Somewhere along the lines the tables turned, the paradigm shifted and geeks found themselves on the forefront of culture. That nerdy kid that took abuse from the jocks and was ignored by all the popular girls suddenly finds himself being accepted, not only accepted… but emulated. And after all these years one thing holds true, we still suffer from inappropriate social outbursts. In particular, we as a male geek subgroup still don’t know how to interact with women appropriately.
Women in geek culture has been a hot topic for a while, but has lit up twitter over the last few weeks paticularly in reference to women who exploit their good looks to get attention. Not only that but some weird kind of factioning off of true geeks vs. fakers. When the hell did all this come up? Aren’t we all playing for the same team here? It’s something that deserves a little introspection…  Here’s a few things that immediately come to mind when I think about it.
Objectification:
Lately there’s been a lot of chatter about women using good looks to garner attention in geek culture.  Having our attention grabbed by Women of Mass Distraction is clever marketing exploiting our biological weakness – and it works. We’ve been playing Barbie with Lara Croft too long to legitimately gripe about people exploiting sex appeal. I base respect on actions and words, who the hell cares if they’re pretty.  If she’s producing something you like, then follow it. Chances are she’s contributing a hell of a lot more than you are to geek culture. I begin to wonder if some men are feeling a little threatened by women asserting themselves as leaders in gaming/geek culture. However you see it, I think we’ve all been drinking the Sexy Koolaid too long to start griping about it now.
Transference:
Jilted because you were too fat/scrawny or into things that weren’t quite popular? Having been teased for in marching band as well as being the president of both the chess and Shakespeare clubs - I understand. I was hurt by the laughter and I remember that crushing sensation in my chest, and honestly I think I still bear a little resentment even today. But I realize that’s awkward teenage me, not the man I am today. I grew out of diapers, bedwetting and that physical insecurity. Time to put on the big boy pants and realize that if you let those feelings cloud your judgement forever, you’re going to stay that awkward teen the rest of your life.
One upwomanship:
We all love that Thunder Dome moment of competition when we can pit our knowledge against another’s. What kite/debuff character build is better or which incarnation of Batman is superior? But the bottom line is this, we didn’t create these characters, universes or games. They’re here for all of us to enjoy to whatever extent we choose. Knowing that the average airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow is around 24 MPH does not make me better than any other Monty Python fan… pretty sure it’s absolutely useless in the real world.
The Seventh Sin:
Pride, yep it’s right there. Who the hell cares if you know the difference between who Alan Scott & Hal Jordan is? She’s enjoying the Green Lantern with you!  Shut the hell up and appreciate that someone else cares about the same things you do. Stop flapping your jaw or you’re going to suck the fun out of it.
Blindness:
I don’t know if you noticed, but Girl Geeks were always around us.  We were probably too busy fantasizing about that hot blonde that we wanted to be science partners with… but they were there. Get’s bad when you look back and realize you completely ignored some sweet girl who had feelings for you. And it gets worse again when you notice that funny looking quiet girl grew into a really attractive woman.
You’re being a dick:
As Wheaton’s Law states “don’t be a dick”. I usually try to refrain from using profanity in posts, but here it’s completely appropriate. It’s entirely possible that you’re completely out of line, step back and think about it for a second.
P.S. Don’t take this stuff to seriously, it’s just me exploring my own thoughts. If you can take something from it… great. If not, at least I’m a moron that’s working on curing his own stupidity.