Apologies for the short hiatus, but I was busy turning 23, and drinking copiously to help me deal with it.
I’m going to do a blog on the awesome and wonderful geeky presents I got, mostly just to make people jealous, and also, to show off how much I am loved.
Modest.
Onwards. So, the bad news is, I am quitting my blog on geekery, because it has come to my attention that I am a girl, and I shouldn’t even like comics! I’m so stupid! I’ve wasted so much time, effort, money and love on building my collection of comic books, graphic novels, figurines and other collectibles, when I should have been buying shoes that I can’t walk in, frilly pink dresses and a whole spectrum of mascara shades.
You may have caught on by now, that I am being sarcastic, but this is in fact the view of the charming Tony Harris; comic artist and complete ass.
Harris recently went off on a nice little rant on his Facebook page, essentially accusing any girl with an interest in comic books, cosplay or video games as manufacturing these ‘fake’ interests (and her entire personality around it) in order to attract the attention of the male ‘geek’ population. He seems to particularly despise when women show their love of these mediums by dressing up as popular characters.
“And here it is, THE REASON WHY ALL THAT, sickens us: BECAUSE YOU DONT KNOW SH*T ABOUT COMICS, BEYOND WHATEVER GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH YOU DID TO GET REF ON THE MOST MAINSTREAM CHARACTER WITH THE MOST REVEALING COSTUME EVER. And also, if ANY of these guys that you hang on tried to talk to you out of that Con? You wouldnt give them the f**king time of day. Shut up you damned liar, no you would not. Lying, Liar Face. Yer not Comics.”
Right.
I apologize sincerely for my original statement – it’s not that he doesn’t think girls should be into comics and video games and the cosplay that often results from an interest in such, no! He just doesn’t think good looking girls could possibly have a real interest.
Well, that’s okay then.
Scruffy Rebel as Jaina Solo.
(Side note: this is Victoria Schmidt, aka, Scruffy Rebel. I shall call her Exhibit A. She is a beautiful woman, a genuine nerd, and a prolific cosplayer. Yes, okay, she does a few Star Wars outfits that are overtly sexual in nature – Princess Leia in the gold bikini is hard to truly emulate without, well, the gold bikini – but I’ve shown her here in one of the outfits with which she is most associated. A bright orange jumpsuit, not exactly demanding the sexual attentions of every man in the universe, huh? And, as I get to my point – not the most mainstream female Star Wars character, not by a long shot.)
Unfortunately, these ‘fake’ girls do exist. In the minority. I, for one, am sick of the constant debate on whether or not girls can be real nerds. I thought I would, personally, end it, right here and now.
What is the matter with you, men?! Seriously? There are plenty of glorious, girly geeks out there now, it’s 2012 – gaming, comics and cons are so much more accessible to the female sex (teehee) than they have ever been in the past, so, yeah, we are going to grow in numbers.
I couldn’t do a whole blog on the wonders and growth of girl geek-dom without including Felicia Day, at least once.
And, okay, there are some girls who aren’t into comics and games for real, but they still like to cosplay. ONLY SOME. That’s an important point. So what? These hot, creative women want to dress up as your favourite character, and stroll around in public? I don’t see your problem, I truly do not. Harris accuses these women on preying on geeky guys (apparently all of whom are “unconfident” virgins…so, no geek got out of his rant unscathed), but I don’t think this is the case at all. Cosplay is a labour of love, from researching every detail of the character, to spending hours perfecting the costume.
There are easier ways to get men, just sayin’.
I’ll conclude with a warning. Geeks and nerds – we have a bad rap. We are notoriously protective of our characters, games and culture. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be, but we’re putting other people off, and we’re making ourselves look bad.
SHARE. Don’t be bitter that someone else has the same interests as you – enjoy the fact you have someone to talk to/argue with (politely)/play with.
And be secretly, be quietly smug in the knowledge that you know more about whatever it is than they ever will.
S.
refugeekNI 