I'm ashamed to be called a Geek

[Iron Lightning]

It used to be that the few of us who were known as nerds or geeks were fashionably unconscious, smart, and social outcasts. And we didn't care.

But now it seems the term "geek" has been hijacked by hipsters wanting to break away from the old archetypes. Everywhere now I see "ironic" retro gaming t-shirts, jewelry made from video game cartridges,store bought steampunk gear and worse, being worn by the kind of people I spent my childhood years playing videogames to get AWAY from. You know, the fucking Beautiful People.

So I propose a new word for the socially malnourished outcasts I associate with. Let's have some suggestions!








(/angry old man rant)

This is the first thing that came to my mind after I read your post:


OT: Here's my idea for a new synonym for geek: "************." You see if we willingly and proudly call ourselves "motherfuckers" then no one who fears a loss of status will "ironically" copy us. To be a "************" you have to be a real "************." Considering that "geek" was originally a term used to describe circus sideshow freaks and the Sasquatch (don't believe that last one then check this out [http://thecinemasnob.com/2010/11/02/the-geek.aspx])it would be safe to assume that the original function of "geek" that you recall was either an insult or a term created by geeks for a purpose similar to my proposed new use of "************." This new use of "************," if adopted, will be around for centuries before being co-opted by the "beautiful people" as most humans have a natural aversion to inbreeding (and thus, incest.)

Thus, I propose that we no longer be geeks nor nerds, that we be "motherfuckers." Who's with me?

(Note: the above post was copied from this thread [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.245881-Im-ashamed-to-be-called-a-Geek#9002503]after I found that the aforementioned thread was made due to a double-post. Oh, and please don't take this post the wrong way, I'm not trying to offend anyone.)

 

[Andrew Bohan]

So do tell me OP, how does one tell the difference between a geek wearing these clothes and a hipster wearing these clothes?

Does it not bother you when you see these clothes being worn by people who have no appreciation for what they represent? Wearing it "ironically" is tantamount to just wearing a tshirt that says "I have no clue". It'd be different if it actually resonated with these people but it's like kids who wear Iron Maiden tshirts out of hot topic who listen to brokNcyde and have never heard a maiden song in their life. It's just fakery and it's sad. I mean these kids would pick up a General Custer's Revenge shirt if it looked faded the right way. That doesn't bother anyone else?

But again, how do I tell the difference between the fakers and the real deal? Explain what differences there are between these two groups. I wear game reference shirts practically every other day, what's to stop someone assuming I'm wearing them to be ironic rather than for my enjoyment of the industry?

I'm aware with the people on the street you can't judge a book by it's cover, it blows me away being in student accommodation some of the conclusions you pre-draw about people that end up being entirely wrong, but that's not what my problem's with. It's more the lack of education that bothers me, like when I see people with che guavara bags, who when I start a conversation with have no idea who he was, I know I keep coming back to that example but it's the one we've all seen time and time again in stores and on the streets. Honestly for me it purely comes down to wearing pop-culture symbols and icons without understanding their roots because like I thought I had said with the General Custer comment, you can end up wearing something pretty heinous to the beliefs you have without even realizing. it's just this blasse attitude of "it's just a shirt man" that bugs me. I don't mind offensive tshirts and the like, poor taste humor, but it does bother me when people wear this stuff with no knowledge of it because it's just entirely asinine. Why buy something when you have no idea whatsoever of what it means, and why buy one of the tshirts just to mock the people who do? (After all isn't that irony?). It seems for the most part like a way of belittling people who hold something dear, and even if that is as simple as videogames, it's a bit snide as a whole.

Edit: Whole thing appears to be an accidental question hijack due to misreading it. I thought you were asking more why be bothered about distinguishing than how to, my bad.

 

[interspark]

sorry, im not sure i understand what you're trying to have us discuss here, but here's my opinion on the word "geek"

i am a geek, im not ashamed to admit it, if it comes up in conversation i will say "yes, i am a geek". what i don't like is the idiots you found lurking at my old school, who would callously shout "geek/nerd" whenever i walked past, i mean it's unnecessary and just plain malicious to someone they don't even know, it's not even insulting it's just pointing out something obvious. so i don't really know why i let them get to me so much, i just did i guess

 

[sageoftruth]

Hell yeah, I want to get away from all those bastard conformists.
Who's with me?

Right behind you pal. What's wrong with those conformists anyway? Why can't they try to be more like us nonconformists? Lol.

 

[Flac00]

It used to be that the few of us who were known as nerds or geeks were fashionably unconscious, smart, and social outcasts. And we didn't care.

But now it seems the term "geek" has been hijacked by hipsters wanting to break away from the old archetypes. Everywhere now I see "ironic" retro gaming t-shirts, jewelry made from video game cartridges,store bought steampunk gear and worse, being worn by the kind of people I spent my childhood years playing videogames to get AWAY from. You know, the fucking Beautiful People.

