The Big Picture: Original Geek Girl

disgruntledgamer

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Mar 6, 2012
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Seriously guys it's called a job, they're doing a job do you also think strippers are actually into you instead of your money?

You want to stop the complaining just get real Geek Girls instead of hot models. You'll never get complaints about fake geek girls again.

 

Falseprophet

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Jan 13, 2009
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zombie711 said:
However this whole anti fake geek girl thing proably steams from things like Booth babes or other host of geek related media who are there for sex appeal alone. Remeber when pax didnt allow booth babes or at least made them have to know about the game in question they were supporting. Same kind of idea.

Read the #1 on this list
http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-awful-ways-internet-tainting-everything-else_p2/
Sexy ladies have been part and parcel of science fiction and fantasy for over a century [https://www.google.com/search?q=pulp+novel+covers&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=aPu0UKC8Jaay0AHMhIDADg&ved=0CDsQsAQ&biw=1066&bih=747#hl=en&tbo=d&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=sci+fi+pulp+covers&oq=pulp+covers&gs_l=img.1.3.0j0i24l2j0i5i24l7.6135.6135.0.8546.1.1.0.0.0.0.76.76.1.1.0...0.0...1c.1.1GzhYk5ESDo&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=6ead02a85c40683f&bpcl=38897761&biw=1066&bih=747]. All those SF series from the 60s and 70s cast attractive young ladies in tight or revealing outfits. Comic books have done the same since the Golden Age. Superficial sex appeal is as old as the community is.

Now that some women want to embrace that heritage under their own agency, to express their enjoyment of and participate fully in the subculture, or showcase their creative skills, or maybe earn a living through modelling or marketing or selling their skills/products, or some combination of these--now some male geeks have a problem with it? Sorry, that's all about their infantile desire to keep cooties out of the sandbox like Bob said. If you don't like it, don't pay attention to it.
 
Aug 1, 2010
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I'm really fucking sick of the whining about the whining about the geek girl thing.

JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT IT. None of you are making arguments that haven't been made before and none of you are insightful for pointing it out.

I think getting mad at hot cosplayers is silly, but I do get irritated at the kind of people who post shit on Facebook like "OMG IM SUCH A NERD. I play video games sooooooo much!" and then turn around and call E3 stupid and boring without even knowing what it is.

The reason I get irritated is not because of some evil plot, but because it dilutes, confuses and badly misrepresents the culture I know and love. Though in my case, that goes for guys as well.

But yeah. Interesting stuff about Super Girl.
 

el_kabong

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Mar 18, 2010
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Interesting stuff as always. Though I would offer a counter-point to the first point made in the video. While I do feel it's stupid to try to out someone as "fake geek", I'm not so eager to apply a sexual motivation to their actions. There's a very good reason that geeks don't want beautiful people biting their style. A subculture made popular by the mainstream eventually is sterilized and watered down to be fit for the masses. A more paradoxical way to put it is that if something becomes special to everyone, it's ultimately special to no one.

As a parallel, I would point you to other subcultures. Look at punk rock. From its point of origin, punk has become excessively mainstream. It started small and early, with movies like Valley Girl, which depicts the "punk" music as fashionable new wave, in direct contrast to the awesome punk bands that were actually making a splash in LA at the time (Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, The Germs, etc.). It ends with the MTV punk bands from the late 90's and into the early 2000's with 25 year old, attractive men singing about girls like they're an overweight teenager (all while making much bank).

It happens all the time. Subculture is misinterpreted by the mainstream and/or by people the mainstream pays attention to. The mainstream reaches more people who are naive to the roots of a culture, thus relaying the misinterpretation. It creates this negative spiral that results in a separation of a subculture. Subcultures within subcultures, etc. You don't believe the thing you love can be co-opted by people you don't want to be associated with? Look at the skinhead culture that started in the late 60's. A non-political culture that encouraged unity through shared love of reggae music and roots in the working class. Yet, because of more media attention, racist skinheads that began to prop up later in the scene's history now are all anybody thinks about when they hear the term "skinhead".

However, I am in agreement that it's uncalled for. Cultural gatekeepers are something that every subculture has had. However, they NEVER stop assimilation from occurring. The best thing you can do is the reverse approach and engage people who don't know about the subject. You meet a woman who's dressed like one of your favorite characters, but doesn't know "the lore" like you do? Talk with her. Engage in conversation. It's more likely that you'll be able to drop some bits of knowledge. She may walk away more educated about the medium/character/lore and you don't look like an asshole. Everybody is better for it.
 

