m glad no one came along and quashed that enthusiasm.

“At cons, I like to discuss the things that I like with other people. But
I feel like I have to keep my husband around so that some guy doesn’t
feel that I’m hitting on him.”

Honestly, what got me over this awkward feeling (and I’m not married, but a lot of times I’m just Not Interested) is the scene from Community with Abed, where that one guy tries to hit him up by talking about the Last Starfighter. He and Abed have a long, in-depth conversation and the other guy gets frustrated that Abed didn’t realize he’d been hitting on him for an hour. Abed says he knew, but he just really liked talking about scifi.

And that’s me. If I realize a guy is trying to flirt, I’ll pull back any overly-friendly things I might be doing, but darn it, I really want to talk about the Flash. Like, for hours. If HE wants something else, he can use his words like a grown-up, get an answer, and we can move on from there. At a con, I’m not really here to flirt. I’m here to do business, and also, to talk about the Flash.

Where are these geeky girls you speak of? Are you sure that some of these girls in comic book shops aren’t there to find people who share their interests?

I agree. I think this discussion of “fake geek girls” comes from people who are very insecure.
To all the people whining over these girls (if they even exist, and you’ll notice there are no male counterparts here): GET. OVER. YOURSELVES. I mean it. Get over yourselves. Geekdom is not like high school. It is not a clique. It is not a secret society, either. There is no litmus test. And the day there is one is the day geek culture dies.
If your enthusiasm is so low that some alleged fake geek chicks have to ruin your day because they’re sooooooo fake, then you were never much of a geekdom fan to begin with. Personally, I couldn’t care less why someone buys a Batman T-shirt or sees an X-men movie.
By the way, geeks, here’s a fact for you: I have loved superheroes since I was a little girl. I watched Superfriends religiously. I loved the goofy Batman show. I loved the Wonder Woman show with Lynda Carter.
But guess what else? I didn’t buy my first superhero comic until I was 10 or 11. Go ahead and pillory me. I’ve flunked the litmus test! For a time, the only books I bought were X-Men books. I guess I must fail a test there somewhere.
If there is any threat to geekdom it does not come from these supposed faux geeks. It comes from self-appointed guardians of geek culture, whining and gnashing their teeth because of girls with cooties–um, I mean, girls who say they love Batman but have never bought a Batman comic.
I repeat: Get over yourselves.

Yeah exactly. So many times I have had guys get whiny when they find out that I am not interested or even married and complain that I led them on. (Gee I didn’t realize that talking about Avatar the Last Airbender was some secret code for “lets have sex!”) I honestly can’t deal with the hassel anymore, so if my husband is around I won’t have to deal with it and the con is more fun. I do hate that this has become the case.

And these are fake geek girls, and you know this…how, exactly?
I’ve said it before, but I’ll repeat: some of these geek fans need to get over themselves. Enjoy what you want to enjoy and don’t worry about who else is enjoying it.

I liked Wonder Woman before I even bought a WW comic. So I can relate.

Oh great, you’re back. This should be fun.

But again, the problem is NOT the women engaging in these behaviors, it is the culture that promotes the thinking that THIS is what needs to be done to attract men, the culture that caters to the male gaze and distorted male desire.

And in all honestly, you CANT know what those women are doing. Maybe the are “playing” bi to attract men’s attention, or maybe they are out and proud and want to rub it in sexist men’s faces. You too, are also quick to accuse when you know nothing about these women.

Because Jess Bowers is convinced that women only do things for the consumption of men’s interests. Everything from kissing other girls to liking geeky things without his prior consent.

What can I say, I’m only posting dissenting opinions right now to give him something to do in-between Marvel v.s. Capcom multiplayer re-matches.

I got into most of my favorite superheroes through the movies first. Ironman, Batman, Spiderman, and, yes, X-Men.

I like comics, and I love film, and tend to gravitate towards the latter.

Guess I’m not a real fan! Good thing your standards are bullshit, though.

Um, No, because there was a movie before the show, and many people have only ever seen it(AND LIKED IT) because they thought the show was too dark.

And also the fact that the show was the ONLY medium for Buffy(not anymore, but I won’t tell you that if you don’t follow the comics like I do, you’re not a fan).

Whereas there have been multitudes of X-Men cartoon shows, and the movies came out over 10 years ago, so there are MANY different mediums to enjoy the X-Men, and the validity of that medium is NOT to be judged by the likes of you.