So I propose a new word for the socially malnourished outcasts I associate with. Let's have some suggestions!
(/angry old man rant)

Huh, well i did not really expect that.... Look, I think you are looking at this the wrong way. This could be your chance to stop being "antisocial" and find some other people to be friends with. This can be very good for you, and the rest of the "geek" community as it means you will be better liked by your peers. I myself am not a "geek" by definition as I have a social life and play sports. The fact is that you shouldn't be so anti-everyone else. Think positively. Like say.....hey, I might get a girlfriend out of this.

 

[sageoftruth]

sorry, im not sure i understand what you're trying to have us discuss here, but here's my opinion on the word "geek"

i am a geek, im not ashamed to admit it, if it comes up in conversation i will say "yes, i am a geek". what i don't like is the idiots you found lurking at my old school, who would callously shout "geek/nerd" whenever i walked past, i mean it's unnecessary and just plain malicious to someone they don't even know, it's not even insulting it's just pointing out something obvious. so i don't really know why i let them get to me so much, i just did i guess

It's interesting you mention that. About a month ago, I was on a forum and it occurred to me that for us, Geek is our N word. We go around proudly calling ourselves and fellow geeks by that title. However, when a non-geek does it to us, we feel that we and our subculture has just been insulted. It was a real breakthrough at the time.

 

[Flac00]

I'd disagree entirely with that statement. Most hipsters I know like something as long as it's cool, soon as it's not, no big, off to pretend to care about something else, I mean it's part of what defines a fad, it's in, then suddenly, it's not. When you look at the fact that from what I can see most "hipster" gamers are playing the odd AAA title and have no real interest in games outside of sport games or the odd big FPS franchise(Halo, CoD et al) I'd say the difference is doing it because you want to and doing it because your friends think you should. Now that's not to tar all casual gamers and sometimes-console-players with the same brush but I'd say a fair portion of the "hipster" crowd, at least where I am, has no real interest in the things they do, so to call them hobbies seems a bit of a stretch.

My point was more that the only way you can tell someone is a gamer is if their gamerness overrides anything else you may identify them by.

Uh...that's not very useful, let me try again. If I were to look at two people I could label one a hipster for wearing a space invader t-shirt and the other a gamer for having a 'jenova's witness' t-shirt. I could label one a 'true gamer' for using gaming to escape their harsh life and call the other a hipster for hanging around with his friends all wearing the same clothes.

Unfortunately what I'm not measuring is how much they like gaming, since that's invisible.

All we're really measuring is which one is less socially adept and feels bitter about the other taking 'their' hobby. For all we know the 'hipster' has been gaming since before the 'gamer' was able to reach the keyboard, he just hangs around with his friends, wears commercially available t-shirts and doesn't seem as psychologically invested in gaming as the 'gamer'. People who define themselves by their hobby use it as a form of identity, if the 'hipster' is happy and secure they may not feel the need to resent other gamers and may not need to wear gaming like a badge.

I feel like I'm one of those people. I have been playing games longer than the majority of users on here but you wouldn't know it to look at me, you could pass me in the street and you'd literally never know. If you were bitter and insecure I would either be a hipster pretending to like gaming or an ignorant fuck who hated you for your hobby.

I know what you are talking about. I'm not exactly old (in any meaning of the word), but i wouldn't count myself as a hipster. I really don't know but that is just the way it is...... MARATHON FTW!!!

 

[interspark]

Spoiler: snip

sorry, im not sure i understand what you're trying to have us discuss here, but here's my opinion on the word "geek"

i am a geek, im not ashamed to admit it, if it comes up in conversation i will say "yes, i am a geek". what i don't like is the idiots you found lurking at my old school, who would callously shout "geek/nerd" whenever i walked past, i mean it's unnecessary and just plain malicious to someone they don't even know, it's not even insulting it's just pointing out something obvious. so i don't really know why i let them get to me so much, i just did i guess

It's interesting you mention that. About a month ago, I was on a forum and it occurred to me that for us, Geek is our N word. We go around proudly calling ourselves and fellow geeks by that title. However, when a non-geek does it to us, we feel that we and our subculture has just been insulted. It was a real breakthrough at the time.

right, i mean, i don't mind being called a geek by a non-geek friend, but when it's shouted as an insult from someone i don't know it just really hurts my feelings for some reason!

 

[Andrew Bohan]

I'd disagree entirely with that statement. Most hipsters I know like something as long as it's cool, soon as it's not, no big, off to pretend to care about something else, I mean it's part of what defines a fad, it's in, then suddenly, it's not. When you look at the fact that from what I can see most "hipster" gamers are playing the odd AAA title and have no real interest in games outside of sport games or the odd big FPS franchise(Halo, CoD et al) I'd say the difference is doing it because you want to and doing it because your friends think you should. Now that's not to tar all casual gamers and sometimes-console-players with the same brush but I'd say a fair portion of the "hipster" crowd, at least where I am, has no real interest in the things they do, so to call them hobbies seems a bit of a stretch.

My point was more that the only way you can tell someone is a gamer is if their gamerness overrides anything else you may identify them by.

