Geek Girls Lambast Prejudice in Music Video

[Something Amyss]

It's not an actual quote, but that's the message I get.

Perhaps the issue is with you, then, and not them?

I can only marvel at how many people, even in an ostensibly above-grade community such as the escapists, who are impenetrable to common sense and basic understanding of what other people are, in the most simplistic forms imaginable, trying to say.

A catchy music video with a positive message that will of course be utterly lost on the bottom-feeders who it is targeted at, though they can't be faulted for trying.

Something to note: If at any point you have ever found yourself, here or otherwise, classifying the authenticity of someone other than yourself in whatever fandom or subculture you subscribe to, you're doing it wrong and are part of the problem.

You have made my morning slightly happier with this post. Thank you.

 

[Smeatza]

Yeah because angry 12 year olds are really going to have their minds changed by a self-righteous music video.

Some of them may be even more pissed off by the delusion of self-importance, than individuals who pretend they are something they are not for profit, fun etc.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Yeah because angry 12 year olds are really going to have their minds changed by a self-righteous music video.

Some of them may be even more pissed off by the delusion of self-importance, than individuals who pretend they are something they are not for profit, fun etc.

I can confirm this video will be nothing but fodder for the mill on 4chan.

 

[the December King]

Fake geek girls as concerns video games matters not to me. I am very interested, however, in the idea of 'fake Table Top RPG girls'.

Actually, scratch that, make it 'fake Table Top RPG people' in general. Do they exist?

I mean, the 'proving grounds' for something like that, to me, involves committing to a game that could be hours long, and require some degree of commitment mentally. And I guess I'd want proof, personally, because my group of players aggressively recruit, and we want to integrate new (but not novice) players to our games immediately, which requires playing. A faker would either have to ruin their own evening/night/early morning, or come clean very early on!

Why would I aggressively pursue such proof? Because I love playing with new people! D&D is so much fun with a mixed crowd, whether the rules aren't an impediment to the enjoyment of the game because we've all been playing for years, or there are new players learning the ropes to the game, it's the dedication and the drive I appreciate.

As to the topic at hand, I still see it as not a gender issue. Geeks and nerds establish pecking orders the same as other clicks/social groups, and people who don't 'measure up' to the 'alpha' geek will be looked down upon by said nerd.

And how do they measure this? Who can hit the ball the farthest? Who can run the fastest? Who can fly the planes the best? No. It's who knows the most about their favourite topic.

...

Personally, that's why I don't get into long conversations with aggressive geek/nerds. Not that I think I know everything and am smug, but more that my ego doesn't need bruising from some obsessive person in an anonymous forum where the word 'polite' means nothing.

 

[Lilani]

The argument isn't that real geek girls don't exist, its that there are girls out there who are faking being geeks: The basics of logic folks. An again i am disappointed in the obvious bias shown by Escapist writers. I get that biased joournalism sells more, but there is a point where ones bias becomes so silly, that you become the gaming version of faux news.

Oh yes, a newspaper demonstrating their desire for others to not be assholes to people you know nothing about. What horrible bias! This will destroy the geek culture as we know it! Because as you know, witch hunting for the eeeeeeeeeevil "fakes" is the only thing keeping us alive!

 

[Strazdas]

So, it seems that these girls do not even understand the concept of what a fake geel girl is and still tries to somehow "Disprove" a fact.
yeah, this is not going to start any controversy at all....

The argument isn't that real geek girls don't exist, its that there are girls out there who are faking being geeks: The basics of logic folks. An again i am disappointed in the obvious bias shown by Escapist writers. I get that biased joournalism sells more, but there is a point where ones bias becomes so silly, that you become the gaming version of faux news.

Oh yes, a newspaper demonstrating their desire for others to not be assholes to people you know nothing about. What horrible bias! This will destroy the geek culture as we know it! Because as you know, witch hunting for the eeeeeeeeeevil "fakes" is the only thing keeping us alive!

why did you quote him? what your saying has absolutely nothing to do with the quote.

 

[Gunjester]

Geek and Nerd aren't gender specific terms. Calling themselves "Geek Girls" instead of "geeks" separates them just as much, if not more due to their adherence, as the neck-beards asserting their all faking it for attention.

 

[Cecilo]

They're lying so they can be more popular......around "geeks and nerds"...?

Sorry, but that statement just really doesn't make much sense at all. "Geek" and gamer culture isn't as shunned and ridiculed as it used to be, I'll give you that, but I doubt it's gotten to the point where it's "cool" to spend your Saturday nights watching anime and playing videogames rather than going out to parties to get wasted. The closest thing women lying about being fans of geeky things would be booth-babes, but they're not trying to be popular with us. They're models hired on to do a job: wear this and stand next to our booth looking pretty. They get paid at the end of the day for doing their job (modeling) and that's as far as it goes for them. Are there some that are genuinely into the games/characters they're modeling for? I'm sure there are. But I'd imagine most of them see it as just another job.

Ahh. But which is easier, being popular around other people who are trying to be popular. Or being popular around people who are shunned from normal experiences such as parties.

I think you will find it many times easier to get a reaction and get people attached to you if you show a little bit of cleavage on a webcam to the average 14-18 year old gamer. It's why a lot of "Fake Girl Gamers" Are commonly reduced to attention whores. Normal Girl Gamers won't call attention to the fact that they are actually women, or if they do, it is to correct someone who believes they are male.