Ha, Jinx

Can I just add that there is A LOT more to “geek” culture than
comics?

I’m a high fantasy girl myself and believe me – I’m a geek. I just don’t
find comics as complaining. I also love video games even though I’m not that good (love seeing people play though- it’s like watching sports to me in a way).

So ya- if you ask me about the latest comics I’d probably wouldn’t know
what you’re talking about (classic stuff and 80′-90′ manga I’ve got covered). Does that make me fake? If so than you should
hand in YOUR geek card.

I’m trying, I reeally am. It took years of therapy to get over what girls like them did to me; they damn near drove me to suicide. (Took three attempts before anyone knew; ain’t that some shit?) I just still can’t bring myself to trust other girls who coo over comics and then know nothing about them. Sets off panic alarms in my head that my therapist says means I should remove myself from the situation and calm down by journaling.
Sorry to ramble; just a crazy girl getting her ten cents in.

I’m pretty sure I’d be considered a fake geek girl. After all, I don’t read comicbooks.
Ignore my Firefly posters and hundreds of sci-fi and fantasy novels, ignore the happy and enthusiastic rants I go on about Narnia and Tortall and Ingary. All there is to geekdom is comicbooks.
Bull.

All I have to say is: No one likes Booster Gold.

I don’t feel that people should be pigeonholed. Over the years I have often questioned what category I fit into…and I dont seem to fit into any. I’m a big geek, I love all things fantasy, I have a large graphic novel collection, I dressed up to see the LoTR movies. I can tell you that most people incorrectly quote Star Wars (which is a giant pet peeve of mine). I have done table top gaming and own a bag of dice that have more then 6 sides. I play video games and was on a BBS (before the internet).
But I also love hiking, surfing, swimming and camping. I cant list every character in every comic ever made. I guess I was popular when i was in my teens…but I was also homeschooled and I was never a bully either. I like wearing makeup and fashion and sometimes I enjoy watching a chick flick or two. so I think its pretty shitty to judge a book by its cover, like a good D20, we are all have multiple sides. :p

It’s still a little silly how adamantly people think there aren’t any fake geek girls. If I stood next to a guitar would that make me a legit guitarist? There are going to be posers in every area of popular interest.

Wow, may to miss, yet make the point, at the same time.

No one is denying that there are posers out there, what we are saying is that it is not this insidious problem insecure geek men are making it out to be.

Plus, the people who are getting singled out as fake geek girls aren’t just women who “stand next to geeks(I’m assuming you mean booth babes)” it’s cosplayers(cuz someone who spends hours on an elaborate costume HAS to be faking it), people who don’t share THEIR particular geekdom.

And again, it’s only women who are labelled as fake in the geek community.

Nah, I didn’t say anything about standing next to geeks. A better analogy would be standing next to a comic book/sci-fi novel/box dvd set they’ve never even attempted to read or watch. Insidious? Not really. Should they be singled out more than the man who does that? No. It’s just annoying when somebody says “nobody would eeeeever pretend to like something for attention/to feel accepted by a community.” Jesus.

**sniff** I like Booster Gold **sniff**

This whole “Fake Geek Girls” thing just reminds me of that Meet the Spy video.

Make the parody animation happen, YouTube.

People – at lease people here – aren’t saying that though. We’re talking about how A.) Posers and fakes aren’t really an issue. B.) Those going around singling out fakes are doing so for sexist reasons. In the end, fake geeks aren’t the problem, it’s the jerks making a mountain into a molehill.

1. Clearly. Even if I believed that this happened all the time (which I don’t, I live in a college town and I don’t see that), why do you care? How are they hurting o2 affecting you in any way? 2. I think it’s pretty weird that you don’t know that there are 4 X-Men movies, 2 Woverine movies, 1 Avengers movie, 3 Iron Man Movies and I could keep listing, but the point is that there isn’t only one way to be a fan of something. I used to go see all the Batman movies and watch Batman the Animated series but I never read a Batman comic until about four years ago. And given that the medium of comics can be pretty alienating for women (I continue to be alienated, even though I read them. There’s a reason I don’t read Red Hood and the Outlaws even though I love Starfire and I love Jason Todd) I don’t know why you think it’s so weird to be fannish about something that originated as a comic book and never read the comics. And barring that, Marvel and DC have been publishing books since before my mother was born. You don’t think that volume of canon could be daunting for some people?

