When I was younger geek seemed to be a word that was used to describe people with an extreme interest in anything (ex. soccer geek)...
but now it seems that definition has been applied to guys who like computers.. emphasis on _guys_..
It seems that if a girl has an interest in computers, she's singled out as a _geek girl_
girls don't seem to be included in the new definition of geek...
For a while I had a problem with this.. being a member of the female population with a major interest in computer engineering I felt a little put off...
The last thing I wanted was feel excluded from my feild of interest because of my gender... I didn't want to be singled out either..
So I decided to forget about the whole thing until I realized that there was no good reason for it...
Now that I've gotten passed the initial batch of "girls can't be geeks" guys and I've met some really cool people, male and female, who don't have these prejudices and now I get to work on some neat stuff.
but what about geek girls? Hey taco don't you think that if you're going to post articles(sic) from playboy that maybe you should do a little something for us? I bet you don't realize how many of us actually read/.
Watch out you never know, you might find yourself competing against a site that doesn't market itself to the lowest common denominator.
Listen up, There are a lot of female gamers out there. My friends and I are living proof. Of course I generally prefer N64 or Dreamcast to "computer" games, but I have never played a fighting game where I've lost (against a male) and my friends who are female are pretty damned good too. And don't get me started on "most chiks aren't violent killing types." Most girls I know are vicious, fighting in games and in real life. NOT to say that we are all mean and evil, but don't give me this shit about there being an extreme lack of female gamers and all females are soft gentle types, just because i don't sit around wasting my day on quake and tomb raider (sorry, not into the laura croft thing;) doesn't mean i'm not (or my friends aren't) into other cool games like soul calibre, power stone, smash brothers etc. I'm definitely not going to limit myself to only fighting games though, I mean look at trick style, F-zero or even older games like metroid and legend of zelda. It's all good. But you know what? I don't want to play games that are solely marketed to males. I figure, if they don't want to waste the time to market to people like me or my friends, then I sure as hell am not going to waste my time on their game (unless of course its pirated:). I like action/fighting games but I also like some puzzle games and I AM NOT ashamed to admit that, because like most people, I have eclectic tastes when it comes to video games. PLease reconsider your view. There is a female gamer market out there and they want the same things in games as most guys, they just aren't encouraged. The first company to realize that there are girls out there who want to play are likely to make a lot of money, because I am sure as hell sick of seeing those damned ads with girls buying their boyfriends consoles. Oh and, I've worked in the "computer industry" too. When I worked as a programmer most of my department was female and now I'm back in school finishing up a degree where I'm seeing a lot of girls in math/comp sci. Think about that.
I understand the outrage over the Village Voice article..
Regardless of your race or social status, you can be opressed and abused. I remember kids from high school who hung out with the jocks and were considered jocks by most but who felt sick about it all the time...
They didn't know how to get away from the jocks.. they were afraid of the people who were supposedly their friends. They were afraid of the harassment they would have to endure if they tried to get away (and i truly believe in these cases it would have been worse then what the geeks had to endure). But, believe it or not.. I've seen geeks do the same things to their friends. I've seen people who have been trapped by their geek friends who constantly endure a barrage of abuse because they don't love star wars (or for some reason equally stupid).
I've known Geeks who have belittled me for being female.. I've known Geeks who have gone out of their way to trash my projects so they could get a slightly higher mark...
Worst of all.... I've known Geeks who acted like jocks, showed the social awareness of a jock and after being an asshole to everyone, would then go on to tell us al that we were stupid (or maybe even call us ugly) for not giving in to their childish demands.
They would treat people (who weren't jocks or geeks) like they were complete morons because they hadn't heard of *Linux*... The Geeks at my school made fun of people too...
Now, I know that a lot of geeks are hurt and treated badly.. but I really believe that it's more of an individual thing..
I'm from Canada.. and every school in my city has its own personality... I was always into "Geeky" things, as long as I can remember... but I faced opression on both sides. I wasn't geeky enough for the geeks and I did NOT want to hang out with the jocks...
But Geeks had some sort of elevated status at my school... they believed that because they had been accepted by this unbelievably clique-ish group of geeks that they were somehow the most intelligent people on the face of the planet... even the jocks sort of looked up to them in some sort of twisted way...
I hated my situation and wanted to make it better.. instead of kiiling them all I sat down and made a plan to my school a better place.. I made it possible for those who had no friends, who had no group to be my friend...
the jocks didn't like me, the geeks didn't like me... but that was ok.. because there were other people out there who needed friends. people who were sensitive and treated badly by both sides...
ok well, anyway.. my point is.. opression can be felt by anyone.. and the oppression can be cause by anyone.. we've all been the oppressor or the oppressee at some point..
We all need to take a good look at our situations if we don't like it and then make an effort to change it.. I was the most sensitive, self consious child.. I would cry before school everyday because i was afraid.. but then I learned to reach out and help and it made me feel a lot better...
Slashdot Mirror
I've always preferred the term nerd myself...
:)
Hello, ever hear of lady Ada Lovelace?
