Wolf Gnards
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Where have all the Good Geeks Gone: Geek and Gamer Girls
Geek and Gamer Girls Song - Watch more Funny Videos
It’s interesting that the Geek and Gamer Girls song by Team Unicorn has come under fire a little bit by the geek population at large, especially genuine geek girls. The general gist of it being that these aren’t real geek girls, this isn’t a real celebration of being a geek girl, and it is little more than pandering to male adolescent fantasies (something that our own Geek Love section is accused of frequently). PS... For all my male pandering, I would like to point out that Wolf Gnard's Geek Love is not just about pretty pictures, but picking apart our obsession with said pretty pictures.
Is the Geek and Gamer Girls song Geexploration?
Is this something that's designed to appeal to geeks or a way to make geeks appeal to a general public? Take this picture of twin slave Leias kissing at ComicCon that has been working its way across every red blooded computer screen. The problem is they don’t need to be a Princess Leia kissing another Princess Leia to be hot. They could just be hot lesbians and that would be just as hot. I’m not sure if the gold bikinis actually makes this a sexier picture. However, if you look at this sexy lady Spock, there’s definitely something that’s more appealing about her because of Spock. What do we think about her? Perhaps, she’d understand my pain? Or, maybe, I just like Spock way too much. I don't know why I want to give Spockette more cred than the Leias, I think there's something more authentic about her. Perhaps, the kissing Leias say more about the nature of ComicCon—no longer a celebration of geekdom, but a way to mass market geeks to make a dollar. Can the same be said for Team Unicorn?
Detractors will say these are just hot chicks playing dress up. They say the same thing about Olivia Munn; that at the end of the day, she’s an actress that someone geekier is feeding lines to. Geek credentials often come down to memorizing mass amounts of raw Sci-fi data, and quite frankly I always think there’s more to being a geek than an encyclopedic knowledge of Dr. Who or how good you get your 'tendo on.
Follow up:
Who is Team Unicorn?
It's unfair to say that Team Unicorn doesn't represent geek girls because of their looks, we have to let their actual geek credentials stand for themselves. Michele Boyd has a degree in Neurobiology, which definitely makes her smarter than me. Is she geekier than myself? That’s left to be seen, but she’s without a doubt smarter than me. The geekiest thing Clare Grant has ever done is Seth Green (she’s married to him). Besides that she’s a model and actress, which means that she may or may not be soulless. Milynn Sarley was in Street Fighter High: The Musical and hosts Electronic Arts TV, however, these are more or less simply parts she plays. Rileah Vanderbilt is married to Adam Green (director of the Hatchet movies and no relation to Seth), which maybe qualifies you for something… maybe? However, a lot of people have come out of the woodwork saying that they all are maybe, sorta, okay at playing video games. At the very least, Team Unicorn has played Halo, which is more than I can say for any girl I've ever dated. Give them some cred.
But are these geek girls or are they just getting plugs for their far geekier husbands?
Like I said earlier being a geek needs to be about more than just trivia. There is something to be said of the geek experience, and that something is being an outcast. It's the classic question, what came first: the chicken or the egg? The geek or the fandom? Was I an outcast because I played D&D or was I playing D&D because I was an outcast. And the problem is that no matter how you dress them up, no matter how many Xbox achievements they unlock, a hot chick can never really be an outcast. And this is where a million girls come out and say, “I'm hot, I'm a geek, and I was an outcast.” But it's just not the same. It's the difference of being ridiculed by the captain of the football team because you're strange, or because he secretly wants to date you. Perhaps, the beautiful geek girl does feel lonely, and finds comfort in geeky things, but they feel it in very different ways. Do hot chicks feel pain, do hot chicks feel joy, do hot chicks dream electric sheep? The world may never know. Although, in some ways being insanely good looking sounds a lot like being autistic because you don't have a proper frame of references for feeling genuine emotions, and if being hot is like being autistic, don't they say being autistic is like being a geek?
If I've offended any beautiful geeky girls out there, I'm confident that you won't bee too shaken up. I know you'll rest peaceful tonight because you possess the profound knowledge that you are, in fact, beautiful and consequently loved and desired, and that's what truly separates you from a real geek.
At least, they’re saying girls that are geeks can have sex appeal. The guys in the video are repulsive (except, of course, for Stan “The Man” Lee). Can't we dispel the myth that all fanboys are virgin losers? As a guy, I get that the message of Geek and Gamer Girls is that geek girls can get dates, and geek guys will die alone. Something for all of us to look forward to.
| Print article | This entry was posted by Wolfie G. Nards on 09/17/10 at 09:50:15 pm . Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. |
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09/18/10 @ 12:00:07 am
You've got a minor contradiction (or at least it appears). Your supposition is that being a geek is to be sexually undesirable, which is why pretty girls can't truly be geeks because they're attractive to a lot of people, and can't truly be outcasts. That said, your "myth that all fanboys are virgin losers" has to, in fact, be true for the same reason.
