You can check my credentials if I can check yours.: seanan

You can check my credentials if I can check yours.

So it's been a little more than a week since my glorious return from the San Diego International Comic Convention, where I saw cool things, met cool people, and learned that "Hell" is another word for "being on the SDCC exhibit floor in a wheelchair." I also contracted a horrific cold, and have been fighting my way back to the semblance of health, which is why my relative radio silence on the subject. But that's neither here nor there: that's just framework and excuses. Here's what happened.

Leading up to SDCC, basically every woman I talked to expressed the fear of being "cred checked" at least once. The fake geek girl may not be a real thing, but her shadow is long, and since people started claiming to have seen her, the rest of us have been accused of being her with increasing frequency. She is the geek urban legend, the prowling, predatory female who's just there to take up precious space/time/swag with her girly girlish girliness, and she's like The Thing From Outer Space—a creature with no face and every face, AT THE SAME TIME.

I attended SDCC and similar shows for years before anyone said "Gasp! Some of these geek girls ARE TOTALLY FAKE!" and I started getting my geek credentials checked. Since that began, I have been forced to defend my knowledge of horror movies, the X-Men, zombie literature, the Resident Evil franchise, Doctor Who, and My Little Pony.

Let's pause a moment and just think about that. Men—adult men—have asked me to defend my knowledge of and right to be a fan of My Little motherfucking Pony. My first fandom, the fandom that is arguably responsible for getting me into epic fantasy (not kidding), the franchise that I have publicly credited with teaching me how to plot long-term. A franchise that was, at least originally, aimed exclusively at little girls who enjoyed ponies and hair-play. I think that all fandoms should be for everyone, and I love that My Little Pony has finally found a male audience, but are you kidding here? Are you seriously telling me that the second men discover something I have loved since I was four years old, I suddenly have to pass trivia exams to keep considering myself a fan? Because if that's the way things are going, I want to hear the Sea Pony song right fucking now.

Ahem.

Most of the female fans I know have expressed concern about this credential checking, in part because who the fuck wants to have to take a quiz when you're standing in line waiting to get Chris Claremont's autograph? I mean, really. And there's always the possibility that you'll fail the exam, and a) many of us have deep-seated test anxiety, courtesy of the American school system, and b) no one likes being bullied. Telling me I'm not a real geek because I can't name the members of the Justice League (spoiler: I can't, I don't read DC) is bullying. It's offensive and it's upsetting and it leaves me feeling like a faker, even when I'm not. Even when I'm demonstratively not.

And this "you're a fake, you have no right to be here" routine is almost universally directed at women. I see these women in these incredible costumes that took hours to make and will cause chafing and shin splits and lots of other discomforts, and then I see them getting mocked for being "fake" by men in jeans and hero logo T-shirts. Captain America probably doesn't like you making fun of women, good sir. Just saying.

Then, this year, I saw something wonderful. I was crossing the floor with Amy when we encountered a tall blonde dressed as Emma Frost. I will always stop and admire a good Emma—it's in my genes—so we paused to study her costume and tell her how amazing she looked. She saw the name on my badge and lit up.

"I was hoping to run into you!" she said. "I remembered that you love Emma!"

One of my fans dressed as Emma Frost and she did it for me.

I have never felt so much like a rock star.

We stayed and chatted with her—because let's face it, you dress up as Emma Frost to make me happy, you have damn well earned some chatting with—and she confessed that she had been cred checked not long before. "I said Emma was both the White Queen and the Black Queen," she said. "Was that right?" I started explaining the Dark X-Men. While we were doing that, a man with a camera came up and started taking her picture without asking permission. She stopped talking to us, turned her body slightly away from him, held up her hand, and said, "You can't take my picture unless you can tell me who I am."

She was dressed as a very iconic Emma: all in white, with the half-cape connected to a semi-corset top, white boots, and a white "X" logo on her belt. She had small snowflakes on her collarbones, representing Emma's transformation. She had the white choker. She had the blue lipstick. Basically, if you have any familiarity with Marvel, you would recognize her, and since that version of Emma has been on literally hundreds of comic book covers in the past five years, even most DC readers should have recognized her.

"Storm?" guessed the man.

All three of us laughed, but uncomfortably, like we were discovering a terrible secret. And while Amy and I stood there, this happened four more times: the unsolicited pictures, the refusal, the incorrect guess. Only three of the men actually stopped taking pictures when told to.

As women, we are afraid of being unmasked as somehow "not geeky enough." Meanwhile, these men, who were clearly just trying to take pictures of a scantily clad woman, not pictures of an awesome costume, can't identify one of the most iconic figures from one of the largest publishers.

