Why the “Nerd Girl” needs to die
I hate the term “gamer girl”. I hate “nerd girl”, “geek chick”, “nerdette” or any combo of nerd-related word plus term used to describe women. And if you call yourself any of these things, well, I probably don’t like you much either. I play video games, and I don’t have a penis. These things have nothing to do with each other. There are many reasons I hate any of the “nerd girl” stereotypes. Especially the “hot nerd girl” ones. Because yes, I like being boiled down to the fact that I have tits and read comic books. Oh boy, I sure do love that.
Come on, people. Half the population is female. There’s no reason anymore to be shocked that a girl likes anime or reads comics or plays video games. None whatsofuckingever. Every comic shop I’ve been to had at least one, if not multiple women, on staff. This was true everywhere, from Vegas to Portsmouth, Ohio, to NYC, and everywhere inbetween. 47% of people who play video games are women. As far as anime goes, well, have you seen Free!?
There are women that have nerdy hobbies. There are women that like sports, women that like guns, women that like monster trucks. There are women that like baking, women that like to knit, women that like chick flicks. Never have I seen an instance of a woman being hardcore into like… oh… WWE, and guys being all OMG A GIRL OH GOD YES MARRY ME. (not saying it hasn’t happened, because it probably has, but still) I don’t know why we’re still making a big deal out of girls with nerdy hobbies. Not all women are super loud and vocal about their hobbies, (I’m probably one of the bigger weaboos you’ll ever meet, have hundreds of comics, and went to school to make video games, but you won’t know that just from a brief meeting with me. Power levels, man, you gotta keep that shit under wraps.) and even if they are, many of them don’t appreciate you making a big deal over what they’re into. I used to fly planes. I drink whiskeys and dark beers and have smoked fancy hand rolled cigars. I like my steak rare. I’ve got far “manlier” hobbies than what my nerdy ones are, yet it’s only the nerdy ones where fanfare occurs.
And ladies who love to perpetuate this NERD GIRLS ARE LIKE MAGICAL UNICORNS, THEY’RE SO RARE by constantly announcing that they are female and like such and such thing aren’t helping. It really makes you look like an attention whore focusing on an already seen as awkward group of people. ‘Tee hee, I love Call of Duty and WoW and Street Fighter. I love reading Batman. Don’t hit on me, silly boys! #nerdgirl’ needs to fucking stop. Seriously. For the benefit of all of us. Shit like that caused the rise of the “fake nerd girl”, and look at where that’s gotten us as a gender. (Hint, it’s a whole lot of CLEARLY YOU’RE NOT A REAL “FAN” from quite a few very vocal men, several “nerd” dating sites, and a whole slew of stupid sexist problems that we certainly don’t need.)
I’ve gotten into many fights with the owner of a site I once wrote for about how I didn’t like that he represented the staff as loving hot nerd girls. I get it, an attractive woman that also shared the same interests as he does is a nice thing to him. That’s nice for anyone looking for potential relationships. It’s nice to meet someone you find attractive and have quite a bit in common with. But that’s a personal thing. Not a THE STAFF LOVES NERDY CHICKS LOLOLOL ALL I NEED IN LIFE IS A GIRL THAT GAMES. Nah. Fuck that. And it annoyed the ever loving piss out of me when he would share things on our FB page that made the staff seem like it was comprised of 13 year old boys who just wanted a vagina and a controller. He actually said “what, do you not want guys like me to put girls like you on a pedestal?” No I do not. Not over my interests. If I cured cancer, then sure, pedestal me. Don’t put me on a pedestal because I have a lot of hours in Skyrim or I can argue why Irredeemable was one of the best comics I’ve read in a long time. That’s like me putting a guy on a pedestal because he can knit. That’s nice, and that’s something we’d have in common, but I’m not gonna make a big deal out of that. It’s not that huge. Nice, but nothing to throw a parade over. (Unless the guy can knit a blanket in under an hour. Might throw a parade for sheer knits-per-hour speed.)
A friend told me about his girlfriend, and how shocked she was that not only did he own a lot of comic books, but he didn’t make a big deal out of it when she told him she liked to read them too. He said “if that’s what you’re into, you’re welcome to borrow any of these, if not, that’s cool too. Just don’t rip them up. Please.” And I think that’s really what a lot of us who are “nerd girls” really want. Acceptance for what we’re into. I don’t need to be put down for my hobbies. And I sure as hell don’t need to be praised for them. (Again, unless my hobbies are curing diseases and fighting crime. Then I want my birthday to be a federal holiday.)
In short: men, lots of women have nerdy hobbies. They aren’t unicorns, and if you don’t treat them like ‘special snowflakes’ just because they like what you like and happen to be of the opposite gender, you’ll probably be able to be pretty good friends with a lot of them. Instead of putting them on a pedestal above others, treat them like humans with similar interests, and you’ll meet a lot of cool people that way. Women: you aren’t special for “being a nerd”. It’s cool to have your hobbies and your interests. Don’t use that as an excuse to be an attention whore. You’re only making a entire gender look bad by doing so.
