This is why they hate us…
Read the update to this blog post here.
I’ve been asking myself recently why I dislike the whole sexy geek girl movement so much. I mean, I was once a sexy blonde at a sci-fi convention dressed like Lieutenant Rand. Then, when Rudy and I launched Galacticast I became known as a geek girl online, featuring my geeky tees in my Daily Self Portrait photo series, and even scoring a t-shirt sponsorship from Think Geek! About a year later I became a subject of a documentary film and photo book called Fangirl Project where I posed in some of my favorite costumes. So why am I becoming so judgmental of the geek girls of today?
Recently I’ve heard about several cases of misogyny in the video game industry; most recently this case where some jerkoff (now fired from his job as a “journalist” for Destructoid) called Felicia Day a “glorified booth babe” who doesn’t “contribute anything useful to this industry, besides retaining a geek persona.” If Day, who has MILLIONS of followers online, hasn’t contributed to the gaming industry with her creative work on Dragon Age: Redemption, The Guild, and being an inspiration to women everywhere to talk more openly about their gaming obsessions, I guess gaming journalists haven’t contributed to the gaming industry either, huh?
Deep sigh.
I think the real problem that has been causing rifts and misogyny in the geek community today is not the simple fact that geek girls exist, but that there is a movement of people who participate in the sexualization of geek girls. Hell, even I’m guilty of doing a sexy sci-fi photo shoot, but there was always a line I would never cross.
Today I came across this Google+ post from artist Justin Chung:
“This is why they hate us,” I thought. And I’ve been facepalming ever since.
If there’s anything that I feel does not contribute to the geek girl community, it’s pin-ups and the whole “Hey! Look at me! I’m dressed like a geek and have bewbs!” type. Felicia Day, however, is not that type. And neither am I.
Sex sells and pin-ups will always exist, but we mustn’t allow them to define the image of our geek girl community. Comparing real-life geek girls to pin-ups wearing geeky costumes is like comparing a kid’s doggie costume on Halloween to a furry. But still, it sure feels like it’s eating our community from the inside out.
Our geek community is better than this. It’s time we show the world the intelligence and dedication our female geeks possess that our male counterparts have always been known for. And it’s time to encourage creative types, whether male or female, to promote a more realistic, everyday geek girl image instead of deconstructing our complexities to flat out sexual imagery.
SRSLY.
And now, on a lighter note, please do enjoy the wonderful musings of Kate Beaton in Strong Female Characters! ;)
So say we all.
HA! Nicely said, el Seco!
Don’t know many geek gals but my luck id walk stright up and say hi to medusa! Say it how it is Casey.
Robin- If you’re really worried about it, I suggest carrying a mirror with you to defend yourself against Medusa JUST IN CASE… ;)
I think some guys are just threatened by women regardless. But they’re especially threatened by women’s sexuality.
dmso- Some have speculated that very theory. It’s quite possible, but there’s a part of me that always thinks that explanation is an excuse that stops us from breaking down the psychology of what’s really going on.
Please forgive the longish comment. I think you’re onto something, but also missing something.
You are attractive. (Duh?) The models in the Justin Chung clip are attractive. Spokes-models are attractive. Other groups of women are attractive.
But what is it that attractiveness attracts? Attractiveness attracts _attention_. What is necessary then, is some distinction between the kinds of attention attracted, and the motives for wanting or accepting it.
You are attractive, and you use that quality as a tool. Why? Well, when people pay attention to you, you communicate things that are interesting and important to you, that you think might be interesting or important to other people if they heard them. The important thing is what you have to say. Being attractive saves time. People are already paying attention.
Spokesmodels do the same thing, but for a third party. That is, they (for the most part) either have nothing of interest to say, themselves, or have no direct knowledge, interest (other than financial), or often even understanding, of the information they are paid to impart. But, their attractiveness causes people to pay attention. Sometimes they dress and act like geeks, because that’s what the guys who are paying them think will work. Pity.
