Keeping up with the (Martha) Joneses
From Hardison in Leverage or Agent McGee in NCIS to most of the Big Bang Theory‘s characters, geeks no longer populate the bottom rung of society.
Sure, kids may still pick on them at school, they might still be the butt of jokes at college, but grown up, they rule the world. Or they could, if money were their true ambition.
Now, a geek isn’t a geek. You get your hackers, legal or not, your comic book readers, gamers, cosplayers, LARPers,… Some of us love StarTrek and Stargate, others prefer the books of Terry Pratchett and Patrick Rothfuss.
Geek, nerd, dweeb, dork. What’s the difference anyway? Well, I found this interesting Venn diagram online.
The spectrum of geekdom broadens if, like I, you subscribe to Wil Wheaton’s definition of what constitutes a geek. Basically anyone who is very passionate about something, perhaps even something most only pay a passing interest to, could be a geek. Hey, that means people who thought of themselves as “unafflicted” may be closet geeks (about Elvis Presley, soap operas or football) after all.
The difference is that the advantage lies with those who embrace their niches and hobbies.
Here’s a fun question.
HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO BE A DOCTOR?
Actually, the answer is moot. What is most telling is the picture that formed in your head. Was it a doctor like House? A doctor like Ross Gellar in Friends? Or THE Doctor, traveling through time and space in his TARDIS?
But seriously, folks
Some areas of geekdom aren’t my thing at all, and yet what’s most amazing is the warmth many of us feel toward each other. Even if we’re in direct competition as authors or game developers, we’re united by our geekdom. It’s the flower power movement of the 21st century. To quote Alec Hardison, “It’s the age of the geek, baby.”
But not all is rainbows and candy floss in geekland. In an atrocious repeat performance, women are fighting to have a say. For a bunch of otherwise educated and enlightened bunch of people, we can be incredibly prejudicial.
Fan girls! Fan girls! Fan girls!
When Tony Harris (you can read an interesting article here) sparked outrage with his complaint about fake geek girls, or “booth babes,” girls who appear at conventions in revealing costumes under the guise of being geeks, when all they want is attention, women came under attack. Thing is, there will always be girls pretending to be something they’re not, just as I’ve met guys pretending to be into comic books to sound cool, believe it or not, only to catch a girl’s eye.
Still, the fake geek girl meme stuck.
Outside of the movement or inside, women are not getting a fair shake.
I found a blog post about why women geeks are a nightmare for advertising execs. But I also found initiatives and websites dedicated to the principle of Breaking the Unicorn.
Women are definitely fighting back, with the help of some pretty smart guys. And yet what do TV CPU specialists Alec Hardison and Timothy McGee have in common? Yup, they’re male. Occasionally TV will bring in the cool and incredibly pretty female geek, but we do not warrant prime time. Yet. In a way, I blame us women. Why do we not have more female politicians? Well, girls, we have 50% of the vote. You tell me. We also make up 50% or more of the TV audience. If we wanted to, we could make a difference.
Now, I have no say in Hollywood or Washington. Probably a good thing, too. But the world is as we make it.
The Shameless Plug und Summary
I’m just an author. Most of my characters are special to me, and all are smart. Yet I get most asked about Lea from my upcoming book Divide and Conquer. Her mentor, Nieve, is the ultimate fighting chick. I’d like to think she’s more three-dimensional than most female heroines in urban fantasy, but a woman who can hold her own is expected. Yet it is her protégé Lea who has become the subject of speculation. I’ve mentioned before that Lea is a geek. Perhaps that was a mistake. Because what, I’ve been asked, is it that makes her a geek? What stereotypes have I resorted to in inventing her?
Erm, mine. I can’t write what I don’t know. Every reference Lea makes to redshirts or Farscape is my own. In fact, for the purposes of the book, I had to pare down our geekiness. No one cares about my mild obsession with Tabletop Games and stories (be it in comics or fantasy or Sci-Fi TV). In fact, my book isn’t about “Nieve and the geek.” Among others, it’s about Lea’s search for…something. She has this idea vibrating in her guts that she’s more than what she is. But is being hailed a savior of mankind what she’s been looking for, or does it turn out to be a fantasy she’d prefer to leave to Xbox games?
My point is this. Being a female geek isn’t something that defines us, just like Lea being a geek isn’t the only thing she has going for her. She’s funny, incredibly smart, and kind, too.
It is the age of the geek. It may even be the age of the geek babe (sorry, Hardison). But on a deeper level, we’re still people trying to connect. Geek is merely the language we speak. And to those who speak it, it is a language that unites.