As far as I have seen, being a fake girl gamer is more about giving that girl an ego boost and ego stroking. Having tons of people drooling over them can be a big boost to someone.

I'll give you that attention whores do indeed exist, but it should be pretty easy to tell the difference between an attention whore and a female gamer that happens to be attractive. Evidently, though, a large part of the community can't tell that difference and thus we have this absurd "Fake Gamer Girl" BS. I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt, assuming that they're actually interested and knowledgeable in what they're talking about until they prove otherwise. I don't look at someone and say "Prove to me you really like Mass Effect."

Don't get me wrong, I am just analyzing it. I don't personally care. I don't interact with these people, nor do I have any interest in interacting with them. Though I suppose some of the criticism that "Cam-Whores" Get is justified. For example, in a MMO. People that call out that they are girls sometimes do get their pick of loot "just for being female". And it is understandable that some people do get angry about that. Normal gamers don't want to be treated differently, they just want intelligent people to play with.

My only advice for women that are playing with a particular group of people who care that they are female, is to find a different group. There are more than enough groups of gamers to around, and if the group you are hanging out with are the kind of asses that make you take a test just to fit in, they aren't what the majority of gaming looks like. Leave them to their circlejerk, come join me in my gaming, or any other group. You'll fit right in as long as you know how to play.

 

[Machine Man 1992]

Uh... I don't think the term 'fake geek girl' means that women can't be geeks. It's about how some would lie about being fans of geeky things to be more popular, right?

So... uh... yeah.

Yes, but that it doesn't exist for men, too, is why it's worrying. Or is there "fake geek men" we have to watch out for, too? And if there are - why don't people gun for them, too? It's probably cos most of the people shouting out against "fake geek girls" are insecure little straight fellas, eh.

Borderlands 2 DLC, Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep parodied the whole concept, and you know what? They did a better job than any internet commentator could ever do.

 

[RA92]

If this wasn't a real issue, then the moniker would've been 'Fake Gamer' without the 'Girl' added in the end.

It's kinda funny, because being a guy, I've dabbled into some nerd dubiousness myself. When MLP was hitting its peak and everyone seemed to be sick of how MLP memes were posted in every thread regardless of the topic, I started doing it myself to piss off those who are seemingly so easily rattled, even though I hadn't watched a single episode. And nobody thought of grilling me on my fandom (though mainly because maybe MLP fandom is rather inclusive or because everyone else was busy telling me to stop with the memes). Bwahahaahaha!

And guess what? I don't read mainstream comic books (except the few odd Alan Moore, Warren Ellis and Joss Wheadon ones). And thus if saying I'm excited about a new Marvel flick makes me a 'fake', then that makes you a poor, miserable, silly bastard.

 

[Gorrath]

Fake geek-girls dont exist...just a bunch of elitist alpha-geeks, who think they can judge who is a true geek and who isnt.
Guess lots of Nerds are still very insecure about their hobby.

Totally, unequivocally false statement. The fake geek girl thing didn't arise out of nothing, it arose out of actual females who used their gender and sometimes their attractive looks to prey on emotionally vulnerable and lonely male geeks in order to extract attention, favors and/or money. The over reaction of blaming every female who is a geek for this fraud is wrong as hell, but to pretend that the fake geek girl thing was invented just so some people could be elitest is wrong. That's not to say the there aren't people who do use the fake gamer girl thing to create a witch hunt or to make themselves feel superior, but acting as if there weren't any people who were actually hurt by pretentious frauds is totally inaccurate.

I do not say any of that with disrespect intended toward you, I just want to make it clear that this issue is not nearly as cut and dried as people want to make it out to be.

 

[Mezworld24]

Alright, Im getting sick of this whole goddamn issue that shouldn't even bloody exist.
What the hell are the requirements for being a geek anyway?

 

[Gorrath]

The fake geek girl thing didn't arise out of nothing, it arose out of actual females who used their gender and sometimes their attractive looks to prey on emotionally vulnerable and lonely male geeks in order to extract attention, favors and/or money.

Oh...now you got me all crying. Seriously, you are way to dramatic!
I have heard thousands of claims about fake gamer-girls, but never actually got to see one.
All I have seen (and sorry if I am wrong, but thats just my experience) are those elitist idiots I talked about.
I know at least one girl (she was a pokemon fan) who quit playing because she got hacked on for having no interest in EV-training (just a tad exaggerated), so sorry...my opinion is still that this whole "fake-gamer/nerd/geek-girl" issue is just an invention by geeks who want to keep their hobby something special.

I didn't think calling out a false statement was in any way dramatic. Your specific experiences color your belief, as with everyone and their beliefs, such is to be expected. As I explained in a previous post, I myself have been put to the geek test a bunch of times because I do not fit a stereotype. But to dismiss everyone who's been harmed by predatory frauds as just being elitist does nothing to help the problem. The elitist jerks don't care what you or I think and the guys who have been hurt by such scams aren't going to rethink their over zealousness by being told that being used and emotionally discarded is their own fault or that it just plain never happened.

I just want people to be calm and rational about this whole topic (all topics really) and not lambast women because they like geeky things or engage in victim blaming because a guy's loneliness and awkwardness was used to manipulate him.