Then there’s group “C,” the pin up models. On the face of it, they attract attention because they want attention – for its own sake. At a slightly deeper level, what they (and their management) want is to attract attention to their _product_. Themselves, of course, but also the merchandisable embodiments of themselves – photos, inflatable dolls, whatever… Group “C” girls may wear geek clothes, fetish clothes, or whatever genre clothes, or no clothes. It is a mistake to think they identify with the group they dress to mimic – specifically that they are geek girls. But, that is a mistake willingly made by their target audience, and willingly encouraged by the girls and their management. Sex sells, and it sells particularly well to a predominantly young, male and socially awkward group who are mostly ignored by women who are their peers. Suddenly, there;s this group of impossibly hot women who dress like them, act like them, and apparently want to be liked by them! WooHoo! Disappointment (if it comes) will likely result in the sort of over-generalization you find, where genuine geek girls are lumped with the fakes.
Of course, there are other women who use their attractiveness because they have found they can get things in exchange for it. Other women use their attractiveness to try to attract the attention of a suitable life partner. Other women just do nothing at all. So it goes.
The point here is that actual geek girls tend to be tarred by the same brush as spokesmodels, Group “C” girls, and some of the more egregious gold-diggers.
Whose brush might that be?
Two groups of people: Women, and men.
Attractive women who do not share your goals will likely see your attractiveness as competition to their attractiveness.
And, fact is, guys are wired to perceive any advance by an attractive woman as an expression of sexual interest _in_them_. Now, if an attractive woman presents herself publicly in a forum or in a way that makes it clear that she wants to attract people’s attention, that she wants people ti like her, what else is that but an advance? I know, I know: That is not what you meant. That is not what you meant, at all… But – how shall I put this? Delicately: Your intentions and men’s perceptions are not invariably congruent, nor is every man’s response to women always carefully considered or nuanced. One need do more than look at the bulk of the comments to your Google+ postings to see that. If I apologize for men as a class, it won’t change a thing.
So there you are: Multiple groups of women with whom geek girls may be confused, but who do not, for the most part, share your goals. And a public who may be incapable of any awareness that there even _is_ such a distinction, and if they are, they may not care (testosterone blindness does that), or they may just not share your goals.
I sometimes wonder why we bother at all… :): (That’s the new bipolar smiley.)
Great post Casey. you hit the nail on the head!
The reason we like Geek girls is brains + beauty. The ‘I dance about in a small skirt at game demos’ bimbo aren’t what us Geeks are looking for. They just pretend to be brainy but try and have a conversation with them about either gaming or anything science related and well, you get a more intelligent response from a brick wall :)
Theres nothing wrong with sexual imagery, its just when that is all there is with nothing behind it that it becomes a problem.
why the negativity on sex-positivity?
While I agree that the what has happened here (objectification of women in the geek community) is bad I don’t think that you should blame the women involved. The argument for why its generally a bad move to blame members of the victimised group for contributing to their own victimisation (even when they are part of something that is contributing to that as is this case) is a bit too long to fit in a comment on the bottom of an article but I’ll try and make the main points:
There are pressures on women to conform and difficulties in trying to push against the prevalent sexist attitudes, and these will not be the same for everyone. For some women it will be much easier to just go along with the already existing sexism and the situation they find themselves in is not their fault, if we expect everyone of the disadvantaged class to fight we end up holding them to a much higher standard than the privileged group who are the real cause of the problem. These women are allowed to make mistakes, we should be looking more towards blaming those who run and organise these things and those in power who display sexist attitudes or support sexist projects. Not the women involved. For them it is more complicated.
I’m always amazed at misogyny in the tech/gaming, etc. fields. Maybe it’s a little naïveté on my part but because I’ve been involved professionally with computers since the early 1970s (!) and immersed in the culture that’s evolved around it, it seemed to me that because that milieu evolved at the same time as the modern women’s movement, there’d be little influence from a old-boy network.
In other words: since there’d been male doctors, lawyers, soldiers, executives, politicians for centuries, it was logical that they’d resist the arrival of women on their traditionally “men only” turf. But, in the case of the computer-related professions, there’d been no such situation from “time immemorial” and the profession had the privilege to to be born and mature without having to go through the battles older professions needed.
Seriously: the some of the computer industry’s most influential pioneers were women! Ada Lovelace described the first algorithm for Charles Babbage’s analytical engine and had a computer language named for her.
