Comments on: Ridin’ Nerdy: Exploiting the Myth of the Fake Geek Girl

By: greenforest

greenforest — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 07:00:15 +0000

PART 2
MORE importantly. Totally digging on Ash and Leeloo. Completely agree about lack of women in comics and games. I live in San Diego and have been going to COMIC-CON for years. Good news – got tickets Thurs – Sun. Bad news – first time ever without Preview night. I think cosplay is so cool. I love the fact that people feel comfortable enough to wear costumes whether they’re too big, wimpy or whatever and most C.C people accept and enjoy the show. One good friend of mine who is a 9 – 10 criticized some costumed girls and I told her to get off her high horse. That the world does not exist for only pretty people to play in. I get excited to see all the different Princess Leia’s. The voluptuous – ok – big -girls, plain girls, pasty white girls, Nubian, Asian… And Green Orion girls – I have trouble breathing. God, people are missing the whole point if they’re not enjoying all of this. It is all so much fun. OK ’nuff said. I hope you become rich working nerd boys who need to be rebooted when it comes to women and all their involvement in a sub culture that provides a lot of room to exist for some really smart, creative and, shall we admit, some really, really oddball characters. Much success to you!

By: greenforest

greenforest — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 06:58:18 +0000

Josie – you rock! Awesome to nail it about girls and geekdom. Big Bang Theory had a great line when the guys convinced Penny to go to a costume party at the comic book shop. “Don’t worry, we’ll win. You’ll be the only girl there” – (or something close to that.) And it absolutely shows the complete social ineptness of guys putting girls down when they should be remembering “Hey it’s girls! and say “It’s killer that you are into it.” I try to tell lads around me to learn from BBT what n-o-t to do. I saw your lap dances are $15. What? To the ire of fellow males out there: you’re under priced. Most clubs that I know of charge $20 per with some girls negotiating higher. I don’t go to a club but once every year or two – but it’s what I see. I think I’d be hooked at a Nerd themed club. Hentai? Ash? are you kidding me? Also, on the subject of clubs – I really appreciate what you [pl all] do and how much time, effort and money it must take to look so fabulous. I guess some guys come to gawk and act like.. well, you fill in the blanks. I come to enjoy the physicality, sensuality and company. I know that the it’s business for the girls and so the entertainment must be paid for just like any other entertainer. I guess in my book, I’m not there to try and get over on someone. I’m there to enjoy myself and when the dancer is making good money, I figure she’s enjoying herself. Win – Win. Last part of this rant: I’m embarrassed and apologize for – as a guy – club goers who are rude, cheap, insulting and worse, don’t act like gentleman when a lady performs. I let the dancer set the boundaries. Again. everybody wins – she’s happy and I’m happy. (I suppose I should write an article from a guy’s perspective of what I like, don’t like and expectations are….)

By: I.N.

I.N. — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 13:45:22 +0000

In reply to Josie.

Hi – sorry it took me so long to respond…

I think inconsistency in writing quality was, unfortunately, another signature of Farscape. They had a number of amazing episodes, and even poor episodes had their good moments – but there were a number of poor episodes, plot holes, and plot-organizing coincidences. I did some reading (boards at farscapeworld.com and terrafirmascapers.com; and tor.com/features/series/farscape-rewatch-on-torcom) that indicated that there was a number of different writers working on Farscape (just like any show, I guess, I just never thought about it before), and sometimes the 2- and 3-parters, for example, were written by different people at the same time to make them seem less predictable. I suspect that Chiana’s character suffered from being written by different writers the most because their personal hang ups about female sexuality were likely showing in how they wrote her. Some of them got her right, and some completely failed.

P.S. Regarding your post overall, I am an ex-sex worker, and my geekiness + nerdiness were indeed a great point of connection back when I was working.

By: Josie

Josie — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 10:48:11 +0000

In reply to Erik. Thank you so much! I really appreciate the feedback.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 21:04:37 +0000

I love this article! I’m a super nerd and I have always made the most money by being every nerd’s dream woman. I will wear nerd themed outfits to open up the conversation and then it’s smooth sailing from there. One down side is that in the interest of making money I will often have to suppress my true feelings about certain aspects of geek culture. I have issues with the lack of female representation in Dr. Who but I keep that to myself in order to maintain a fun rapport. If a man seems to be quizzing me or saying rude things about “fake geek girls” at a con I walk away. However if a customer does those things I will probably smile and nod. It feels like a betrayal of my geek girl sisterhood but I need the money. Luckily I can always blog/ tweet about it later, haha.

Excellent article!

By: Erik

Erik — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 19:43:29 +0000

Nice work Josie.

By: Josie

Josie — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 17:38:21 +0000

In reply to I.N.. Ha, I love that my Farscape problem struck a chord with you! I missed the original run, too. My dad borrowed the dvd set from a friend once upon a time & I spent my entire winter break binging on them. Amazing show, I totally agree with all your points! I also find it weird to have all the strong female characters & yet all these persisting problems. That one I can't quite wrap my head around yet... I might have to get my google-fu on & see if I can find other bloggers who've tackled it. Thanks for your comment!

By: Josie

Josie — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 17:35:35 +0000

In reply to TC.

Thanks! Sadly (although admittedly the smart thing to do), Comikaze made me take the chain off. =( The teeth are awfully knurly, it’s a real Homelite chainsaw just like in the film, I probably would’ve hurt myself. ^_^ Thanks so much for your comment! I’m glad you got a kick out of the article. Yes, for whatever reason, the stripper thing does get more attention. I’m not sure if that’s because it makes me seem more available, or because it’d be an awesome feather in the cap, or what. But it does consistently seem to work that way.

Just saw the Desolation of Smaug, by the way. Dick move to end it like that, but it was awesome seeing it brought to life. Tolkien’s books (along with Dune) were like religious texts in my house growing up!

By: TC

TC — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 13:18:17 +0000

Great looking Ash, and you’ve removed the chain from the saw -safety first! Guys, when they find that you’re a stripper, try for your attention more than they do typically? Guys are fucking strange, and surely sometimes live in a fantasy world. I’m a guy, btw, so, I can relate to the fantasy world, but I would prefer something a bit more Tolkien-esque…

By: justafoxhound

justafoxhound — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 16:52:17 +0000

Great article. I don’t know if it’s more of a US thing to be bombarded with ‘fake geek/gamer girl’ comments- I haven’t received any myself (yet?). But it irks me no end when males, in the club and out, sit wide eyed for a moment after hearing you were playing Skyrim earlier and then gush, “you’re a girl that plays games? That’s so cool!” Don’t let them know you write fanfiction too, they might just jizz in their pants.

Useful in the club though for sure- I’ve noticed I can just be myself most of the time too and they eat it up.