The one thing that REALLY matters in the "fake geek girl" debate.

[TehCookie]

The dirty secret here is that all of us are or were fake geeks about something or another at one time. Somebody brings something up and wants to talk about it, you've heard a little bit, so you feign a deeper knowledge for the sake of conversation and social bonding. Gasp in horror!

Here's an idea: If they're "fakers" and don't really know about things, why not, I don't know, educate them? Show them something neat, actually get them into things they might like.

It's like when I have conversations with my friends about, say, football. I don't know jack about it, but I'll notice what I can and they supplement me with knowledge I didn't have because that's the entire point of knowledge, it's transmittable. These information misers are completely bizarre to me.

I was never a fake geek, and I highly doubt most gamers started out as them. I always enjoyed games, I never pretended to. I believe you're confusing fakes with newbies or casuals.

Do you claim you love football, lie about playing it all the time and wear jerseys while not even knowing what team it is (and refuse to admit you just like the design or feel or something)?

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

snip!

Fair enough. Solid reasoning to me. Can't argue with that. I didn't say they were fake though, just less likely to have an interest in whatever they are representing beyond modeling.

TBH from a personal standpoint, I don't like going to conventions at all. The guys there are worse than going to bars. You feel like a piece of exposed flesh in a piranha tank. Since then, I have friends get me loot and bring it back. Though I do like modding events better than the larger gaming events and am more likely to attend that. LOL

Not a fan of crowds myself. Conventions are usually good fun anyway. Can't say I know what's like to be leered at.

If crowds and leering was the problem that isn't a big deal, the groping, lame pick up lines, and obnoxious harassment is what I try to avoid. I don't dress up, I don't ask for attention. As my friend Chris put it, I don't try to attract these creeps I am just a magnet for them. Sometimes I feel like my life is a bad cartoon. LOL

 

[Redd the Sock]

I said it in the other thread but the short version is the FGG controversy stems from various nerd insecurities about potential harm by outsiders and a blow to the self esteem by those that would ignore, if not mock, devalue, or vilify their efforts at their hobby while claiming their own efforts as equally valid. They're irrational fears, and those nerds that are more socially well adjusted might not understand them, but they're very real fears some can't just "get over" because they're told to on the internet. The pushing, the indifference, the vilifying, the shaming, and the other responses that act as if these are mindsets that can be turned on or off at will only serve to entrench those fears. Seriously, I get you don't get it, but the responses to those that fear FGG make me hope no one here works for a suicide hotline.

As such, those with those fears (I'm usually too busy power shopping to pay attention to anyone I'm not buying something from) really want a cloistered area they can be the uber nerd, not get grief for it, and maybe even be appreciated for being well skilled or knowledgeable rather than pretty or charismatic. Getting past that takes a lot of work, but it starts by not treating people with hang ups as bad rather than damaged. Even just the acknowledgement that after years of harassment for things that didn't impact others but still seemed to be a threat to our bullies, being asked to be he bigger man and not be the same jackass now that you have the opportunity to be the exclusionary clique is pretty hard, would go a ways by acknowledge some validity in the gripe, if not the method dealing with it.

 

[Foolery]

If crowds and leering was the problem that isn't a big deal, the groping, lame pick up lines, and obnoxious harassment is what I try to avoid. I don't dress up, I don't ask for attention. As my friend Chris put it, I don't try to attract these creeps I am just a magnet for them. Sometimes I feel like my life is a bad cartoon. LOL

Jeebus. It really does sound like a bad cartoon. My apologies, didn't even consider that it would go past leering. Yeah, you would probably get less harassment at a bar.

Do you claim you love football, lie about playing it all the time and wear jerseys while not even knowing what team it is (and refuse to admit you just like the design or feel or something)?

Eh, he's kinda got a point. I've bullshitted about hockey despite not caring much for the sport. I used to work front desk at a hotel, and sometimes it's best just to do that for small talk with customers.

 

[TekMoney]

Has anyone ever considered that gaming culture (especially online) has had a long-standing issue with making fun of anyone perceived as less knowledgeable? Hell, the term "noob" got invented to make fun of people who bought the game more recently than others. So I couldn't blame people if they wanted to lie to avoid being shit on by alpha geeks.

Gaming culture is a pack mentality full of people who were never let into the pack. It tends to breed awful attitudes.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

I've never been an avid "FUCKING WOMEN INTERRUPTING MY MAN TIME WITH THEIR VAGINAS AND FEELINGS' guy. I actually love talking to geek women, as I normally get along better with women than I do guys. If you're a geek, whatever race you are, whatever gender you are; You're my brother and sister. I love running into fellow geeks at the gym. We strike up a convo and we can work out. It's a great feeling. especially when so many feel intimidated because it's 'not their space', and they stick it out knowing that there is someone there they can connect with.