That said, I'm a married man, so...well...yeah.
Of course, if the rules for the sexes are different (and, well, they are), then perhaps you're right.
Just pointing out a potential chink in the armor :-)
09/18/10 @ 06:39:18 am
Prettiness isn't a prerequisite for procreation (I felt like Stan Lee with that sentence). Uglies bump uglies with uglies creating little uglies. This is the ugly circle of life.
And I too am married to a beautiful and somewhat geeky woman, so there are exceptions.
09/18/10 @ 09:24:17 am
I was just making the comment that if pretty girls can't be geeks (simply by virtue of being attractive), then all geeks have to be unattractive. Doesn't necessarily make the "fanboys are virgin losers" 100% true, but it definitely doesn't exactly dispell the myth, either.
09/18/10 @ 02:21:07 pm
What about the 'ugly duckling' geeks? Is the experience of being an outcast for all the typical reasons negated by growing out of that phase? I'm dating a girl who has 10x my geek cred (and believe me, she's very geeky) who is also pretty, but she definitely went through a social pariah phase.
09/19/10 @ 11:04:56 am
Interesting commentary. My wife is hot, and she's a geek. She plays Guild Wars obsessively, as well as DDO and LOTRo and a few others she's dabbled in. She writes about MMOs for a living. And she's a browncoat and a Monty Python fan. Even though she's hot (and was in high school), she was pretty much a loaner in high school.
Also: she really enjoyed this video (especially the Browncoats shoutout). I don't think it's necessary for these girls to be geeks to be doing the video - I think you're correct: they're more eye-candy for us guys.
I'm just disappointed they didn't use Felicia Day in the video at all. She's definitely a hot geek girl.
09/20/10 @ 07:24:50 am
I second the ugly duckling thing. I grew up with oversized glasses and braces. Add to that how shy I was and no boy looked at me and the only girls who talked to me were other social pariahs. How I look now doesn't invalidate any of that. I know guys who went through similar situations, so really it applies to both sexes.. attractiveness has nothing to do with geek status.
10/03/10 @ 05:05:18 pm
It's not just the ugly duckling thing, though that is definately true. Your comment that "It's the difference of being ridiculed by the captain of the football team because you're strange, or because he secretly wants to date you" really just shows how little you know about the whole female adolescent experience (which is to be expected, I suppose).
Guys can be awful, sure, but it's other girls that are the really vicious ones. You can be pretty or downright hot, but the day it comes out that you play D&D or know a teensy bit too much about Star Wars, say goodbye to your social life, hello to merciless ridicule.
And to be fair -- many of the (incredibly) geeky guys I know have proceeded to hook up with pretty damn geeky girls (and pretty ones too), so maybe we can kill two myths with one stone. Though I'll bet that telling an attractive girl that she can't be a real geek wouldn't have gotten them far.
10/07/10 @ 09:09:35 am
My issue with this whole fascination with geeks and gamer girls is that men seem to assume that we exist for them.
While yes, I make a pretty good living off having an awesome rack, I'm not into comic book, video games and other nerddom to impress some man. I like it because that's what appeals to me.
I know a stripper that has Zombie Killer tatt'd on her thighs because she's that much of a Resident Evil fan. Porn Star Mika Tan is well known for being somewhat of an expert on comic book and graphic novels and Penthouse Pet Ryan Keely loves anime and manga. Those women look a hell of a lot better than the chicks dancing around in that video.
So yes attractive geeks are here , but not for your boner.
11/29/10 @ 10:16:50 pm
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11/29/10 @ 11:57:46 pm
Hai dude I have seen your blog. It looks awesome and I had never seen blog like your's.I feel great to see your blog. And I to have a blog related your blog can you visit and comment on my blog.Thank you
03/27/11 @ 11:47:06 pm
I dont think the issue is if they're real geeks or not
I think they are real geeks who RP, read/watch scifi etc and happen to be hot chicks at the same time
point is though, just cos they are hot geeks doesnt mean they'll date geek guys. they'll probably still date the head of the football team
it isnt geek and gamer girls that dont exist, it's hot chicks that are attracted to geek guys that dont exist
06/06/11 @ 11:55:21 am
I think the real question is are women jumping on the geek girl bandwagon because it's a new path to more hits on websites, followers and more money? People change over the years to fit the times or situation. Right now it's "cool" to be a geek so women who look like models are using that to get more money than if they didn't play that card. Be honest, what woman wouldn't do that if she could get even $10,000 more?
12/15/11 @ 06:53:48 am
I'm a 'classic' geek girl, in that most people don't talk to me/beat me up, but I do have some close friends with similar interests. Oh, and I score 41 on that autism test you had on there..... :/