Legend, apocryphal as it happens, has it that the very first “bug,” a moth, was located, fixed and enshrined by Grace Hopper. (In truth, the term predated the incident and other engineers actually found and fixed it, but Hopper was there and somehow her name became associated with it for all eternity. No one complained of lost credit.)
That misogyny and sexism exist in the computer world seems counter-intuitive to me and the perpetrators sorely in need of a history lesson.
‘Nuff said,
Considering the topic it might be imprudent to say so, but I love the crap out of that top pic.
P.S. Felicia Day is awesome whatever some moron tweeted.
I work in IT, and I formerly worked in the culinary industry as a sous chef. Both male dominated worlds. I will say that for us women, it is going to be a long road to being seen as equals. I work in a law firm, and it is mostly old white men. Who would they rather have give them advice on technology? One of the boys, or a woman? Same with getting instructions in the kitchen. No one wants a woman in charge. Until that changes, we will have to work twice as hard, for less pay, and “prove” ourselves. It doesn’t make sense, but that is the reality. We also have to be sure to control our image, as you say. We have to be careful that we don’t try to get our seat at the table with our sexuality. That seat will never be one built or earned on equality. It would just be a pretty face at the table, and we have much more to offer than that.
I’m going to play devils advocate here and suggest that the fantasies of some males coupled with the proclivities of some females to sate or encourage those fantasies (with or without monetary compensation) does not inherently demean the entire female populace of geekdom.
Lately we’ve seen a lot of complaints regarding attractive females choosing to display themselves for compensation, and how their choice to display themselves lowers the quality of life for all females everywhere rendering it an atrocity, or crime against femininity. These complaints are generally met with wide acceptance from the portion of the culture who tends to be vocal.
But you never see arguments in reverse. Nobody complains about how the Chip ‘n Dale dancers are raising the expectations of females and making males unable to compete. Nobody watches a movie where a dude rips his shirt off and flexes in muscly glory and goes home to complain about how it was totally inappropriate to display himself in such a way. I would venture a guess here and say that if “Booth Babes” suddenly were replaced with “Booth Dudes” that were all ripped out and scantily clad there wouldn’t be an outpouring of “Men’s Rights” activists protesting.
Why? Because they wouldn’t be hurting anyone, and most (but not all) men would simply walk on by without dwelling on it. Also: be fair and admit it women, most (but not all) of you would totally approve.
This double standard leads me to only one personal conclusion: society needs to take a step back and reevaluate why it is getting so worked up over something that really isn’t hurting anyone. If you told me that these poor booth babes were there because their pimps would beat them bloody if they didn’t take off their clothes for the geeks I’d protest; but that’s just not the case. Let people make their own choices, and feel free to live with yours. Everyone would be a lot happier that way.
I’ll admit to eyeing attractive women. I’m combatting 3 million years of hominid evolution. I’m genetically predisposed to looking. However, because my ancestors also developed large frontal lobes in their brains, I’m actually more attracted to smart women. If you get good looking and smart in the same package, that’s the ideal for a geek like me. Add witty and charming to that mix and it’s nerdvana!
As far as the geek girls (I’d rather call them wonk women but that won’t catch on any time soon) dressing in sexy clothing, why not? If I were a buff beefcake, you bet I’d flaunt it. By the same token, if she wants to wear loose fitting jeans and baggy sweatshirts, that’s cool, too.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s the human being rather than the packaging that we should be concentrating on.
Now I’m also going to play devil’s advocate here based on something I saw at Dragon*Con last year. There was a very well built woman in a somewhat scanty costume. She was okay when the guys hitting on her were equally attractive. But when the guys were a bit more average (or even sub-average), she turned ice queen on them. So do we see a double standard here?
Just asking.
I just want to say I read your blog and I think what you are trying to say has a lot of merit. Hell, I have written numerous pieces about the sexualization of women in our fandom and how women are treated. That being said, I’m one of the girls in Justin’s art, the third one in.
Justin is a very talented and dedicated artist. As far as comic artists go, he at least gets anatomy correct. I wish more artists drew women the way Justin does.
