What is Geek Culture?

[Phrozenflame500]

So the recent controversy of the week is "fake gamer/geek girls". For those of you who don't read threads about the -isms in gaming, basically people are upset over the idea of girls being harassed online and in real life under the pretenses that they are "fake" and are just pretending to be interested in video games/anime/comic books/etc. in order to gain attention from the stereotypically male crowd. The whole argument tends to boil down to "what qualifys you as a geek" with answers ranging from "anybody who wants to be" to "only those who actually serious about it"

What I don't understand, is what even is a "nerd" or "geek" anymore? I don't know why we group subcultures such as video games/anime/comic book fans and physical traits such as obesity, the wearing of glasses and social awkwardness under these labels.

Well, I get *why* they are grouped together. They're all things that a couple of decades ago people were outcasted and chastised over. People who were into computers, comic books and not into the "cool" things like sports were considered weird fringe groups with strange interests.

The thing is, with advent of the internet these things aren't so fringe anymore. We have conventions dedicated to celebrating liking these formerly unpopular things. Being a "nerd" is now a desirable quality, a "nerd" is smart, eccentric and will go on to change the world, right?

The thing is, none of the traditional "nerd" activities are related. Hell, some of the actively hate each other. Plenty of gamers don't like and sometimes outright mock fans of anime, some anime fans don't like shows like Star Trek/Wars and comic book fans aren't always interested in classic games like System Shock 2 or Half Life. Even within subcultures there are plenty of infighting, Call of Duty fans are looked down on by a good portion of the gaming community, and plenty of anime fans tend to look down on the mostly bad fanfiction and fanart these fandoms tend to spawn. And while some people are into different elements of "geek culture", it's not because of one another. Nobody likes anime because they also like video games, they just happen to like both.

The issue stems from the territorial behaviour this spawns. We keep using these terms like they're still a thing, and praise "Geekdom" despite it not even meaning anything anymore. We look down on people as "not a geek" and act like we're still the oppressed but righteous minority despite us now being praised by popular media.

I suppose my question is this: Are terms like "Geek Culture" obsolete now that the separate subcultures that once composed it are no longer bound by their mutual oppression?

 

[Weaver]

Not at all, I think it's still a viable term that encapsulates all the subcultures in it.

I'm bemused people seem to think issues such as in-fighting are isolated to "geek culture". If anything they lend credence that we are actually a "legitimate" culture of sorts. Look at Christianity, a Religion; but one could not deny that Christianity drove culture. Yet, it contains in fighting with it's many different sects over the most minute of details in the bible, creating what they see as entirely different religions that are somehow still the Christian religion.

As for what geek culture actually is... I don't really know. A love and indulgence in things that fall under being "geeky" or "nerdy" I suppose. Yes that's vague and encapsulates a lot of things, and is likely subject to exceptions, but these terms are always vague. For a thought experiment, what is "black culture"? What is "Spanish culture"? These terms encapsulate a great many things, and the people within those cultures themselves would likely debate over the specifics.

Culture, by it's nature is nearly intangible and constantly changing. Spanish culture 30 years ago was different than it is today. Same with Chinese culture, black culture, nerd culture, rock culture... any kind of culture. It's just kind of a nebulous catch all term we use to describe to others a vague concept.

 

[Angie7F]

I agree that anime fans and comic book fans can be the same or can be totally hating each other etc.
But the same goes for rock.
Rock music can point to anything from metal to the beatles.
And Christianity. Roman Catholics and Mormons and such are totally different.

The more mainstream things get, the more prominent the sub genres become.
We dont have to agree with each aspect of the larger cultural genre.simple as that.

 

[tilmoph]

Broadly, geek culture is the same it has always been; sci-fi, fantasy, comics (mainly superhero), and non phone games (phone games are just casual time wasters, so don't qualify). The problem is more a matter of the old exclusivity that predominated before the flood of big budget sci-fi and fantasy movies and the explosion of the gaming industry. Older and more conservative geeks cling to the idea; even before the mainstreaming of some genres, these are the folks that would complain about dub-fans and game noobs and casual fans who didn't care about minute details about a settings lore or its expanded universe. You know, the true fan mentality applied to a collection of subcultures.

