oh god, it starts all over again....
I see what the point the original article tried to get, in spite of the flailing failure of his wording. He is upset that when he goes to a con or gathering, he expects to find people gathered because they share interests and help promote and enjoy the geek culture. Instead he often gets pretty faces in sexy outfits that know nothing of the culture, the interests and who's sole purpose is to stand there and look pretty. He sees that them as showing a low self esteem approaching people who would give them attention, the geeks. They are a group that is often seen as hard up for attention and give it easily over a pretty face and sexy body. The implications from this are insulting, as it pretty much makes a case that these women who do this do so because they are playing the stereotype of the geek for their own esteem. I can understand why he'd be pissed and a little frustrated when in a place where he seeks to hang out with people of his own cloth, he instead finds them being taken advantage of in a fashion.
I've heard a lot of complaint about this, and I have heard a lot of people misunderstanding his points. From what he describes, he is not expressly talking about hired booth babes or models. He is not talking about fans or people who enjoy the material. He is solely talking about those that dress up, go to the con and thrive off the attention.
The main problem is actual women like that are pretty rare overall, so his complaint either seems a pet peeve at best, or open to inflation to include more people or sorts. And the complaint misses any hint of cause or propagation and instead centers on the facet of annoyance he can actually grasp.
Now, I find there is a small nugget of worthy discussion in all of this. The cons and like are marketed heavily, and sexual marketing rampant. Booth babes, art, costumes and the like all push this idea, play towards the sexy and pander to the stereotype of the awkward male geek unable to get affection elsewhere. I personally think this in turn funnels back into the community and breeds the asshole class that the "pony" comic was satirizing. Worry about the few attention hungry women out there seems pointless, missing the real reason or issue for something that is obvious.
I don't see the original article's writer as trying to say women need to prove themselves. He doesn't propose any test or say women can't join until they answered 50 questions. I don't see him as misogynist, trying to create a secondary class or treat women differently. All I see is a guy frustrated by why he sees and feeling like there is a hand hovering over his culture, swooping down and abusing it for personal gain. In his eyes it is these women who do it for the attention. Myself, I think it is more the marketing agencies and mass consumerism aspects that are so bold because of the culture, and which in turn influence the culture. Presenting women as a piece of meat will have some assholes treat them as such. Presenting them as representations of icons of the culture (say, dressing up in a cosplay of a character), will have some people assume they are at least familiar with it, and treat them as such. Finding out they just wanted an excuse to have people stare at them and pay them compliments though would likely piss people off.
