There are shades of geekery and nerd..ery and dorkery and there's enough room for us all. So when I saw commentary on "fake geek girls" and several rants defining what it truly means to be a geek, I wanted to rip my hair out.
I believe you are as geeky as you feel and those that feel the need to define geekery for you, have problems of their own. So just ignore them... like you did in grammar school... or high school. Or college. Or work. Or all of those... like I did.
I never fit in anywhere with any particular group and that was hard to deal with when I was younger but now it's like a fuzzy quirk (or quark or tribble if you prefer) - I feed it treats and pray it doesn't get wet tail.
But here's the thing, I'm an adult. I'm not going back to high school or the bullies there. I can decide on my own what's acceptable for me...
While I have played video games, that is not the only facet of my geekiness. I've always liked Star Trek. I've always liked sci-fi. I have a thing for werewolves, villains, vampires, zombies, robots, wookiees, and super heroes. I'm also drawn to Once Upon A Time and was oddly peeved when they took Terra Nova off the air... and seriously don't even bring up Firefly getting cancelled. I love the Avengers, but you know what? I also love the Justice League, Wonder Twins not withstanding.
Just... um... no.
I worked in IT for a ridiculous number of years and I think I'm a ginormic nerd. I also like to dance to 80's music in the kitchen when I make soap*, I drink absurd amounts of tea, I roller skate, I get super excited when the heirloom seed catalogs show up and I am horrible at math... which calculates more geeky quirkery. I also kicked ass at NaNoWriMo this year, obsessively completing 50,000 words in 12 days because I'm a lunatic and apparently have some kind of anal retentive INFJ competitive thing going on - what's not geeky about that?
I own these... yes I'm aware of the irony/idiocy in choosing a pastime such as this, given my particular flavor of gauche and penchant for falling and flailing.
Having said all that, those are not the only parameters of my geekiness. I'll be damned if I'm going to let some dude tell me I'm not a geek based on his ability to draw stuff and read comics.
Nobody else should get to decide how much you have to like something or when you should start to like it in order to certify your geekdom. There is no High Council of Geeks that gets to tell you what's appropriate, though it may be implied at times. Nobody can tell you that you are pretending to like something for attention because you don't fit their standards. Do I know if Jordy came from earth or somewhere else? No. Do I know what the engine room looks like on Babylon 5? No. Is there even an engine room on Babylon 5? Because that was like a space station and not a ship, right? I digress.
I have never pretended to like Star Trek for attention - because let's face it, for a long time it was something that got you put in a locker. Being a girl that enjoyed sharing a birthday with Captain Kirk is never something I had to pretend.
I don't wear cosplay**, mostly because I'm socially awkward and a bit of a shy clumsy mess*** - but I strongly feel that if you are brave enough, then you should. But do it because you want to or don't do it because you don't want to - not because you let someone else define that for you. My point is, do it because you like to.
There is no hierarchy of geekdom. We are all entitled to our geekiness. The only definition of geekery that matters, is yours.
* not a euphemism
**I did own a Renaissance Fair costume at one point and that's pretty much the same kind of deal... but let's not go there.
*** the term 'a bit' could be considered an understatement of cosmic proportions.
You sound so amazing! Stay who you are and rock this world with those skates!
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you so much! You are too kind!
ReplyDelete