I have never been one to find that a bit of sex appeal is hurting the cause of my gender. In fact, the pin up Justin did of me is from an upcoming comic my friends and I are doing (all women) about a post-apocalyptic biker gang, who happen to be all women. Yes, I’m the “sexy” one, mainly because we cut my tee-shirt a bit too much. But I’m not sexy because I’m wearing a low cut top, I’m sexy because that is my attitude. I’m strong, intelligent, and I take control of my life. I think people need to understand the difference of confidence andbeing in touch with ones sexuality and hyper sexualization, like you see in most video games, comics, sci-fi and fantasy art.
But what do I know, I’m just a dumb cosplayer obviously doing it for the attention.
This should be retitled– “This is why WE hate us.”
For every slut-shaming nerd man out there railing on pinups and pretty girls not being real fans or booth babes and all the inbetweens, there’s another woman out there doing the exact same thing under the premise of feminisim. And frankly, that’s far worse. Doing anything under the guise of concern for the community as a whole. Inherently there is always going to be hate. But hate disguised as feminism? Unacceptable.
Because honestly? You’re saying the same thing. By telling women/artists/whomever else that by expressing their geekdom in the way they enjoy (Namely in pinups and whatever else) and that by doing such they’re discounting the proud heritage of intelligence in nerd women, you’re saying, in a round about way, that women are at their core one of two things- pretty or intelligent, but never both.
Ask yourself- what does a gender-neutral fan wearing a tshirt contribute to the community? What does fan art of superman (with super exaggerated physique) contribute? What does playing games, making fan art, writing blogs, or being a fan in general contribute beyond the expression of fandom in the way a person knows how? Does pinup art , gamer gurl, and sexy nerd define me as a person and fan as much as the trope of a overweight stinky neckbeard does of male fans? Not in the least. The consistent propulsion of stereotypes– no matter the variety– has got to stop on all sides.
If a woman (or man for that matter) finds expressing their fandom in the guise of pinup, sexiness, or anything else– who are you to tell them that they’re the problem? They’re just another fan, utilizing the talents they’ve got to show their love for whatever subject matter they choose.
Also? art like the above? Has been around since the 70′s. The sci-fi art of the 80′s and 70′s has things similar to this styling on all sides of the gender coin.
“So say we all” was indeed well-stated! First and foremost: “geek girls” don’t exist to make guys happy- whether you like us for our brains or our bodies or our detailed knowledge of Neil Gaiman’s work or web standards. We just exist and love what we love. Like any human, it feels good to be found attractive, but honestly, like a geek guy I just want to do my thing and have like-minded friends. And I like the difference you pointed out, Casey, between “hey! Look at this costume I made to be this character a subset of people will adore and recognize” and “come by our booth where we hired seven sexy models to wear next to nothing to be characters they don’t know and sell our product to you.”
Even that has its place and I can just let it go, just as Nathan suggests. Sex sells. Both ways (hello, Twilight). And I did dismiss Prince Naked who was prancing around as shirtless Conan once I heard him complaining about the “nerds” last year at Comic-Con, just as I brushed off the Pan-Am girls who bitched about being hounded for pictures and stickers (hired actors in both cases).
The problem is not that booth babes exist, but that the balance isn’t there and it’s become an expectation. It creeps its way into the real world in scary ways. Sexism is still a big issue not because I think it’s just mean, but because WE DON’T GET TAKEN SERIOUSLY IN THE WORLD. I’m usually written off as someone’s girlfriend at events. I once had someone suggest my web site was lacking in sexy pictures of me and that it would drive up traffic! He thought he was paying me a compliment- as if we all aspire to be Slave Leias. Someone at PAX asked me if I was “like a blogger or video host or something” and was stunned that I was just there (alone) to see the games. Shrug. I can take it. What I can’t take, however, is the actual professional inequality. I get TONS of crap at my development day job (I’m presently the only woman on the team). My boss once introduced me and a temporary female contractor to the new work team as “his css girls.” As if A. detailed knowledge of cross-browser web standards, adaptive web design, and the presentation and content of a web site were these cute little things (and I DEFINITELY prefer to be referred to as an adult in the workplace, thanks) and B. None of the other development skills I have (javascript, php etc.) count for anything! BAM! We were placed squarely at the kiddie table, despite the fact that there were three other MALE css “boys” there who did the exact same job. But they were all introduced as developers. I’m not gonna lie. That just makes me mad. Just one of MANY stories.