If you're a woman or a man and you bleed geek, you got me on your side. That's the end of it. If you want to learn about it because you never were exposed to it before, or you knew about it but were afraid it would get you ostracized... still welcome. There's plenty room for all and let's see where you fit in. I might not be to your flavor of geek, but I'm sure I can get you in front of someone who can be

However.

I don't like my identity to be apart of a fashionable trend. It's why I hate young kids in the suburbs who see me walk into a party and go "YO, WHAT'S UP DAWG?!" (yes, that still happens and yes in that same phrasing) because the party just got legit because there's a black guy there. I mean, that's what I don't get about all the confusion of why there's so much backlash to fake gamer girls or fake anything. It's fake. Who likes fake anything?

from the early 90's until... now, most of the thing the ghetto black male popularizes, most of the world apes. It's a very, very weird feeling having people talk to you and solely you differently because they saw a music video and they feel that's exactly how everyone must be like. I used to take comfort in the fact that even though I was born in the ghetto, I was never ghetto (although I can adopt ghetto characteristics for survival purposes) and that I had my geek side to fall back on. Something certainly never to be aped and used as a trend.

Fast forward to today.

Look, I don't want to burn all the fake geeks down. I don't want to take to the streets and damage them. I just don't think what I am should be the favor of the month, to be 'adopted' (mocked) for a little bit and tossed to the side when done. It sounds very hipster, but it's true... I was geek before it was cool.

Before I grew into my body and could pass for a jock, i moved to the Suburbs during middle school... where I was beat up, mocked, bullied, spat on, farted on, made fun of, and harassed. Come high school and I outpaced most people in growth spurts, all they could do is mock me, but I was always afraid a group of them would come up and do it Middle school all again.

I carry that chip on my shoulder. I admit it freely. I don't use scorn though. I don't want to beat someone up. And I don't want to keep anyone from joining the geek ranks. Now, I'm so proud of being who I am. And if you want to be apart of it, I can't suggest it highly enough.


BUT. BUT! Be earnest. Want to really be apart of this culture. If this is a placeholder until the Big Bang goes off the air and being an environmentalist is the next cool thing, don't engage me. Don't try impress me with the list of cool buzz words you memorized to fit in. I won't attack you, I don't want to attack you, but I don't want to talk to you. A part of who I am isn't a fashion accessory, and I don't have patience to treat it as such.

Now, again, if you have a vagina and you're a geek; I'm glad to meet you. If you happen to look like a bodybuilder and you're a geek, welcome. If you don't fit into the typical pasty, skinny or fat, funny looking white male stereotype of being a geek or nerd; come on in, I have pie. I have the same thing for non black people who grew up in the ghetto speaking ghetto to me. That's what you know. That's who you are. You don't have to be dark skinned to grow up in the ghetto. That's just who you are.

This is the exact sentiment I brought to the other thread. My argument is that pointing out and harassing these so called "fake geeks" serves no purpose. It makes us all look bad, and tends way, WAY more often than naught to offend people who really are "true" geeks. It creates an air of exclusion in the community and creates pointless apprehension.

Unless you just happen to know every detail of someone's life from birth to present, you shouldn't make stupid, baseless, assumptive accusations against anyone.

I agree with this statement, and also see fault in it. Admittedly, I had to go through MANY tests to prove my geekiness. Still do. It's not my favorite thing in the world.

However, there are people who are using our identity as a trend. and I'm for one am simply sick of people doing that with parts of my identity. Again. I will not yell, curse them out, or do anything bad. but I do have disdain and I will not socialize with them. Is that fair?

 

[ForumSafari]

I'm just wondering, how exactly do we spot these "fakes"?

Is there some sort of 'litmus test' that determines "fakeness"?

Tell them the cake is a lie, if they laugh they're real nerds.

Never fails, trufax.

 

[Erttheking]

I'm just wondering, how exactly do we spot these "fakes"?

Is there some sort of 'litmus test' that determines "fakeness"?

Tell them the cake is a lie, if they laugh they're real nerds.

Never fails, trufax.

I actually find that meme to be really annoying.

 

[ForumSafari]

I actually find that meme to be really annoying.

That was kind of the joke yeah.

 

[Erttheking]

I actually find that meme to be really annoying.

That was kind of the joke yeah.

Oh, hehe, sorry about that.

Poe's law and all.

 

[mateushac]

Geez, I don't really understand why we MUST do something about "fake geek girls". There are "posers" in pretty much every subculture, be it sports, music, fashion, and yet we don't see as much persecution (okay, maybe when it's about music) there as we see in gaming.
Also, fake geeks have been around for quite a while now. I honestly didn't expect this to turn into such Spanish Inquisition all of a sudden.

 

[Souplex]

So attractive women want to wear skimpy costumes and associate with my hobbies?
I don't see the problem here.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

In general I ignore them unless I find one who is particularly annoying and whoring for attention, in which case I treat them as I would any other attention whore and harass the shit out of them (yes, I realize the irony of harassing somebody looking for attention).