Savryc

NAPs, Spooks and Poz. Oh my!
Aug 4, 2011
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I for one welcome the cooties into the sanbox, perfume smells infinitely better than the usual sweaty balls.
 

ritchards

Non-gamer in a gaming world
Nov 20, 2009
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Yeah, I was wondering if he was going to mention Power Girl, because... yeah...
 

themilo504

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May 9, 2010
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Thank you moviebob when I was watching the jimquistion I was waiting for him to point out that its bizarre that people consider fake geek girl if they exist(which they don?t) to be a bad thing now for my thoughts on the rest of this episode.

hooray comics are weird is back also hooray for 50 sexism even the man of steel isn?t immune.

the superman is boring because he has to be a role model supergirl is more interesting sounds a lot like the problem Mickey mouse had when Donald duck came along just without the sexism.

Also power girl I remember her from the loading screen from dc universe online my nickname for her was cleavage lady.
the hooray 50 sexism part was sarcasm btw.
 

craddoke

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Mar 18, 2010
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It just occurred to me that the "fake geek girl" argument only makes sense to people with the same emotional development as your average high-school student (regardless of biological age). Cliques, authenticity, and crap like that stops mattering once you grow up and realize that the only people whose opinion matters are those who employ you or lend you money.

This realization makes me feel immensely better (in the sense that I now understand why I don't understand) and incredibly sad (in the sense that the world in aggregate is pretty much a group of emotionally stunted teenagers).
 

LysanderNemoinis

Noble and oppressed Kekistani
Nov 8, 2010
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The late great comedian Richard Jenni one said, "Men and women are both full of crap. That's why I stopped hanging out with those assholes." Speaking as an eternally jaded and pessimistic nerd, I suspect almost everyone of either gender is looking for a way to screw over their fellow human being. While I don't entirely buy into the "fake nerd girl" thing, I can at least see what these "nerd boys" are griping about, even if they can't quite explain it properly.

As far as I can see it, and my personal opinion, is that the "fake nerd girls" (or FNGs for the sake of this argument) are a problem only if they're using their "in" with unsuspecting schmucks to bilk them out of funds. It's not like these specific women want to be part of our culture but rather see lonely, geeky guys as an easy mark. Granted, I think such women make up about 1-5% of the people we're talking about, as much as "gold diggers" are representative of women as a whole, which is an incredibly small percentage.

For the most part, this concern over the FNGs is pretty silly, but I can at least see the other side of the argument. While stupid, I personally think Bob and Jim are acting almost as childish as they the people they're railing against are with their arguments, and both seem to think far too highly of humanity as a whole. All I'm saying is, can we all admit that every segment of the population (yes, including women) have a fair degree of assholes in it and no one is group is deserving of a lack of criticism.
 

nik3daz

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Jan 1, 2008
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craddoke said:
the only people whose opinion matters are those who employ you or lend you money
Untrue, but if you believe that, I encourage you to take your opinions elsewhere, to people that you employ or lend money to.
 

Canadamus Prime

Robot in Disguise
Jun 17, 2009
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Putting aside the Supergirl thing for a second, my bafflement with the whole Fake Geek Girl thing is the same thing Bob mentioned. Why the FUCK is a bunch of hot girls pretending to be interested in geek stuff a bad thing? Or does this get back to the whole "I was into it before it was cool" thing except with sexism because those involved haven't matured past the age of 10.

As for Supergirl, wow I had no idea she had such a deep history. But as with most of these Comics Are Weird episodes, I learn a lot because I don't read comics.
 

Suicidejim

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Jul 1, 2011
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Ugh, I feel terrible contributing to the 'fake geek girl' discussion which is overwhelming a genuinely interesting comic book episode, but I have to say, I feel somewhat irritated by the accusations that the people opposed to 'fake geek girls' are insecure, misogynistic men who resent women entering their culture, when the vast majority of complaints I have heard about such girls have come from female friends of mine.

In the end, nobody likes a poser of any gender. And of course nobody enjoys it when 'their' group or special thing becomes mainstream, because then it stops being 'their' thing. This strikes me as less sexist and more akin to the backlash of 'hardcore' gamers against the 'casual.'
 

CrazyGirl17

I am a banana!
Sep 11, 2009
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I don't get the "fake geek girl" thing, it's like some people have never grown out of the "girls have cooties" stage. And speaking as an actual geek girl, I find such thoughts to be, well, dumb.

Also, nice insight into the beginnings of Super Girl (love the "Like Nancy Drew, but she can bench press continents" description), can't wait for part 2!
 

juyunseen

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Nov 21, 2011
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Oh my god thank you Bob. I've been needing to learn the basics of Supergirl for quite some time since my girlfriend grew up in a comics-centric household and Supergirl is quite possibly her favorite character, and I know absolutely nothing about her. Been meaning to read up but never have gotten around to it.