Well, I just came away from the Penny Arcade Expo, which is now the largest video game convention in the US, and there was a girl at the "Wil Wheaton Hour of Awesome" panel who thanked everyone for being geeky and finally giving her a place where she felt at home and welcomed. She put it much better (ostracized when young, isolating interests, cut herself off from geekdom to fit in, rejoined after marrying geeky guy) and most of us in the audience were tearing up.
Now, granted, there were probably 20 guys for each girl there, but there is a growing visible presence. So I think it depends on the person, and on the group. There will always be jerks in any situation, and one thing about geeks is that we tend to be somewhat socially awkward, so others don't notice as much that we haven't emotionally or mentally had to mature since...9th grade/form/class/whatever.
So some people think that girls=bad, or that including more people into our increasingly less sidelined group means that we become the mainstream, which decreases their sense of importance. You can't be an intentional outcast, hoarding your sense of personal importance in spite of public rejection, if your group starts allowing anyone to enter. Or something.
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2009-09-07 07:41 am (UTC)Now, granted, there were probably 20 guys for each girl there, but there is a growing visible presence. So I think it depends on the person, and on the group. There will always be jerks in any situation, and one thing about geeks is that we tend to be somewhat socially awkward, so others don't notice as much that we haven't emotionally or mentally had to mature since...9th grade/form/class/whatever.
So some people think that girls=bad, or that including more people into our increasingly less sidelined group means that we become the mainstream, which decreases their sense of importance. You can't be an intentional outcast, hoarding your sense of personal importance in spite of public rejection, if your group starts allowing anyone to enter. Or something.