There are a lot of girl-shy geek guys who were maybe teased in high school and are awkward around or even vengeful towards women now. It’s not okay! I’m sorry for your pain, but I get sick of how this “excuses” sexism. It would never fly for racism or any other kind of hatred! “Sorry about Dave being an asshole. He’s just never had good luck with black people.” “Yeah, okay, I get that.” Noooope! Boys teased me mercilessly in high school for my art final project: a 28″x36″ portrait of Counselor Troi. Plus, I always wore “less-than-trendy” clothes and was drawing cartoons. I lettered in Latin and choir, was in the science club… Are you kidding me? I was rejected left and right! HARSHLY and publicly in some cases. Went through most of high school without a boyfriend. I certainly don’t hate MEN for that! At all! Just those asshat teenage boys.
Anyway, LONG ASS rant. Didn’t mean to hijack your blog, Casey, but reading someone saying Felicia Day doesn’t contribute anything useful?? WTF?! It just made my mind go a million miles an hour. I freaking LOVE The Guild. I love her Flog, too. It’s inspiring to see her try new things and encourage other people to do the same; to read a book, to launch their own web series (which I am currently struggling with). Just as YOU have inspired me! We need MORE role models like that. That person is just ignorant as hell and has NO IDEA what it takes to maintain the level of geekness, content, and professionalism that she has.
(A footnote to this comment: I was interrupted in the middle of writing this to teach my coworkers how to use their new telescopes and geek out about adaptive optics and things I used to study in school. The conversation quickly turned into a MiB/Star Trek/Galaxy Quest discussion in which I schooled the whole lot of my all-male development team! And not once did I have to take my shirt off. Progress!!!)
Justin is a very good artist and extremely respectful of the models he uses. I’ve been one and I was honored. I’m tired of the notion that female geeks HAVE TO BE sexy. That’s where the line is for me. Obviously, your mileage varies from mine. There are plenty of successful women in the geeks industries I don’t like. I shouldn’t have to like them just because we’re somehow compatriots in the sea of testosterone. There are girls that will teabag when they take down a gaming foe. There are girls that launch their own companies and comics. But attacking a particular male artist who is nothing but kind and respectful makes you look like a bitch and not him a misogynist.
With respect, I don’t believe Ms. Paege fit’s the stereotype you’re opposing: she’s an actress, podcaster and cosplayer in her own right. Her choosing to do pin-ups doesn’t do any disservice to her other work. While you’re absolutely right in calling for a more diverse array of body types to be depicted, I don’t believe the blame should be placed at the feet of the models themselves. Put it this way: a lot of people like to harangue Olivia Munn, but it’s more accurate, I think, to question why the mostly cis-gender male writers and producers of her past work chose to repeatedly put her in situations where she was objectified.
And with regards to Nathan’s point on male objectification, there are, in fact multiple critiques online.
OP -That’s exactly it. For every Felicia Day/Aisha Tyler (legitimate (probably the wrong term to use) female gamers) who are in the center stage there are tons of suspect “Gamer Gurls” who just seem disingenuous using their sex/appeal as a honeypot trap and sadly quite effectively to the male side of the community. I’m far more interested in hearing from ppl that share the same passions that I do than those who feign it for a pay check. But am I guilty of letting my attention be attracted to the attractive “disingenue” – yes – am I proud of it -no- Will I persecute every female gamer for my weakness -no- Will I view female gamers particularly attractive ones as suspect -yes, until they can rationally debate me in the MDA mechanics of several games we mutually play..- Trust but verify…
Cosplay is very geeky, dressing up as your favorite pop culture character, very geeky. Most of those girls make those costumes themselves, many sew, build, paint, and conceptualize their outfits all on their own, that is a lot of creativity right there. How can you say they are hurting the ‘geek community’ as you call it. They are enriching it like it never has been before.
