As we lead into SolidWorks World 2013, a land of geekdom if there ever was one, an interesting meme is making its rounds on the Internet. There seems to be a bunch of hoopla about “fake geek girls”. What’s a fake geek girl? Apparently Urban Dictionary doesn’t have an entry for it yet (as of today, anyway). Umm, I did find a definition at some site called Geek Feminism Weekly (whatever that’s supposed to mean…kinda sounds like random words thrown together that only vaguely represent what it really is, similar to California Pizza Kitchen.) Anyway, their definition for fake geek girl is:
Fake geek girls – allegedly women who show up at geek events, possibly while hot, with not enough geek cred for you.
This all seems to have started with an article on Forbes (Really, Forbes? Yes, Forbes.) called Dear Fake Geek Girls: Please Go Away. In this article, the author talks about being a “geeky girl” growing up and how she now sees “pretentious females” now posing as geeks when they haven’t put the time in to justify the claim.
What’s with all the hate? In fact, why are girls singled out as being fake geeks (especially by other woman) for being posers? I think a commenter on a recent article by @Mikeynerd says it well (Fake Geek Girls),
The Fake Geek Girl thing bugs me. Because I do feel there is an underlying sexism at play.
If someone is a poser, then it doesn’t matter if they are a woman or man. But, is it even bad to be a poser? Isn’t a poser just someone whose trying to figure out what everyone else already knows? Aren’t they really an outcast too? As outcasts trying to fit it, doesn’t that make them more geeky (since being a social outcast is technically a major component of geekdom)? The answers to this series of rhetorical questions are as follows: no, yes, yes, and yes.
I’m going to go out on a limb to reveal information about SolidWorks World 2013 ahead of time. Don’t tell Dassault Systemes that I’m revealing this secret to you! The secret: men will outnumber women at SolidWorks World 2013. Not by a little, but by a lot! I’m going to bet that most woman who attend this conference with a full pass are as geeky if not more so than most of the men who attend. In fact, many of the men who attend this conference are prolly fake geek dudes by comparison. But, that’s all OK! We are all there to interact, learn, share, teach, and connect in a mutually supportive (and sometimes fun and exciting) environment to gain a higher level of geekdom (value).