Really though, since I generally don't look at "geek culture" as one thing considering how it's really just an assortment of different subcultures that were looked down on at one point I generally assume somebody is actually part of a random first even if she's a girl.

 

[generals3]

This is the exact sentiment I brought to the other thread. My argument is that pointing out and harassing these so called "fake geeks" serves no purpose. It makes us all look bad, and tends way, WAY more often than naught to offend people who really are "true" geeks. It creates an air of exclusion in the community and creates pointless apprehension.

Unless you just happen to know every detail of someone's life from birth to present, you shouldn't make stupid, baseless, assumptive accusations against anyone.

I wouldn't go as far as saying it doesn't serve any purpose. It probably serves a very selfish purpose. One that comes in mind is "retribution". Now I don't know if i'm the only or if times have changed but i remember in highschool being a gamer wasn't "sexy" at all and many girls would look down upon nerds/geeks/gamers. Maybe the harassers are frustrated people who see in these "fake girl gamers" those who used to look down upon them and as a consequence decided to give them payback. Is it rational? no. Is it a commendable behavior? Far from it. But it does serve a purpose. If only the satisfaction of revenge.

So attractive women want to wear skimpy costumes and associate with my hobbies?
I don't see the problem here.

I don't either, if it was up to me there would be more of em ^^

 

[waj9876]

I'm sorry, but how can people say there's no such thing? There are people who truly believe that no one would pretend to be something they're not for attention? It's not simply a matter of them not knowing. If they're genuinely interested, then they can become actual geeks pretty easily.

It's the ones who persist that they know about something they refuse to actually watch/read/learn about that fall under the title of "fake geek" right? And why are we only talking about the women who do this? Guys do this kind of thing too. They just generally don't dress up in skimpy outfits about a character they barely know the name of. So less attention.

 

[Dr.Awkward]

Just a thought here. What's wrong with letting them demonstrate their interest in nerd culture, not through closed-ended, but open-ended questions, i.e. "How do you feel that the shooter genre could improve upon its current state?" Just letting them talk about what they find interesting in nerd culture, comics, or video games and their formed opinions on them is enough to determine how invested they are into it, and how much deeper they're willing to go.

 

[DeimosMasque]

Just a thought here. What's wrong with letting them demonstrate their interest in nerd culture, not through closed-ended, but open-ended questions, i.e. "How do you feel that the shooter genre could improve upon its current state?" Just letting them talk about what they find interesting in nerd culture, comics, or video games is enough to determine how invested they are into it, and how much deeper they're willing to go.

While this sounds good on the surface the question remains "Why should there even be a question?" No other subculture does this sort of thing. If you act interested, your interested.

I haven't really watched any sports since somewhere around 1992. But if I go to my parent's house and my dad and his buddies are watching a game and I sit down and watch with them. They don't ask me questions outside of -maybe- "Who's your favorite team/player?" and I shrug and say "eh, I don't really watch sports," there response is "Okay cool. Have a beer."

 

[Brian Tams]

I'm going to borrow from Moviebob for a bit.

Why do people give a damn about Fake Gamers? There are people who want to pose as gaming nerds because gaming is suddenly the cool thing to do. Do you understand that? People want to be us. That means we've WON. Instead of being the outcasts, THEY are the outcasts. Huzzah!

 

[Bocaj2000]

So attractive women want to wear skimpy costumes and associate with my hobbies?
I don't see the problem here.

Neither do I. I have no idea why people would even complain that shallow hot women are interested in "nerdy" things. That means that we are being integrated into mainstream culture.

 

[Boogie Knight]

Well, according to the other thread, this is a real serious problem.
Because a real nerd could run into a fake nerd girl and the girl could laugh at them for being a real geek. So, we must test every female ever. It's their fault for looking like those hypothetical women who could hypothetically laugh at them!

It's just... you don't understand the DANGER, dude.
They could be laughed at sometime.

Well, laughing can penetrate people's thin skins, so it's a real health hazard.

I'm just wondering, how exactly do we spot these "fakes"?

Oh, that's easy:

I'm looking at this pic here and I'm wondering: So what the heck is the problem? Scantily clad and willing to show what she has? Probably wouldn't introduce her to the family, but there's a decent chance of getting laid. Plays the 360? I don't particularly like the console because it's not for me, but it has decent games and if she's into the military shooters it would be funny to turn her on to the single player side of Spec Ops. Fake glasses and unnatural hair color? Plenty of genuine nerdy gals and cosplayers do that, no big deal.

Loud, attention-seeking, and obnoxious? How the hell is that different from every person on the frickin' internet?! Or extroverts in general?!

Oh how I wish I could talk about the insecurities and mindsets that make a guy so up in arms about "fake geek girls," but alas that would probably get me banned.