After years of being a quiet, shy, and somewhat sheltered girl I learned the hard way how valuable it is to just be yourself in life and not care what others think. I come from a family of women who were taught to understand their strength as women, but who all chose to follow the man in their life’s lead. I grew up with my brother, we’re 13 months apart, and because of that I basically was his shadow. I strived to do all of the same things he did; play street hockey with the boys in the neighborhood, hate the color pink (I still do to this day), play video games, and so on and so forth. One of the greatest things that I can take from my childhood was that my experiences growing up in my family (and with my brother especially) allowed me to become a unique and headstrong individual. Most importantly is that I have not fallen into the exact same footsteps of the women in my family; I am making my way in life as an independent woman. Now that’s not to say that I don’t have a very important man in my life, but it does mean that I will not rule my life simply by what he does with his.
One of the benefits of being a strong minded person is that it has also caused me to become quite outspoken about my passions in life. For example, my writing for this blog and participating in the podcast. I am not ashamed of my fandom or my geek tendencies as they are what I believe makes me stand out as an individual. Unfortunately being a woman who is passionate about the video game industry brings with it a lot of stigma; harassment, lack of job availability, and disdain from men who are also passionate about the industry. But, you’ve heard us talk all about that. What we talk about less often is the stigma behind being someone who is a gamer/geek/nerd in general (female or not).
One of the lessons I have learned from working my job at the bank is that there are still a large number of people who look down on those who celebrate their passions through fandom such as cosplay, video games, table top gaming, movies, TV shows, etc. Discussing my trips to comic con, purchases I made, and overall how I live out my passions brings up expressions from co-workers that are not exactly what I would call supportive. When discussing how many people were at C2E2 this past year, one of my co-workers went so far as to laugh and claim that she didn’t realize so many people still lived in their parent’s basements. I was actually pretty shocked to hear someone say that; one because it was so ignorant and two because she was saying it to my face as someone who was in attendance of the event. Another of my co-workers is very passionate about table top gaming and whenever we have a chance to talk we discuss our mutual love of “geeky” things such as Doctor Who, Star Wars, and gaming. While I have never received any flak for my passions, this coworker has been harassed because of his passions by other people we work with.
This makes me sad for a number of reasons. Of course the biggest reason being that no one should endure any sort of abuse because of something they love, but another reason is because as a woman loving these things is quite the double-edged sword. Women aren’t allowed to count as “real” geeks/gamers/nerds within the industry itself, but on top of that they are immersing themselves in a culture that some people consider to be childish making them less of a real person than the general populace that does not openly participate in the geek culture. A video that has been making it’s way around the internet inspired this post, as it shows women who enjoy their fandom expressing their feelings about being shut down by an community they love.
One of the women/girls featured that stuck out the most for me was the young girl with a sign that asks “Why are you surprised I want to be an Astronaut when I grow up?” Do we really live in a world that still doesn’t believe that women can be a part of the scientific community just as much as men can? Well the obvious answer is yes, this is an unfortunate and common belief among too many people who believe that women are not as physically capable as men are, thus not able to become Astronauts. This is just another reason why our work is so important. Not only is our fight for gender equality affecting the people in the video game industry, but we are also fighting for women/girls who want to be a part of the larger “geek” community.
While many people will put the video down and point out flaws in our female logic, it makes a point that still needs to be made: women are underrepresented in the “geek/nerd” community and are still being consistently put down for expressing their love in said industries. Ladies, let your geek flags fly and do not back down. I carry a Star Wars purse, a Batman business card holder, and a Stormtrooper phone case with absolutely no regret. Don’t let others sentiments and judgement keep you from being the strong, geeky woman that you are.
