Disclaimer:
This is a pet peeve post, and I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for it. I'm not being sexist because the problem happens to be women, so let's get that idea out of the running right away. Quite a lot of people are not going to agree with me on this matter, and I welcome opinions on the subject on either side, just not combative ones. Thank you.
I'm really over fake nerds. Especially fake nerd girls. I understand that a lot of us (myself included), have told people we like things we knew nothing about to fit in. I get that, but when a girl puts on glasses, wears a Star Wars t-shirt, takes pictures of herself in sexy poses, and tags it "lol nerd", it boils my blood.
A lot of us women have earned our title of "nerd", and wear it with pride. We've put in our time of all-night D&D sessions, we've read comic books our entire lives, watched Indiana Jones 1-3 (4 is just garbage) on loop, and just because a lot of us happen to be pretty, the appropriation of the "fake nerd girl", makes us labeled as such. So that's why I hate fake nerd girls.
Pandering to a subset of people and pretending to be one is just annoying. It's like high school. We're now in our 20's, some in our 30's, and there are still women who act like this. Why do you want attention that makes people perceive you're someone you're not, nor ever will be?
I'm sure many people on SG looked at my last set and believed I was being a fake nerd with my Princess Leia hoodie. I wear that hoodie every day when it's cold. It's part of me. I'm not faking this. I have an obsession with Storm Troopers, and hope to get a costume to join the 501st (even though I'm a little short to be a Storm Trooper...). I've been trying to get passes for Comic Con for years, and I was lucky enough to go this year. I worked at a costume shop and dressed as a different comic/movie character every day. I paid someone hundreds of dollars to make me a costume of Chell from Portal. Not to mention my numerous "nerd" tattoos. And I lose cred because I don't look like a basement dweller (anymore)?
Do you know what it's like to go into a comic shop and have everyone in there roll their eyes when you're looking through the stacks? I hear whispers of, "I bet she's never read a comic in her life!" all the time. I assume it's because I'm a functioning member of society, and I have a rather clean appearance, I cannot possibly be a nerd.
My Facebook feed is loaded with my male friends posting pictures of a "hot" girl in plastic-framed glasses in a Batman tee with text about her being a nerd girl. $10 says that girl bought that shirt at hot topic or something and is trying to make money off a cam site (not that there's anything wrong with that job), so she's dressing to her audience.
I came across this blog post that pretty much sums up my hatred for this fad. And another great article to read.
And THIS:
the problem isn't TRUE geek girls. [...] No, the problem are the faux geek girls, who parade around in their scandalous token nerd-bedecked undies in order to bask in the attention of the hapless males who flock to them like socially maladjusted bees to a particularly attention-seeking flower.
is my point. I hate it.
from another:
What I'm talking about is the girls who have no interest or history in gaming taking nearly naked photos of themselves with game controllers draped all over their body just to play at being a "model." I get sick of wannabes who couldn't make it as car show eye candy slapping on a Batman shirt and strutting around comic book conventions instead.
I have no problem being called a "booth babe" when I'm actually working at a booth (although, I can honestly tell you, I'm not really into the no-clothing type of cosplay), but I feel like credit is needed where credit is due.
I'm a nerd. I love being a nerd, and fake nerd girls are ruining it for me.
(true nerdy smile on my face due to awesomeness of Han Solo in carbonite)
(fake nerd girl... [not dissing Big Bang Theory fans here])
x0x0,
Sid
..... I shit you not, a chick said that to me once.... I wanted to bash her face in.