I've never written a post about my opinion on the "fake" geek before so I felt like today was an appropriate time given the earlier controversy. Not that this isn't a reoccurring topic (sadly). Every time an article or an ignorant comment surfaces online I feel like pulling out my hair and screaming "WHY?!" Do the people who say these outlandish things really have enough spare time to be concerned with what others are doing? If they do, I can't say I envy them. They may argue that they're trying to protect what they love from being ruined by outsiders, but wouldn't someone who claims to love something be excited to share it with a new audience? I mean logically speaking, the more people that spend their money in our industry (no matter what their motivation might be), means more money gets invested in our industry. I like to see my favorite authors and artists become popular and receive the praise and royalties they deserve for their creations. I'm completely ignoring the gender issue that usually arises in conjunction with said ridiculousness because quite honestly, it's completely irrelevant and disgusting that it could even be a factor in any argument. Last time I checked we hadn't taken a TARDIS to the past when gender discrimination was tolerated. Guess what, plenty of women are "geeks," and so are plenty of men. Which bring me to my next topic. Some people get very upset over the prospect of "booth babes," but I do not understand that concept either. So what if a woman chooses to be employed as such? Did Chris Evans playing Captain America ruin The Avengers for you since Chris isn't a geek in real life? How is an actor getting payed to play a part in a film any different than a woman getting paid to help promote a booth? Many of the girls that do cosplay and work at cons actually love what they're doing, not that should have to explain themselves either way. Should they be made to feel alienated because they decide to wear a revealing costume? I don't think so. Why wouldn't you flaunt what you have? I know girls who spend months working out and dieting before conventions just so they can feel confident in their cosplay. Are they to be punished for putting effort into their appearance? What gives anyone the right to judge anyone else? There is always going to be someone who knows more about a certain topic than you do and that's okay! In fact, it's kind of exciting. It makes for great conversation, it allows us to connect with one another, and it means that there's always something new for us to discover. There are so many areas of fandom to explore and years of content to memorize that the prospect of being an absolute geek god in any number of topics is improbable (unless you're my good friend Alan Kistler [@SizzlerKistler] but that guy is just exceptional ^.^). And isn't geekdom all about enthusiasm anyway? Why turn something that was created to be an outlet for entertainment and enjoyment into a contest? Being a geek is not like being a member of some elitist club. One of the reasons I've always loved the geek community is because overall, it's a very accepting and loving group of people. If anyone is making a conscious effort or showing an interest in one of my passions, I'm the first one to offer up recommendations. I find it satisfying to get new people involved. In fact, I get so excited about reading comics that I often force other people (namely my brother) to read them too. Then I get to talk about how awesome whatever it was had been! It's a win-win situation. I can't think of one negative result of engaging more people in reading. Call me crazy for being so inviting, but a world with a little more superhero and a little less Jersey Shore can only be a good thing. Plus, everyone has to start somewhere! So instead of wasting our time defending ourselves why don't we move on, continue to have fun, and deny the haters the one thing they crave most; attention.
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