I've been saying for a while that the "fake geek girl" thing was a form of harassment: a way of making sure that women in fandom don't "forget their place." But this, more than anything, drove home to me just how big of a double standard it is. As women, we're expected to know enough to "earn our spot," but not so much that we seem like know-it-alls; we're supposed to add attractive eye candy to the proceedings, but shouldn't expect men to stop taking our pictures when asked; we're supposed to worry about not seeming geeky enough, while never worrying whether the men around us could pass those same tests. The mere fact of their maleness is sufficient.

There was something beautiful about seeing the fake geek girl check flipped back in the other direction, but there was also something profoundly sad about it, because it illustrated just how deep this divide is growing. We're all geeks. We need to have respect for each other, in all ways—no taking pictures without asking, no shouting "Emma!" at a cosplayer and then saying "See? I told you she knew who she was dressed as" when she turns around. Just no.

It needs to stop.

(And if you were that Emma, drop me a line, hey? I never did get your name, and you were awesome.)

rhoda_rants

July 31 2013, 20:21:29 UTC 3 years ago

New comment

Although I've never personally been cred-checked, I hear about it happening ALL the time. Even more lately than I once did. I feel bad for my fandoms. All of them, because they're all in that cross-section of SFF/Horror, and it's going through so much horrible bullshit right now. It's no fun. And I'm NOT going back to "normal" books/movies/TV, because fuck that, seriously.

However, one thing I've noticed in the comments here is causing me some distress, and I know it's not intentional, but look at how many people are backing themselves up with creds--proving how much they know about the culture while at the same time insisting that they don't need to prove how much they know about the culture in order to be part of it. I understand that tendency, but it's a problem. I don't know everything there is to know about any of my fandoms (and there are a *lot*) because I just don't care that much. I have no creds to spout at people to prove I'm a "real" geek. I love the graphic artistry that goes into videogames, and the storylines of one or two of them (namely Silent Hill and Legend of Zelda) fascinate me, but I don't play because to hell with all that mucking about with buttons when I could watch walkthroughs on YouTube instead.

Also, I resent the idea that getting into a given fandom because you saw the movie and thought one of the actors was hot is an unacceptable way to get into that fandom. Yeah, I knew nothing about Gambit until he appeared in the last Wolverine movie played by Taylor Kitsch, and I don't want to apologize for that. Couldn't care less about Ryan Reynolds, but I'm not gonna hold it against someone who gets into either Green Lantern or Deadpool on account of him either.

angelan

July 31 2013, 21:35:46 UTC 3 years ago

I'm a fake geek giiiiiiiiirl too. I don't like superhero comics! I watched Iron Man only for Robert Downey Jr! I play like one video game a year! Oh gosh, look, I seem to be enjoying myself! Look at all the money Marvel makes from me and my friends that they can plough back into comics if they want to! Is that making you mad? Let me get the world's tiniest violin.

July 31 2013, 22:41:23 UTC 3 years ago

Seriously. I've gotten weirdly protective of Twilight fans lately for this very reason--like, I'm crazy about vampires and always have been, but there's been this, "You people aren't one of us! You just like that one guy who's hot!" thing, and y'know, who cares? I don't like the sparkling thing either, but I'm not blind for fuck's sake. Also--they're just kids. Either they'll find more vampirey things to adore and stay in the culture for good, or they'll get bored and do something else. Neither one of those things takes anything away from the culture at large. It really doesn't.

I may have more things to say about this. I think I feel a blog post coming on...

droewyn

August 1 2013, 02:31:17 UTC 3 years ago

Seriously. I've gotten weirdly protective of Twilight fans lately for this very reason

Me too. I can't stand the series itself, but I don't like seeing anyone bullied or concern-trolled. There are tons of other fandoms available for those who aren't interested, and as someone who was a rabid fangirl of Isaac Asimov (women are fluffy-headed romantics unless they're Susan Calvin and frigid), Anne McCaffrey (rape 'em until they like it is how romantic relationships are done), and Piers Anthony (...yeah...) at a tender age, I laugh at anyone who thinks that mooning over Edward or Jacob will somehow cause an entire generation of abused women.

elialshadowpine

August 2 2013, 08:00:30 UTC 3 years ago

No kidding. I read Piers Anthony, pretty much everything by Anne McCaffrey except Pern (... I don't know why), Anne Bishop, Laurell K. Hamilton, etc, at a young age... and while certain books certainly impacted my life, I really raise an eyebrow at "This ONE BOOK" nonsense. I can't stand Twilight, but good lord and lady..

ashen_key

July 31 2013, 21:57:03 UTC 3 years ago

However, one thing I've noticed in the comments here is causing me some distress, and I know it's not intentional, but look at how many people are backing themselves up with creds--proving how much they know about the culture while at the same time insisting that they don't need to prove how much they know about the culture in order to be part of it. I understand that tendency, but it's a problem.