I been going to San Diego Comic Con since 1999, and a few other cons here and there. Since that time, because of cosplay girls, the scene at cons has improved much. The nerdy guys don’t smell anymore and are more social. But aside from that fact, the whole bringing our favorite characters to life is just magical. Why are you hating?
If there is something I’ve learned from being a human being for 30+ years… it’s that judgement and stereotypes are the real issue. In ANY business.
Issue #1: Stereotypes – Blaming all men for the actions of those who disrespect women. The gentlemen who says men like geeky girls and not booth babes is part of a larger population than you think. Sure the gaming industry in particular tries to sell their games with sex (blame marketing companies), but that doesn’t mean all men/fans also feel that is right and/or are influenced by this marketing, resulting in a negative impact on women. Are there men out there who do? Sure, but it’s not all men.
Issue #2: Judging women for OWNING their sexuality. I am one of these women, and this statement indicates that I have self-esteem issues that I work out by posing sexy so men “look at me.” In actuality, women who own their sexuality (especially as you get older…if you are under 35, you may not get this point yet) are proud and confident of the hard work and love they have put into their spirits, work, careers AND bodies. If that means we want to feel amazing about ourselves by dressing in pin-up, who’s right is that to judge us and say we are attention whores? It’s the same as getting a manicure and wearing make-up.
I am just exhausted with the judgement being passed around this community and the people trying to fit us–especially women–into neat little buckets with all of these rules attached. We are humans. Period. We are all SO vastly different, and you have no idea what life moment(s), good or bad, drove any other human to make the decisions they did. But I feel it’s such a waste of energy to continue to feel it’s our right to judge others for what makes them happy. That energy can be used for so many other more positive things…
Casey,
I’ve thought about why there is such misogyny when it comes to women geeks/gamers whatever and I’ve narrowed it down to a few ideas. Not saying that this is true, I’m just saying that this is my theory. First for the longest time, male nerds/gamers/geeks had a domain to which they could flee to during their awkward forming years (high school for most). There they could escape from ridicule from quote unquote pretty girls that mocked them and their hobbies and jocks that bullied them. There were always girls who were in their domain, but not “attractive” women. Now, come along women like Felicia Day who claim that they have always been there and what not and these guys feel offended by it. This is their domain, not these pretty girls. Its resentment from highschool rejection that they are feeling.
Secondly, I think there might be a bit of a feeling that these women are not genuinely interested and are such doing a disservice to their hobby.
Personally, I got tired of seeing Felicia Day in everything. Nothing against, her, she’s an okay actress, nothing special or even really appealing, and her quirkiness is kinda cute, but gets tiresome at times. When she did the Guild, it was cute, but then there was a huge explosion of Felicia all over the nets and just like when Colin Ferrell exploded in Hollywood, it got tiring to see her in every role they could shoehorn her into for the sake of fan service. Now that she’s found her niche its nice to see her in her own productions and what not, but thats my two cents.
You answer the question within your own question. Geeks don’t want to look at realistic girls. They see realistic girls everyday of their life and seldom land one. So, women are fantasy in geekdom. Geeks can do what they desire most to women when in this fantasy world. If you think it is demeaning to be a geek’s fantasy, then you really don’t understand how geek’s work and shouldn’t dive into the fray in the first place.
I’ve been working on a post for quite some time on the the subject and it’s hard to articulate at first. I think you did a great job. One other thing to consider is when pin up girls are what we think of as geek girls, it’s unrealistic and many geek girls’ insecurities get brought out. I know it brings out mine and I’ve been a model in the past/I’m not bad looking.
Now that geek culture is pop culture models are hired to wear costumes we geeks used to make ourselves and they (for the most part) look 100% better. It’s disheartening because they didn’t work hard at the costume and they probably don’t care about the character they are dressed as or at least not as much. They get to be that character over you because they fill it out better and it’s a bummer. How does a homemade Rogue costume really compare with two Slave Leias making out by the Jabba’s lair set up (not making this up here)?