Said the woman who thinks it’s okay to accuse people of being fakes based on an arbitrary standard like being preppy. By the way, calling someone slutty because you don’t like what they’re wearing is sexist. And accusing women of only making out to please men is homophobic. Good day.

Girls who pretend to know about comics or just girls who were mean? I get that you suffered and that you’re trying to deal with it, but don’t you think it’s unfair to tar them with the same brush? You’re denying yourself the chance to get to know great people.

Girls who pretend to know about comics or just girls who were mean? I get that you suffered and that you’re trying to deal with it, but don’t you think it’s unfair to tar them with the same brush? You’re denying yourself the chance to get to know great people.

Girls who pretend to know about comics or just girls who were mean? I get that you suffered and that you’re trying to deal with it, but don’t you think it’s unfair to tar them with the same brush? You’re denying yourself the chance to get to know great people.

Girls who pretend to know about comics or just girls who were mean? I get that you suffered and that you’re trying to deal with it, but don’t you think it’s unfair to tar them with the same brush? You’re denying yourself the chance to get to know great people.

Girls who pretend to know about comics or just girls who were mean? I get that you suffered and that you’re trying to deal with it, but don’t you think it’s unfair to tar them with the same brush? You’re denying yourself the chance to get to know great people.

Girls who pretend to know about comics or just girls who were mean? I get that you suffered and that you’re trying to deal with it, but don’t you think it’s unfair to tar them with the same brush? You’re denying yourself the chance to get to know great people.

Girls who pretend to know about comics or just girls who were mean? I get that you suffered and that you’re trying to deal with it, but don’t you think it’s unfair to tar them with the same brush? You’re denying yourself the chance to get to know great people.

Girls who pretend to know about comics or just girls who were mean? I get that you suffered and that you’re trying to deal with it, but don’t you think it’s unfair to tar them with the same brush? You’re denying yourself the chance to get to know great people.

Girls who pretend to know about comics or just girls who were mean? I get that you suffered and that you’re trying to deal with it, but don’t you think it’s unfair to tar them with the same brush? You’re denying yourself the chance to get to know great people.

Girls who pretend to know about comics or just girls who were mean? I get that you suffered and that you’re trying to deal with it, but don’t you think it’s unfair to tar them with the same brush? You’re denying yourself the chance to get to know great people.

Girls who pretend to know about comics or just girls who were mean? I get that you suffered and that you’re trying to deal with it, but don’t you think it’s unfair to tar them with the same brush? You’re denying yourself the chance to get to know great people.

Girls who pretend to know about comics or just girls who were mean? I get that you suffered and that you’re trying to deal with it, but don’t you think it’s unfair to tar them with the same brush? You’re denying yourself the chance to get to know great people.

Girls who pretend to know about comics or just girls who were mean? I get that you suffered and that you’re trying to deal with it, but don’t you think it’s unfair to tar them with the same brush? You’re denying yourself the chance to get to know great people.

Girls who pretend to know about comics or just girls who were mean? I get that you suffered and that you’re trying to deal with it, but don’t you think it’s unfair to tar them with the same brush? You’re denying yourself the chance to get to know great people.

Ted likes booster. And so does Bruce.

Ted likes booster. And so does Bruce.

Ted likes booster. And so does Bruce.

Geek blackface? Really?

Geek blackface? Really?

Geek blackface? Really?

Geek blackface? Really?

Geek blackface? Really?

Geek blackface? Really?

Geek blackface? Really?

Geek blackface? Really?

Geek blackface? Really?

Geek blackface? Really?

Geek blackface? Really?

Geek blackface? Really?

Geek blackface? Really?

Geek blackface? Really?

I kind of feel like everyone should know that Liefeld is awful whether they read comics or not. it’s good information to know.

I kind of feel like everyone should know that Liefeld is awful whether they read comics or not. it’s good information to know.

I kind of feel like everyone should know that Liefeld is awful whether they read comics or not. it’s good information to know.

I kind of feel like everyone should know that Liefeld is awful whether they read comics or not. it’s good information to know.

I kind of feel like everyone should know that Liefeld is awful whether they read comics or not. it’s good information to know.

I kind of feel like everyone should know that Liefeld is awful whether they read comics or not. it’s good information to know.

I kind of feel like everyone should know that Liefeld is awful whether they read comics or not. it’s good information to know.

I kind of feel like everyone should know that Liefeld is awful whether they read comics or not. it’s good information to know.

I kind of feel like everyone should know that Liefeld is awful whether they read comics or not. it’s good information to know.