Yeah, I've been noticing this a lot, too. And I completely agree with you over it being problematic - I was getting that uncomfortable feeling just reading the comments here, but it tends to happen with the pushbacks against Fake Geek Girl everywhere.

July 31 2013, 22:43:05 UTC 3 years ago

Seriously. "But I'm not a fake geek, look at all the stuff I know!" Meanwhile, I'm over here thinking, "Um, I don't know those things, but I'm not pretending to like the larger fandom. I'm interested in this thing, but I don't know all these facts. So what does that make me?"

July 31 2013, 22:55:22 UTC 3 years ago

Yeeah. I'm an MCU-girl currently (not comics, just the movies. If I feel like taking things from comics for my fanfic and RP, I look at the wikias and write-ups, take what I want, and then back off), so already I'm on shaky ground as far as 'fake geek girl'-ness is concerned because, no, I haven't grown up with it.

The fandom I have grown up with? Arthurian legends. And no, I don't know all of the different takes, I don't know all of the different characters, I don't know everything, I can't read medieval French. If anyone tried to cred-check me, I'd fail. It doesn't mean I'm less of a fan, or I love it any less, or whatnot.

(And even if I DID know things, the combination of ADHD and Social Anxiety means my brain would just go blank if anyone asked.)

July 31 2013, 23:02:11 UTC 3 years ago

Yeeah. I'm an MCU-girl currently (not comics, just the movies.
*this is what my brain just did*

"MCU...Is that a...school? OH, 'Marvel Comics Universe,' okay, gotcha."

That's the other thing that screws me--I can't with the acronyms. As soon as people stop spelling out words, I get lost. I still don't know what you're referring to with 'RP' up there. Is that like 'RPG'?

I don't like the term 'fake geek girl.' That implies you're not actually into the thing. Obviously, you are into the thing. Just not the same parts of it necessarily as other people who are into the same thing. And that's okay.

July 31 2013, 23:04:59 UTC 3 years ago

WHOOPS, I'm so sorry. Yeah, MCU = Marvel Cinematic Universe, so the movies and one-shots as opposed to the actual comics. And RP is, yep, RPG, but I find it a broader term.

I don't like the term 'fake geek girl.' That implies you're not actually into the thing. Obviously, you are into the thing. Just not the same parts of it necessarily as other people who are into the same thing. And that's okay.

Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis. So much.

jadis17

July 31 2013, 23:07:34 UTC 3 years ago

I think you are also running into the cross section of geekery that is... Oh this *thing* I know about this *thing* Let me tell you about this *thing* because it is awesome. "cue geek out"

Everybody has a different flavor and depth geekery. It's all good.

August 1 2013, 01:25:57 UTC 3 years ago

Yeah there's that as well, which is why I think it's unintentional. Just wanted to make sure we're all on the same page. :)

wendyzski

August 1 2013, 01:22:01 UTC 3 years ago

I noticed that too - I've made a consicous decision NOT to get defensive and respond like that when I get checked. I just stare at the person and say "what the hell kind of question is that?" or "I don't need to prove myself to a twit like you"

archangelbeth

August 1 2013, 01:47:01 UTC 3 years ago

Though I must confess to the temptation to say something like, "Oh, but I'm a bit of a filk geek! Let me sing The Horse-Tamer's Daughter to you!" I mean, c'mon, 15 minutes of filksong that yes, I memorized waybackwhen? *evilgrin*

*sigh*

Fortunately, I haven't yet run into people behaving in such a damfool manner, so hopefully the issue won't come up in my usual conventioning. Crossing fingers.

vixyish

August 1 2013, 16:10:50 UTC 3 years ago

Bahaha. Sing it slow. And loud. ;)

August 2 2013, 02:32:56 UTC 3 years ago

I may be a little rusty, but I could do some voice projection during the kid's School Trip, on the moving bus, when they did "a-capella kareoke" for amusement one evening! Loud, I think I could do. *evil grin* And probably even close to on pitch? The kids didn't boo my rendition of "Long Black Veil"... >_>

dornbeast

October 11 2013, 04:01:44 UTC 3 years ago

I hope this never happens.

However, if it must happen someday, I hope I'm within earshot.

I'll help.

October 13 2013, 04:34:23 UTC 3 years ago

*hi-5s!*

seanan_mcguire

August 1 2013, 17:47:00 UTC 3 years ago

I think people reply with creds even when saying they don't need them because they've been asked to prove their right to exist too many times. They are out. Of. Cope.

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