Growing up a girl geek and becoming a geek girl.

[seanan_mcguire]

I became a geek when I was four years old. That's when my grandmother handed me my first My Little Pony (Cotton Candy) and told me that if I liked her, I could have more. That was also the year when I first really and truly understood that Doctor Who had an ongoing storyline that could be followed and thought about, even when the TV wasn't on. I

Comments

[ayashi]

The fake geek girl stuff has been pissing me off SO MUCH lately. Why does anyone even care? If someone is legitimately "faking" being geeky just to fit in with a geeky crowd for some reason then I feel sorry that they think they have to do that, but I have doubts that there is any large number of people who are actually doing this. I don't care if some women just cosplay as video game characters because they like the challenge of the costume or they think it looks cool and they don't actually like video games. I don't care if some women might only play World of Warcraft and ignore all other aspects of geekdom. Why are these things supposed to make me upset? Well, I guess the implication also is not that other geek girls should be upset (we don't exist), it is that geek boys should be upset for some unfathomable reason. Boys get a free pass into geekdom, but girls need to prove they deserve admission. So dumb.

[pickledginger]

Especially as none of these things are perceived as a problem, except for fen who lack a Y chromosome. Sigh.

[pickledginger]

Also, "faking" being a geek? How geeky is that!!

[caper_est]

Seanan's original post may have won today's genuine internet already, but this comment wins a simulacrum of it so ingeniously detailed that I can't tell the difference.

[anderyn]

I'm in my mid-fifties, and my geekdom experience is totally unlike yours. I don't know why -- I just didn't give a fuck when I was a kid whether or not I was supposed to like something or not -- I read what I read, and I liked what I liked, and I was geeky as hell. I've been like that for all of my life -- though I never had contact with any organized fans until much much later in my life (I'd read a few Fantasy & SF columns about same in the mid-1960s, so I'd even read about Karen Anderson's terrific cosplay at a worldcon, and was totally jealous!), but I was who I was, in the wilds of redneck Ohio, until I got to college and met other geeky folks. And they never gave me any problems about being who I was -- in fact, I got into D&D the very first year it was published, and I have been a proud gamer ever since.... heck, I went into labor while gaming! It's funny, but I never felt that I had to hide what I loved or to feel different or lesser because I loved it -- I knew I was weird, so why not let it all hang out? If I don't read DC

[seanan_mcguire]

I am very glad for you.

[martianmooncrab]

Walgreens is carrying a knockoff Monster HIgh set of dolls in their xmas toy selection this year. There are 4 of them. They come in coffin shaped boxes.

[selene]

You wouldn't remember how much those cost would you? My youngest sister is a huge MH fan, but the official products are so expensive....

And then I can fight her for whatever ones I like better from the set myself. I was just going to watch the show to see what she was raving about so much, it's not my fault I ended up finding it cute.

[martianmooncrab]

uh, 6.99 each, but buy two for 13.something, get one free... they are pink, orange, blue, and purple.. I did get them for my 5 yr old niece, because quantity of things is better... but then, my sister and I got her the MH School playset for her big gift this xmas..

[selene]

I know you mentioned quantity, but how are the cheapo ones quality wise? My mother was asking so I figured I'd pass the question along. Hope you don't mind.

[snowwolf75]

I've believed for a long while that you can be geeky without being into Sci-Fi or techy stuff. You can be a geek of dance, music, art, or anything else that excites your passion. You said as much yourself, and I wholly agree with you about it. Props for mentioning SETI, which I was obsessed about for a while.

[seanan_mcguire]

Geeks love shit.

Welcome to the clan, all who love shit and are willing to play nicely.

[beccastareyes]

Yay for geeking out! And yay for unicorns who fight darkness with magic. (I loved any Saturday morning cartoon or book where characters had ~adventures~, especially female characters, double-especially if there was a girl geek for me to want to be like.)

[seanan_mcguire]

Damn straight.

Where's my talking Pegasus?!