I kind of feel like everyone should know that Liefeld is awful whether they read comics or not. it’s good information to know.

I kind of feel like everyone should know that Liefeld is awful whether they read comics or not. it’s good information to know.

Why do you assume she’d lie?

Why do you assume she’d lie?

Why do you assume she’d lie?

Why do you assume she’d lie?

Why do you assume she’d lie?

Do you ask every single dude you see wearing a Superman shirt whether or not he reads comics or do your standards only apply to women?

Do you ask every single dude you see wearing a Superman shirt whether or not he reads comics or do your standards only apply to women?

Do you ask every single dude you see wearing a Superman shirt whether or not he reads comics or do your standards only apply to women?

Do you ask every single dude you see wearing a Superman shirt whether or not he reads comics or do your standards only apply to women?

Do you ask every single dude you see wearing a Superman shirt whether or not he reads comics or do your standards only apply to women?

Do you ask every single dude you see wearing a Superman shirt whether or not he reads comics or do your standards only apply to women?

Do you ask every single dude you see wearing a Superman shirt whether or not he reads comics or do your standards only apply to women?

Do you ask every single dude you see wearing a Superman shirt whether or not he reads comics or do your standards only apply to women?

Do you ask every single dude you see wearing a Superman shirt whether or not he reads comics or do your standards only apply to women?

Do you ask every single dude you see wearing a Superman shirt whether or not he reads comics or do your standards only apply to women?

Do you ask every single dude you see wearing a Superman shirt whether or not he reads comics or do your standards only apply to women?

Do you ask every single dude you see wearing a Superman shirt whether or not he reads comics or do your standards only apply to women?

You’ve spent this entire thread telling us that you know for a fact what women you don’t know are thinking.

You’ve spent this entire thread telling us that you know for a fact what women you don’t know are thinking.

You’ve spent this entire thread telling us that you know for a fact what women you don’t know are thinking.

You’ve spent this entire thread telling us that you know for a fact what women you don’t know are thinking.

I think it’s a little silly how passionately desperate people are to prove that, even if there are fake geek girls, it’s something anyone should give a damn about.

I think it’s a little silly how passionately desperate people are to prove that, even if there are fake geek girls, it’s something anyone should give a damn about.

I think it’s a little silly how passionately desperate people are to prove that, even if there are fake geek girls, it’s something anyone should give a damn about.

I think it’s a little silly how passionately desperate people are to prove that, even if there are fake geek girls, it’s something anyone should give a damn about.

I think it’s a little silly how passionately desperate people are to prove that, even if there are fake geek girls, it’s something anyone should give a damn about.

I think it’s a little silly how passionately desperate people are to prove that, even if there are fake geek girls, it’s something anyone should give a damn about.

I think it’s a little silly how passionately desperate people are to prove that, even if there are fake geek girls, it’s something anyone should give a damn about.

I think it’s a little silly how passionately desperate people are to prove that, even if there are fake geek girls, it’s something anyone should give a damn about.

I think it’s a little silly how passionately desperate people are to prove that, even if there are fake geek girls, it’s something anyone should give a damn about.

I think it’s a little silly how passionately desperate people are to prove that, even if there are fake geek girls, it’s something anyone should give a damn about.

I think it’s a little silly how passionately desperate people are to prove that, even if there are fake geek girls, it’s something anyone should give a damn about.

I think it’s a little silly how passionately desperate people are to prove that, even if there are fake geek girls, it’s something anyone should give a damn about.

I think it’s a little silly how passionately desperate people are to prove that, even if there are fake geek girls, it’s something anyone should give a damn about.

Girls who pretended to share an interest in geeky things, but in actuality are only trying to mine information they can use to more effectively hurt you later. I understand theoretically that not all–or even most—of these girls are doing this, and that it’s unfair of me to think this way, but it’s like telling someone who was burned in a housefire not to be mean to lighters–I panic, instinctively, every time. I’m just not there yet. I’m trying. But I’m just not there.

Girls who pretended to share an interest in geeky things, but in actuality are only trying to mine information they can use to more effectively hurt you later. I understand theoretically that not all–or even most—of these girls are doing this, and that it’s unfair of me to think this way, but it’s like telling someone who was burned in a housefire not to be mean to lighters–I panic, instinctively, every time. I’m just not there yet. I’m trying. But I’m just not there.

