A few weeks ago, I was hanging out with one of the guys who I had gone to the movie with and I asked him what he thought about the movie. We had a good conversation about it and eventually moved on to the topic of Marvel vs. DC. It was a civilized, if heated discussion until a totally random guy who neither of us knew came up and barged in.
Random dude: "Hey, are you guys talking about Marvel vs. DC?"
Us: "Yeah!"
Random dude: "Oh, she doesn't know anything about it."
I was obviously a little surprised and taken aback by this statement. Even more so by the fact that he started laughing like he'd just made a really clever joke. And I was completely speechless when my guy friend went along with the "joke" and added "no, she really doesn't." As random dude walked away, my friend even remarked, "he's funny."
First of all, I should absolve my guy friend of the blame in this case. He was teasing and doesn't actually think I'm ignorant. But whether he does or not is irrelevant, because this so perfectly highlights a horrible, horrible stereotype in our society. It is, simply, that girls can't be geeks.
Whaaaaaat? We live in the 21st century! And while we're still dealing with issues like weak female characters, objectification of women and screwy definitions of beauty, we've come a long way in making things equal between the genders. The idea that girls can't be as knowledgeable about superheroes and comic books as boys, simply because comics are a traditionally boy thing, is utterly ridiculous.
Have you taken a look at any female superheroes lately? Are any of them wearing something you'd be comfortable sending your daughter out dressed as for halloween? I love amine/comic conventions as much as the next geek, but reading some of the horror stories of sexual harassment and abuse that come out of them makes me want to stay far away from those kinds of events. Why do men have so little respect for women in the realm of geekery? As this comic explains, the disrespect goes beyond simple objectification of women and extends to knowledge.
Being a geek, in my own simple personal definition, means loving something so much that it becomes a part, even a tiny part, of your life. And while it's sometimes tempting to judge whether someone else is a geek or not, there is no part of the description of "geek" that justifies condemning anyone else for their lack or excess of knowledge on any particular subject.
Take Doctor Who, for example. I've been watching the show for probably four or fives years -- to be honest, I don't really remember. Now take someone else who just discovered the show a year ago. Who's the bigger Whovian? Should we measure it by how much merchandise we both own? Should we measure it by where they started versus where I started (for instance, I started on New Who but if they started on Classic Who that may give them more geek points)?
The correct answer is none of the above. There is no such thing as a bigger geek in this scenario or any scenario. Trying to figure out who is the bigger geek is like trying to figure out which of your siblings your mom loves most. Geekdom is love; there's no comparison, only combination. The more people who love something, the more love there is to go around.
First of all, I should absolve my guy friend of the blame in this case. He was teasing and doesn't actually think I'm ignorant. But whether he does or not is irrelevant, because this so perfectly highlights a horrible, horrible stereotype in our society. It is, simply, that girls can't be geeks.
Whaaaaaat? We live in the 21st century! And while we're still dealing with issues like weak female characters, objectification of women and screwy definitions of beauty, we've come a long way in making things equal between the genders. The idea that girls can't be as knowledgeable about superheroes and comic books as boys, simply because comics are a traditionally boy thing, is utterly ridiculous.
Have you taken a look at any female superheroes lately? Are any of them wearing something you'd be comfortable sending your daughter out dressed as for halloween? I love amine/comic conventions as much as the next geek, but reading some of the horror stories of sexual harassment and abuse that come out of them makes me want to stay far away from those kinds of events. Why do men have so little respect for women in the realm of geekery? As this comic explains, the disrespect goes beyond simple objectification of women and extends to knowledge.
Being a geek, in my own simple personal definition, means loving something so much that it becomes a part, even a tiny part, of your life. And while it's sometimes tempting to judge whether someone else is a geek or not, there is no part of the description of "geek" that justifies condemning anyone else for their lack or excess of knowledge on any particular subject.
Take Doctor Who, for example. I've been watching the show for probably four or fives years -- to be honest, I don't really remember. Now take someone else who just discovered the show a year ago. Who's the bigger Whovian? Should we measure it by how much merchandise we both own? Should we measure it by where they started versus where I started (for instance, I started on New Who but if they started on Classic Who that may give them more geek points)?
The correct answer is none of the above. There is no such thing as a bigger geek in this scenario or any scenario. Trying to figure out who is the bigger geek is like trying to figure out which of your siblings your mom loves most. Geekdom is love; there's no comparison, only combination. The more people who love something, the more love there is to go around.
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