I understand your point of view, but the smart guys (yes, they are few and far between) don’t assume that the cosplayers/models are anything but the portrayal of a character come to life. I’ve seen plenty (albeit not as many) of guys dressing up as Silver Surfer, Superman, He-Man and Lion-O. And I hardly hear women state “I’ll bet he can really cook up a decent meal when I’ve had a hard day’s work.”. Nope, it’s usually along the lines of “GAWD! Homina-homina-homina!” [See every Magic Mike post *ever*]. But I digress. No matter how clothed (or scantily clad) a girl is, you’re going to get jackasses. I see Jettie at quite a few cons and events, I love catching up with her and I talk to her like I would even if she was just in street clothes. I’ve always been that guy. I no more equate the “geek girls” to “scanitly clad women” than I would the “Cutty Sark” girls to “alcoholics”. There are many levels of Geekdom. Felica Day honors her own and we love her for it. Some cosplayers/models choose to express their geekiness in other aspects, and that’s OK too. We have to be able to place a standard on certain behavior and let guys know (yes, some girls, too): “There is a time and a place and an attitude that is accepted when it comes to cosplayers, booth babes, celebrities, etc.” Some of it is never OK, but there’s no reason to place the stigma on the cosplayers/models. The jackasses and the misogynistic attitudes need to be targeted for a hardcore discussion instead. A war is being waged between the “liberals” and the “conservatives” of Geekdom. Some of us are happy just being geeks.
It runs deeper than that, actually. Due to whatever factors you want to cite — stereotypical parenting that defines gender roles early, media interpretations of what a “geek” is, etc. — gaming, competitive gaming, and the culture of geekery has predominantly been viewed as a male exercise. (And only recently was that sort of geekery considered “cool.” If it were 1999, NBC’s Chuck would’ve had a Colin Farrell lookalike as the lead.)
Because of that, the gaming culture, whether in LAN parties, online, or in the card shops, were vastly overpowered with boys and men, and the perception was women involved, nine times out of ten, were dating someone already established within that circle, and you can bet your last dollar that he had to tell everyone that “she’s cool.”
The culture is also very, very segmented. It’s very accepting in that, no matter what you like, there’s a group out there who like it too, and they’ll bring you into the fold. But if you put five competitive Halo players in the same room with five competitive Starcraft players and you’d better hope there’s no alcohol involved, lest someone throws a chair.
Male heterosexuals are still considered the norm. Women portrayed on TV or in Film with geek tendencies fall into one of three categories:
1) Cute alt-girls (see: NCIS)
2) An anomaly
3) The super dream girl for some nerd guy
Any other portrayal gets tossed aside as “unrealistic.” (It doesn’t help that the casting choices are ridiculous when they try to do that. Denise Richards in a Bond movie as a nuclear physicist? Really?)
Because of the belief that women and geekery are this fantastical unicorn — never mind that I’ve had real, in-the-flesh conversations with you, Taryn O’Neill, Stephanie Thorpe, Felicia Day, and plenty more and it’s obvious that this isn’t a new rising of nerdism or an opportunistic move by women of beauty to find their celebrity “niche” — the gaming culture, particularly online, competitive gaming, go ape when a woman is in their midst, either alternately vying for the affections of said woman, or rejecting her, or both. It’s so common that I’ve long since unplugged and muted my XBOX Live voice chat.
Rape culture is also rampant. (http://www.penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/sexual-harassment-as-ethical-imperative-the-ugly-side-of-fighting-games is a disgusting report. This is my personal “this is why they hate us,” and not to make this a competition, but I think I can safely say the people representing my gender have a lot more to atone for than doing sexy pinups.) Use of the word “rape” has been common. Though in my post-college years I’ve tried to eliminate utilizing that word as common parlance, even I was using the word.
And that word in particular is way more devastating when applied toward a woman. I can’t remember where it was, but a couple of years ago a study was conducted simply asking men and women their top ten fears when going on a first date. For men, their biggest fear was that they would be made fun of and humiliated. Top one fear for women on a first date? That they’ll be raped and murdered by this guy they don’t yet know.