Girls who pretended to share an interest in geeky things, but in actuality are only trying to mine information they can use to more effectively hurt you later. I understand theoretically that not all–or even most—of these girls are doing this, and that it’s unfair of me to think this way, but it’s like telling someone who was burned in a housefire not to be mean to lighters–I panic, instinctively, every time. I’m just not there yet. I’m trying. But I’m just not there.

Girls who pretended to share an interest in geeky things, but in actuality are only trying to mine information they can use to more effectively hurt you later. I understand theoretically that not all–or even most—of these girls are doing this, and that it’s unfair of me to think this way, but it’s like telling someone who was burned in a housefire not to be mean to lighters–I panic, instinctively, every time. I’m just not there yet. I’m trying. But I’m just not there.

Girls who pretended to share an interest in geeky things, but in actuality are only trying to mine information they can use to more effectively hurt you later. I understand theoretically that not all–or even most—of these girls are doing this, and that it’s unfair of me to think this way, but it’s like telling someone who was burned in a housefire not to be mean to lighters–I panic, instinctively, every time. I’m just not there yet. I’m trying. But I’m just not there.

Girls who pretended to share an interest in geeky things, but in actuality are only trying to mine information they can use to more effectively hurt you later. I understand theoretically that not all–or even most—of these girls are doing this, and that it’s unfair of me to think this way, but it’s like telling someone who was burned in a housefire not to be mean to lighters–I panic, instinctively, every time. I’m just not there yet. I’m trying. But I’m just not there.

So sick of this fake geek girl thing. A lot of these so called “fake geek girls” are just new to the fandom and this FGG rubbish is more likely to scare them off than anything. I know it makes me feel uncomfortable, because I don’t have an encyclopaedic knowledge of my fandoms, does that make me a fake geek girl? All I know is I’m now scared to go to conventions because I’m worried I might get mocked!

Did I say we should give a damn about it? I said these things happen all the time in every area of interest, as in IT’S NOT A HUGE DEAL, SO WHY ARE PEOPLE BEING SUCH DICKS TO THESE LADIES/PEOPLE WHO WANT TO FIT IN.

Notice how I didn’t say posers are a problem or that there should be a witchhunt for everyone who isn’t at some bullshit predetermined knowledge level. I said posers exist in every field, and everybody thinks that means I side with rooting them out and…I don’t know, destroying them? [I better not mention that puppies exist, everyone will assume I want to set them on fire.] I don’t think females should be quizzed to test their “authenticity” just because of some ridiculous idea that only men are geeks.

I misunderstood what you were getting at, my bad.

“like a good D20, we are all have multiple sides”
I love that phrase. It should be in a banner against geek discrimination or something. :)

No, but it does establish a deeply-engrained pattern of behavior that sets up that being in a superior position, be it numbers or intellectually (literally or imaginary), excuses tormenting your “lessers.”
Simply put, those who are bullied consistently, repeatedly, over a long term can and will bully in return when given the chance, because they have had it reinforced that that behavior is acceptable and normal.

” Get over yourselves. Geekdom is not like high school. It is not a clique. It is not a secret society, either. There is no litmus test”

Actually, Geekdom is *exactly* like high school. It is a clique, or more accurately, was for the longest time. It was where the Unacceptables, the Outcasts, the Intellectuals were relegated because intellectualism and intelligence are seen as negatives in a high school environment. So the bulk of adult geeks have come from that harsh, stigmatizing environment where their only social refuge was fellow, invariably male, outcasts. They have carried that out into their adult lives, having had nearly a decade of reinforcement of How Society Works in the microcosm that is high school/grade school.

They have had it hammered into their heads, before being dropped into the Real World, the image that attractive women only want The Jock, The Bad Boy, The Rich Kid. So their clique forms around this universal rejection by females.

Having spoken, at length, with several geek friends about the rise of women into their circles, the take-away I was left with is a sense of invasion, and a sense of “too little, too late.”
Am I justifying it as being an Old Boys Club? Hardly. I don’t agree it’s right. I am saying that it simply exists. And this too shall pass in time, as younger geeks, who are coming up without such stigma placed on their likes, fandoms and intellects, begin to be the voice of geekdom.

That still doesn’t make it okay. I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to do things to people that made me feel shitty. We have choices in this world, we have the power to be the best we can be or to just give up and wallow. Surely a modicum of critical thought would be all it took to tell you that maybe other people have feelings and feel terrible when you’re terrible to them because of some invented slight.