Jimquisition: Fake Nerd Girls

[Jimothy Sterling]

Fake Nerd Girls

The latest flavor in the restaurant of controversy is the concept of the fake nerd girl -- women who pretend to like videogames and similar media, all for the express purpose of tricking honest, hard-working Americans.

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[getoffmycloud]

The only issue I can think off is these people is they do exist are likely to be the same kind of people who 10 years ago would have bullied someone for liking games so I can see the problem there.

 

[Savryc]

I've never understood this shit. "Waaah! That girl in the pikachu suit can't name all 6 million and 5 pokemon! This wounds me deeply for reasons."

Stop wasting my air.

 

[Yopaz]

I rarely agree this much with him. Seriously, why would anyone get upset over a person being so desperate for your attention that she pretends to like what you do just to get attention? It seems like a strange thing to get upset over, but I don't know.

 

[Weresquirrel]

I think I need to watch the first half again. I got distracted by that frankly baffling game footage with the chunky people running through walls...

 

[Triaed]

Hmm, although Jim s calling them out and ridiculing their outrage (those gamer who feel offended by fake-gaming-girls); I truly don't see the point. It is a non-issue coming from a non-entity causing no repercussions.

Repeating Jim's comments: is this a thing, Internet? Really?

 

[WildFire15]

This 'Fake Nerd Girl' thing is insane and frankly only worth laughing at. Think about it, why would ANYONE pretend to be a nerd to get the attention of the sort of prat who would call them out on it for whatever badly thought out reason they have?

 

[Tradjus]

I think the problem that Jim didn't talk about was exploitation.
Rather than simply being angry because they perceived these girls as wanting attention, I think the bigger issue that many people were irritated about was the ones that are doing it solely to drain as much money as possible from geek culture.
Unlike what I agree is the comparatively harmless desire for male attention based on outlandish outfits inspired by video games and comic books, this would seem to me and others to be an entirely different ballgame, and more deserving of at least a mention in this episode.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

isn't this just an extention of the booth babe thing?

you know, girls dressing up to pretend to like a game they're promoting.

otherwise, I got nothin'.

 

[Daveman]

I guess the only reasonable feeling would be disappointment, as you think there's somebody who shares interests with you, and then it turns out they're sort of putting it on. Again this is assuming they exist. I mean I claim to like American Football but if I occasionally get mixed up with certain players or retarded phrases they use to describe elements of the game it doesn't mean I'm lying. Surely its just more likely that the interest in nerd culture may be a bit exaggerated rather than simply false.

Also, WHAT DID SHE SAY!!!????

 

[Mordekaien]

Repeating Jim's comments: is this a thing, Internet? Really?

Yes, I would like to get that question answered too. Is this something you see done a lot? Because I certainly haven't.

OT, even if it was a thing, like Jim said, what of it? It's not hurting anyone, at least not now, nor is it enforcing any stereotypes, except of those of alone angry gamers who don't like social interaction with other gender.

 

[Lord_Gremlin]

I'm not sure where's all this dumb idea comes from... Really, Jim, where did you find this "Fake Nerd Girls" thing?

I've known several girls who were into videogames, including one who was really into Mortal Kombat games, Armageddon in particular.
That said, I wouldn't dare to judge how pretty they were. Tastes differ. Well, they were all slim, but so am I, and I look like arse.
Overall, this week's subject is kinda dumb and childish.

 

[sammysoso]

When gamers wonder why we're not taken seriously? Why we're still held at a distance by the mainstream media?

Things like this.

 

[GenGenners]

I want to hear Megan and Jared's story! :O

 

[Entitled]

Disagree here, pandering CAN be insulting on it's own.

Like when I'm whatching an anime and the heroine is obviously put together as a male wish fulfillment character, being quirky, and in love with the fat miserable nerd protagonist, etc. It doesn't hurt anyone, but it's kind of insulting my intelligence.

I'm not sure either if a ort of IRL equivalent to that really exists somewhere, with girls trying to invoke something like this, and you obviously shouldn't be stereotyping gamer girls in general ('cause that's just mysoginistic), or obsess over who is and isn't a true nerd ('cause that's just sad), but i see that there MIGHT be occasional blatant cases that feel insultingly manipulative.

 

[Jimothy Sterling]

I'm not sure either if it really exists IRL, and you obviously shouldn't be stereotyping gamer girls in general ('cause that's just mysoginistic), and obsess over who is and isn't a true nerd ('cause that's just sad), but there MIGHT be occasional blatant cases that feel insultingly manipulative.

Even in this case, most of the manipulation is being put together by men, not the women you're seeing in front of you. It's a predominantly suited, rich, male few who run the industry, as I said at the end, and if you should be mad at anybody for being patronized, it ought to be them.

Look who's pulling the strings if you're sick of being treated like a puppet.

 

[Yellowfish]

Um, can someone please tell me what is the name of that game with big burly men running through walls?

 

[FEichinger]

There's one side to this argument I do get: Somehow it is suddenly socially acceptable - judging by the tons of "I'm so nerdy!" facebook statuses even admirable - to be a nerd. This does definitely feel like it's devaluing the effort it takes to survive as a nerd, say, in high school.
It's a ridiculous argument, of course. We should be grateful that people aren't being bullied about this anymore, but I sure do get the drift. And, to come back to the "Fake Nerd Girl" part about it: Of course the first assumption of "this person is only doing it for the show" comes when it's about girls. This simply used to be a male-dominated culture.

TLDR: It's ridiculous, unreasonable and nothing we should really waste time on - and, really, discussing it would probably cause more harm than good - but I get where it comes from.