gamer or geek?

[ororo]

I'm not sure how many of you have been following the fallout from Joe Peacock's sexist diatribe about a class of women I'm not even sure exists. I've been to conventions, large and small, including DragonCon, and I have yet to come across a cosplaying woman out to tease the poor pathetic little nerdboys.

A friend of mine, in a discussion on Facebook, wondered where the hell this guy got off claiming to speak for geekdom. When it comes to geek cred, Peacock gets totally pwned by the wonderfuly erudite John Scalzi and Scalzi is still humble enough to say HE doesn't speak for geekdom.

Because I seem to be indulging in masochism today, I also read, Peacock's response and had to laugh.

You see, he doesn't think gamers are geeks. Too mainstream, since so many mainstream people play them.

I spit in his general direction, and if I could fart on command, I'd do that too. I'm with Scalzi here. If you want to claim the geek label, by all means claim it. If you'd rather call gaming your hobby, do that too.

My sweetie and I were interviewed by a guy who was looking for people to add to his Pathfinder group. He spent the first twenty minutes of our coffee date saying how normal he was. My sweetie and I were in jeans and t-shirts, no cat ears, no costumes. We are a little noticeable because a)he's almost a foot taller than I am b)he's Asian, I'm Caucasian c)we're a few years apart in age (11). Why did he have to spend that time telling us?

Things I think about when I should be doing homework.

Comments

[mythochromos]

I heart Scalzi so much.

I don't get what being mainstream has to do with not being geeky. Unless someone is trying to prove zirself not geeky. ;P

[sugar_cookie]

I didn't read the stuff, but I don't think gaming makes you geeky anymore either.

[the_escapist]

It sort of depends, I think. I don't think someone is geeky by association just because they like video games. It's like Scalzi said, it's about your passion for it. I'm generally of the opinion that someone can be geeky about pretty much anything. :)

[ororo]

I'm generally of the opinion that someone can be geeky about pretty much anything

I agree with you, but in my experience there are some passions that still automatically label you as a geek/nerd/freak however you want to word it.

I like murder mysteries and cop dramas, I get called a fan, addict, zealot.

I play Dungeons and Dragons, I get called a geek. I used to shy away from the label, but I don't anymore. Of course I care a lot less about what people think of me than I did when I first started playing.

[the_escapist]

He seems to have entirely missed the point that, no matter what his argument is, it isn't his place to decide. How tedious.