With the PAR link above, you can see how that disgusting [ REDACTED, TRYING TO CURSE LESS IN PUBLIC ] knew exactly what he was doing while directly sexually harassing a fellow female competitor, one who attempted to speak up for herself in interviews but was shushed to let the man “speaking for her” finish.
I’m coming back around to the pin-ups, stay with me. I got started and don’t want to leave any logic leaps out.
While women are becoming more and more accepted, there are plenty of males who viewed competitive gaming as their outlet from the real world don’t want to add the other gender in. Why? Because many know that some of the things they say, some of the hyper-sexualization of female characters, is coming to an end. The wild west party is over and we’re gonna have to make a place for everyone or find yourself on the outs.
So, they’re lashing out. And others are owning their sexuality. And some are capitalizing on it without really being a gamer. And some are capitalizing on it BECAUSE they’re a gamer and they know what the heck they’re talking about.
With the pin-ups above, the women portrayed at least have the proportions of, well, real, living human beings. Sexy? Yes. Perhaps a little wish-fulfill-y? Sure. But I fully disagree that “this is why they have [you].”
What they’re hating is that slowly but surely, the region where they can spout off prejudicial thoughts — whether by misogyny or calling other players “fag” all the time — is shrinking. The temper tantrums of a large number (not a majority, but they’re very vocal) of our brethren gamers in full on arrested development is increasing in frequency. Sooner or later it’s going to become commonplace for people to smack their mouth-y manchild counterpart and tell them to knock it off.
Until then, though, we guys have a lot of work to do. First we gotta work on not being terrible to each other — gay slurs, until the last couple of years, weren’t even viewed as slurs, now all gamers have to do is just make sure the people they’re with are “cool.” (Which is anything but.)
Women who know what the heck they’re doing are viewed as a threat to established male gamers. It’s been so testosterone-heavy that the approach of women scares them because the cliche that geeks are not all that great at seduction exists for a reason. (Yes, now *I’m* the one generalizing, but, well, again, I muted my XBL voice chat for a reason. Anecdotal, but I’m far from the only one who’s done it for that reason.) Now they have to contend with women who are not tomboys, not “acting like a dude,” but are women who play games and can own you.
Women were supposed to be girlfriends who “allowed” your gaming tendencies. Now you’ve done it.
The pin-ups are trivial. I say go for it. I say own your sexuality the way male gamers beat their chests and fight to be alpha male like any other pack animal. Sooner or later their fear of women “encroaching on their turf” will be realized, then the majority’s gonna tell them to act right or get out.
I, for one, welcome this.
(If you made it all the way down here, man, thanks. I did not expect it to go this long.)
I agree with you and Kristen. Being a geek is not something any of us choose. Most of us would rather been part of the popular crowd growing up. Most of us do what we do because we love it. not because we get paid for it.
And some of use spend our hard erred money time and energy to make something uber geeky because they love it so much. Not because she is gorgeous. Keep up the good work Kristen Nedopak Felicia Day and Casey McKinnon.
40 years of being a Nerd before being a nerd was cool!!!.
I take the whole “geek pin ups” movement with a “Rule 34″ sized grain of salt.
Our culture tries to over sexualize everything, and real geeks can tell the difference.
I’m more inclined to think an extremely attractive geek girl is flying a counterfeit geek flag anyways, and I think most guys agree.
I’m an artist & a costumer. When I was 18, there was no such thing as cosplay. Any respectable girl never left the house in a short short skirt and attractive young women weren’t anywhere near geeky boys at conventions. If you saw flesh, it was at the beach, anywhere else and you were labeled slutty. Now we have awesome digital games, internet and sometimes even I drool over awesome cosplay guys with sculptured chests. I see thousands of beautifully photographed sexy young cosplay girls and the artist in me wants to paint them. The middle aged woman I’ve become secretly wishes I was young again, sexy & in an awesome costume at something like Dragon Con. Sex always sells, always will. There will always be the drooling fan boy. Yes there is a line one should not cross. I watch things like Big Bang and am grateful sexy Geek girls can bring beauty to the realm of cosplay and if they let me I’ll paint portraits of them. I love that there are thousands of Slave girl Leia’s roaming convention floors. Like Princess Leia, there’s more to a geeky woman than just the outfit.
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