When I was younger geek seemed to be a word that was used to describe people with an extreme interest in anything (ex. soccer geek)...
but now it seems that definition has been applied to guys who like computers.. emphasis on _guys_..
It seems that if a girl has an interest in computers, she's singled out as a _geek girl_
girls don't seem to be included in the new definition of geek...
For a while I had a problem with this.. being a member of the female population with a major interest in computer engineering I felt a little put off...
The last thing I wanted was feel excluded from my feild of interest because of my gender... I didn't want to be singled out either..
So I decided to forget about the whole thing until I realized that there was no good reason for it...
Now that I've gotten passed the initial batch of "girls can't be geeks" guys and I've met some really cool people, male and female, who don't have these prejudices and now I get to work on some neat stuff.
Right on! Stick it to the MAN!
I don't care about being moderated down.
/.
but what about geek girls? Hey taco don't you think that if you're going to post articles(sic) from playboy that maybe you should do a little something for us? I bet you don't realize how many of us actually read
Watch out you never know, you might find yourself competing against a site that doesn't market itself to the lowest common denominator.
I'm guilty.
Listen up, There are a lot of female gamers out there. My friends and I are living proof. Of course I generally prefer N64 or Dreamcast to "computer" games, but I have never played a fighting game where I've lost (against a male) and my friends who are female are pretty damned good too. And don't get me started on "most chiks aren't violent killing types." Most girls I know are vicious, fighting in games and in real life. NOT to say that we are all mean and evil, but don't give me this shit about there being an extreme lack of female gamers and all females are soft gentle types, just because i don't sit around wasting my day on quake and tomb raider (sorry, not into the laura croft thing ;) doesn't mean i'm not (or my friends aren't) into other cool games like soul calibre, power stone, smash brothers etc. I'm definitely not going to limit myself to only fighting games though, I mean look at trick style, F-zero or even older games like metroid and legend of zelda. It's all good. But you know what? I don't want to play games that are solely marketed to males. I figure, if they don't want to waste the time to market to people like me or my friends, then I sure as hell am not going to waste my time on their game (unless of course its pirated :). I like action/fighting games but I also like some puzzle games and I AM NOT ashamed to admit that, because like most people, I have eclectic tastes when it comes to video games. PLease reconsider your view. There is a female gamer market out there and they want the same things in games as most guys, they just aren't encouraged. The first company to realize that there are girls out there who want to play are likely to make a lot of money, because I am sure as hell sick of seeing those damned ads with girls buying their boyfriends consoles. Oh and, I've worked in the "computer industry" too. When I worked as a programmer most of my department was female and now I'm back in school finishing up a degree where I'm seeing a lot of girls in math/comp sci. Think about that.
I understand the outrage over the Village Voice article..
Regardless of your race or social status, you can be opressed and abused.
I remember kids from high school who hung out with the jocks and were considered jocks by most but who felt sick about it all the time...
They didn't know how to get away from the jocks.. they were afraid of the people who were supposedly their friends. They were afraid of the harassment they would have to endure if they tried to get away (and i truly believe in these cases it would have been worse then what the geeks had to endure). But, believe it or not.. I've seen geeks do the same things to their friends. I've seen people who have been trapped by their geek friends who constantly endure a barrage of abuse because they don't love star wars (or for some reason equally stupid).
I've known Geeks who have belittled me for being female.. I've known Geeks who have gone out of their way to trash my projects so they could get a slightly higher mark...
Worst of all.... I've known Geeks who acted like jocks, showed the social awareness of a jock and after being an asshole to everyone, would then go on to tell us al that we were stupid (or maybe even call us ugly) for not giving in to their childish demands.
They would treat people (who weren't jocks or geeks) like they were complete morons because they hadn't heard of *Linux*... The Geeks at my school made fun of people too...
Now, I know that a lot of geeks are hurt and treated badly.. but I really believe that it's more of an individual thing..
I'm from Canada.. and every school in my city has its own personality... I was always into "Geeky" things, as long as I can remember... but I faced opression on both sides. I wasn't geeky enough for the geeks and I did NOT want to hang out with the jocks...
But Geeks had some sort of elevated status at my school... they believed that because they had been accepted by this unbelievably clique-ish group of geeks that they were somehow the most intelligent people on the face of the planet... even the jocks sort of looked up to them in some sort of twisted way...
I hated my situation and wanted to make it better.. instead of kiiling them all I sat down and made a plan to my school a better place..
I made it possible for those who had no friends, who had no group to be my friend...
the jocks didn't like me, the geeks didn't like me... but that was ok.. because there were other people out there who needed friends. people who were sensitive and treated badly by both sides...
ok well, anyway.. my point is.. opression can be felt by anyone.. and the oppression can be cause by anyone.. we've all been the oppressor or the oppressee at some point..
We all need to take a good look at our situations if we don't like it and then make an effort to change it.. I was the most sensitive, self consious child.. I would cry before school everyday because i was afraid.. but then I learned to reach out and help and it made me feel a lot better...
much better then feeling self pity.