Uh...that's not very useful, let me try again. If I were to look at two people I could label one a hipster for wearing a space invader t-shirt and the other a gamer for having a 'jenova's witness' t-shirt. I could label one a 'true gamer' for using gaming to escape their harsh life and call the other a hipster for hanging around with his friends all wearing the same clothes.

Unfortunately what I'm not measuring is how much they like gaming, since that's invisible.

All we're really measuring is which one is less socially adept and feels bitter about the other taking 'their' hobby. For all we know the 'hipster' has been gaming since before the 'gamer' was able to reach the keyboard, he just hangs around with his friends, wears commercially available t-shirts and doesn't seem as psychologically invested in gaming as the 'gamer'. People who define themselves by their hobby use it as a form of identity, if the 'hipster' is happy and secure they may not feel the need to resent other gamers and may not need to wear gaming like a badge.

I feel like I'm one of those people. I have been playing games longer than the majority of users on here but you wouldn't know it to look at me, you could pass me in the street and you'd literally never know. If you were bitter and insecure I would either be a hipster pretending to like gaming or an ignorant fuck who hated you for your hobby.

Isn't it a little bit down to your definition though? I mean I'm with you in as much as it's not black and white. I'm just talking about an annoyance at the ideal of people wearing the stuff etc who have no interest in them or idea about them. Honestly I just think it's retarded to do these things because people want you to. i'm more commenting on conformism than stealing a hobby. I have no problem with people gaming. Perhaps I didn't express that in agreeing with the OP but that was what I meant personally. I don't really care who games. More diversity the better. I just feel iritated when I see people stand behind banners they have no idea of the origins/representations of.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

No. We are geeks for a reason and so are they. We are geeks and nerds because that's what we know how to be. We spent countless hours mastering Megaman, visiting the Fat Fairy, Talking about miserably little piles of secrets, etc...because that's who we are. They are doing it because we've gained enough influence to make being a geek/ nerd popular in the indirectly popular kind of way. Tough it out. These kinds of trends are cyclical and likely to end sooner than we would readily believe.

 

[Flac00]

I know what you are talking about. I'm not exactly old (in any meaning of the word), but i wouldn't count myself as a hipster. I really don't know but that is just the way it is...... MARATHON FTW!!!

Marathon as in Bungie's game or Marathon as in old Snickers?

Either way, enjoy!

The Bungie one. I liked it much better than Doom. I was actually able to get it again for my computer for free. Bungie made it free at some point and it goes as "Aleph One" or something like that. It is still fun today.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Oh noes! Being geeky is popular! Whatever shall we do! Seriously I see nothing wrong with geekiness being on the rise.

 

[Blind Sight]

Perhaps you should stop trying to place yourself in a little social group and instead accept the fact that you're an individual different from everyone else? It really pisses me off that people try and just lump everyone into little categories.

Define yourself on your own terms, not what everyone else is or thinks they are.

 

[Andrew Bohan]

Isn't it a little bit down to your definition though? I mean I'm with you in as much as it's not black and white. I'm just talking about an annoyance at the ideal of people wearing the stuff etc who have no interest in them or idea about them. Honestly I just think it's retarded to do these things because people want you to. i'm more commenting on conformism than stealing a hobby. I have no problem with people gaming. Perhaps I didn't express that in agreeing with the OP but that was what I meant personally. I don't really care who games. More diversity the better. I just feel iritated when I see people stand behind banners they have no idea of the origins/representations of.

It is a little annoying when it's political or such, but in entertainment I honestly don't care. The important thing to remember about gamers is that it's only the real freakers you can identify by eye, there's no reason those hipsters can't have been playing games since before you were born and just have been delighted to finally see some cool shirts on sale.

No, no they probably aren't as in to gaming as us but we probably won't ever really know. I just don't think we should work on the assumption that they aren't really gamers because they're not stereotypical nerds. It's not enough to insist that they play something other than FPS, an FPS is as much a game as any other and we each have our pet genres (RTS man here) but I think a lot of the resentment is that they haven't had to suffer ridicule. It seems a lot of people view ridicule and ostracism as a kind of entry ritual into being a gamer, but that ostracism had nothing to do with gaming. I didn't discover gaming as a method of escape, I found it as a form of fun and dived in headlong with my mates!

Gamers seem to want others near them but also seek to rive them away.

Plus as a closing thought, bear in mind that you hardly need to be in the scene to recognise Space Invaders, Mario or a Pacman ghost. I'm willing to bet they've played those before.

Tl;dr: I don't think we should be telling them that they're not gamers based on how they look, it seems hypocritical to exclude people and complain that no one understands us.

Fair point. I do agree that we shouldn't necessarily start splitting us purely because we're at different levels of obsession for want of a better word, but it's honestly just the sheer pointlessness of doing it for peer pressure that bugs me, that's the only thing I feel. I dread that as much as people who've never played a game writing off an entire media on a stereotype. I'm not one for elitism, I just don't see the point in doing something recreational because someone else thinks you should.