The current thing with fake geek girls isn't really interesting to me, like at all. I don't have an opinion beyond having seen this before; when I was younger, the same complaints were about people being dicks to noobs in games. People got harassed in online games for not playing/ building a character the "optimal" way, whatever the metagame had determined "optimal" to be. Spots has its fairweather fans, because there is apparently something wrong with not caring about a team when it sucks and loses constantly.

We all agree attention whores are an annoying breed; fad followers are irritating, and no one likes it when yuppies take over their local bar. Fake geek girls are a subtype of fad follower, and are just as annoying. Why specifically girls are named...click bait or someone was whining they weren't getting laid, probably. Given the current focus on females as an object of study within gaming specifically and geekdom more generally, it's no wonder it's caught on as a subject of the moment. It'll pass, we'll find something else to ***** about or ***** about other people bitching about, people will continue to be decent sorts with the occasional over the top loony who will say something dumb, and the world will keep going.

 

[Gatx]

No, think of like "Sport Culture." You can be a sports fan but there are still varying degrees of how much you like it and which sport you like. Maybe (American) football fans think baseball is boring, maybe you tailgate, or participate in fantasy leagues, and so on and so forth.

 

[Yopaz]

No, think of like "Sport Culture." You can be a sports fan but there are still varying degrees of how much you like it and which sport you like. Maybe (American) football fans think baseball is boring, maybe you tailgate, or participate in fantasy leagues, and so on and so forth.

Now this is probably the most accurate response we'll ever see on this matter. Geek culture is divided into a lot of things, but so is everything. Spiders are divided into 109 families, is it pointless to use the label spider? Of course not, Christianity has a lot of subgroups and even within these groups you would be lucky to find two who feels exactly the same.

For some reason we are very protective of the label "geek" despite that not too long ago it was an insult. We had to suffer for it so we look down on everyone who calls themselves a geek for playing Doodle Jump while waiting for the bus. We feel like we earned the label, thus we feel protective of it. We were named it by someone else rather than naming it to ourselves the moment we realized being a geek was cool.

 

[King of Asgaard]

What is Geek Culture?!
A miserable little pile of fandoms!
But enough talk, have at you!

 

[Collin Stewart]

Because "geek culture" is so spread out in what makes you apply to that group its impossible to come up with a standard.

For instance i play PC games but hate anime, since people who play video games are "geeks" this puts me in place as a member of the "geek culture". This would make me the polar opposite of someone like my co-worker who thinks video games are the cause of all the worlds problems but loves anime, and yet she is also a geek, thus since opposites of each other can both be considered part of the "geek culture" its safe to say that the term is so vague as to be useless in determining what someone likes or believes in.

To bring up the Christian Religion, while broad and spread out in belief they at least all have a common base idea set those being a) "God created the Earth" and b) "Jesus died to fogive sins" anyone who does not follow those 2 ideas are not considered Christians, thus they have a basis for their culture. Geeks as i have stated have no solid conditions for what makes you a geek, since the various "geeky ideas" are mutually exclusive of each other aside from the occasional crossover i don't think you can really call it a culture.

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

My daughter loves to go to the anime conventions and I usually take her to them. She's old enough to go alone, but of course then who would pay for the hotel room.

But it doesn't matter what sub-genre you subscribe to at a con. I hate anime but I can still usually find interesting fun things. At A-kon 24 earlier this year they had an Injustice: Tournament, a Halo tournament, etc. The Cosplayers are mostly anime but there's still usually a few Iron Mans, a few Spideys, and there's always at least 2 Spartans.

Geeks are not separated by our sub genre, we're brought together by our devotion to geeking out over stuff we dig. Tear down the walls man. Hippy rhetoric and what not.

 

[hermes]

No, think of like "Sport Culture." You can be a sports fan but there are still varying degrees of how much you like it and which sport you like. Maybe (American) football fans think baseball is boring, maybe you tailgate, or participate in fantasy leagues, and so on and so forth.

