In the wake of the “fake geek girl” nonsense that has been flooding the Internet over the past few weeks, Jim Hines has done a blog post linking to various posts by other people calling for more inclusivity in fandom. He’s been kind enough to link to something I wrote several years back, but don’t let that put you off, there’s lots more interesting material to read as well.
The whole “fake geek girl” thing amuses me no end, because the same people who rant and rave about girls not being real geeks are also likely to rant and rave about me not being a real girl, which of course means I can be a real geek. I’m also struck by the parallels between the “fake geek girl” narrative and the stories told about trans women. I’ll explain.
The people who complain about “fake geek girls” often do so in terms of entrapment. That is, they claim that the girls who turn up at conventions are not doing so because they are interested in the topic of the con. No, they are doing so to flaunt their boobies in skintight cosplay outfits so as to attract the attention of innocent geeks, whom they can then persecute by refusing to sleep with them. It’s a totally evil plan.
In comparison, people who complain about trans women often also use the entrapment story. In this case the trans women are “really” gay men who disguise themselves as beautiful women so that they can attract the attention of innocent males and lure them into gay sex.
Interesting, isn’t it. Who knew that the world was so full of insecure males?
The psychology of insecurities is a fun one to observe, though I guess accusatory propaganda doesn’t quite fall under the definition of fun. It also shows how self-centered we are as a race (community, civilization, species…?). It’s all about us and everything that happens HAS to happen to cause a direct effect in OUR existence.
Do football fans get upset about cheerleaders who aren’t that into football and don’t sleep with fans?
If people want to dress up and walk around in public in outfits that fit them well and accentuate their natural gifts, I really don’t care how “into” the stories behind the costumes they are. Part of the fun about a comic or sci-fi convention is seeing the costumes people wear. Do I REALLY care if the affectionate lesbian couple going as Inara and Kaylee have actually SEEN Firefly? Nope, not unless I find myself talking to them about it. Should I care that the really hot female Link cosplayer is a trans-woman who hates video games? As I’m not planning to dive under her tunic or invite her over to play with my Wii, I don’t really see how it impacts me in any way. Should I care that the person with the horrible yet hilariously disastrous attempt at a steam-punk costume has only a marginal understanding of the idea? Nope. Not really. Their costume is just as entertaining as the others, but for different reasons.
The “true fan” losers need to grow up and accept that nerd culture is going mainstream. Deal with it and embrace it. All those causal fans are the reason big budget treatments of beloved franchises can happen. Those women dressing as Catwoman who never read a comic but love how they look in the outfit? They helped finance the latest Batman trilogy by buying tickets.
I don’t really care if “Fake Geek Girls” are a real thing or not. It neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket.
Of course, being married, the whole “not going to sleep with me” thing isn’t really an issue either. Even when I was single I tended to not date women with whom I didn’t have at least a few shared interests.
I’m an insecure male, there it’s out! I defy anyone to claim they are not insecure on some level, we all are. Part of being a “whole person” is to understand this and accept it. Blaming others for your feelings of insecurity, by way of gender, sexuality, race or even opinions on Sci-Fi is not the answer. Sadly it’s the route taken by many people. It’s the easy route and I find those that take it vary from annoying, to frankly, scary.