Now this is probably the most accurate response we'll ever see on this matter. Geek culture is divided into a lot of things, but so is everything. Spiders are divided into 109 families, is it pointless to use the label spider? Of course not, Christianity has a lot of subgroups and even within these groups you would be lucky to find two who feels exactly the same.

For some reason we are very protective of the label "geek" despite that not too long ago it was an insult. We had to suffer for it so we look down on everyone who calls themselves a geek for playing Doodle Jump while waiting for the bus. We feel like we earned the label, thus we feel protective of it. We were named it by someone else rather than naming it to ourselves the moment we realized being a geek was cool.

Interesting perspective. I think in the end, people just want to be a part of something... Even when the label was imposed on us, the fact the label was imposed on other people for being similar to us made it look less lonely.

But yes, the fact is "geek" has turned too generic. There are dozens of kinds of geeks, many of which don't fit the stereotype.

Spoiler

 

[Hero of Lime]

Honestly, to me, the term geek or nerd culture is just as up to one's interpretation as the term nerd is.

If I had to take a crack at it, I would say it is a person who cares about something like comics, games, movies, even books, sports, fashion, history, guns, any thing fairly trivial that can be a hobby of sorts. Everyone is nerdy about something, whether they would want to admit it or not.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Honestly, to me, the term geek or nerd culture is just as up to one's interpretation as the term nerd is.

If I had to take a crack at it, I would say it is a person who cares about something like comics, games, movies, even books, sports, fashion, history, guns, any thing fairly trivial that can be a hobby of sorts. Everyone is nerdy about something, whether they would want to admit it or not.

That's how I would pretty much sum it up.

I remember years ago there was this TV show called "Beat the Geek" where there were geeks that you had to beat in order to win, obviously. The fours topics changed every episode and they ranged from movies, TV, comics, sports, music, and I think certain TV shows like Friends.

So, yeah. The nerd and geek realm isn't just located to games and comics, and thank God for that.

 

[Pink Gregory]

What is Geek Culture?!
A miserable little pile of fandoms!
But enough talk, have at you!

You have earned my applause.

I've seen the word 'geek' so many times that it's now lost all meaning. Not that it really has much of a meaning in the first place. Saying it sticks in the back of my throat like a fly.

I 'unno, I always took it to mean an exceptional enthusiasm for something. You're not a broad 'geek', you're a '-----' geek (model railway/sports/superhero comics/penny dreadful/Chinese ceramics/Wesley Willis or whatever else )

 

[randomrob1968]

People want the people they like to like the things they like.

They don't want people they don't like to like the things they like.

As much as people are social, they are social in their ability to be unsocial within boundaries to preserve what they feel defines them.

The more fringe culture becomes mainstream, the more culture shock and discomfort there is as more differences of opinion must be discounted and categorized.

Marshall McLuhan foresaw this issue with the advent of the television age, that is- different social groups brought into contact by electronic media do not become friendly, rather they fight to decide who owns the playing field. And the 'cool' nature of gaming culture is exactly why the fights are more vitriolic.

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However, much of this assessment I feel comes from examining male, not female, behavior. I generalize within my experience when I say, women are more communal in nature and behavior than men. So, IMO, if there's going to be a geek culture renaissance, it is going to fall to women be the shield bearers for it, because the guys would rather fight, or isolate... to be 'cool'.

 

[HardkorSB]

To me a "geek" is someone who has a passion for a particular subject, no matter what that subject is.
It is commonly associated with things like games, movies, comic books, computers etc. but it can be anything - sport, art, war (there are people who can tell you everything about every war there has ever been fought, the ups and downs to every type of solider/army, the specifics of every piece of weaponry), business (some businessmen aren't greedy, they just love the "art" of making money and they're good at it), religion and so on.
I don't think there is such a thing as "geek culture", there are geek of various degrees in various different areas but it's impossible to put an umbrella of "geek culture" over them because aside from the passion, they have little to nothing in common.