or Geeks in the House: We’re at the Party, Now What Do We Do?

I feel that GeekGirlCon overall was an astounding success! I mean a FIRST YEAR CON sold out every day?! As a part time con-runner myself I understand what a feat that is. Those ladies worked their butts off all year and they completely deserve the outpour of support the blogosphere has bestowed on them. Here is me knighting you as protectors of the marginalized geeks!  (Imagine it in your heads, it’s awesome like at the end of Episode IV and you get gorgeous flowers from Pike Place Market at the end of the ceremony.)

I wish I could have spent more time there over the weekend but I ended up with the perfect dose of fem nerd community and Seattle indoctrination. (My plane left early on Sunday so I missed out on that day, I’m still proud to have bought a 2 day pass and supported this endeavor!)

I apologize if I was a bit of a downer on Twitter when hashtagging it (that’s right I verbized that word). All in all I think it was a success and hope it’s the beginning of a great thing.  Gail Simone said on Twitter that she felt like it was a sort of Woodstock, the start of a wonderful and powerful movement.  I think it totally could be.  Here’s the but, in the shadow of Occupy WallStreet I was hoping for more of a call to arms. I understand that has to get worked up to, but I really hope the general consensus of “this is the start of something great” follows through next year. Because I’m totally going back and dragging people with me. Addendum (because I originally drafted this on my plane ride home Sunday): after reading a lot of the blog recaps of the weekend I think this seed was planted and is definitely taking root in everyone’s mind who attended. May it bloom and grow!

More of my thoughts after the break, including the issues I think will bring us into the second wave of geekdom…

Over the weekend some pretty big issues were danced around but I feel like nobody really WENT there.  Of course, the first year there was to be a lot of “Hey look, there are enough girl geeks to fill a con. I don’t feel outnumbered, how awesome is this?” So it’s totally understandable, I’m also totally admitting that I may have just missed the more hard-hitting panels. But discussions at the con made me start thinking about what are the issues we need to start addressing in nerdom? Here are a few biggies:

·         The “old guard” of the geek world needs to let go and help mentor the “new wave” of nerds instead of freaking out when we bring up things that are problematic with the properties we love just as much as they do.

·         Instead of dancing around issues we need to confront them as a community and demand that the creators listen.  It’s possible!  There were awesome industry people there who are doing great work.  Yes they should be lauded, but then let’s use their example to question other fandoms.  “See them, why aren’t you doing forward-thinking work like they are?”

·         Everyone needs to start looking outside themselves and realize that we still have a long ways to go before we’re a force for good.  Most of us have been marginalized in one way or another growing up, now we can help pave the way as a safe place for other marginalized people.  No other fandom has as much influence on the works we consume as nerds do, let’s use it for good!

GeekGirlCon was totally on track with all of these issues and I really think it is the start of a new Era of conventions. (I’m going to write a whole blog post about this soon so watch for it.)

I expect a lot from my geek community and, until the weekend at GeekGirlCon, they weren’t living up to it.  Growing up in a super small town, I kept everything I loved and cared about locked up. In College when I discovered conventions I thought, finally here’s a place where I was accepted for all the things I liked. It helped me become my true self for the first time.  But when I was finally “out” and really started getting involved with nerdom, I was flabbergasted to learn all these boundaries nerds put on each other. The intersections I see between pop culture and nerdom because of my remote upbringing are what inspired this blog. 

I had an especially horrible experience in Cepheid Variable (the SF club at my college).  Instead of being welcoming to anyone who shared their interests, they crushed people who weren’t outwardly nerdy enough or who had new ideas that challenged their traditional geek ways.  I was bullied A LOT in grade school so I’m totally not down with bullying others because you were bullied.  That’s the gist of that group, I’ve run into a lot of these nerd supremacists during the beginning of my coming out as a geek and they’ll the norm not that exception.  I eventually found other like-minded second wave nerds, as I now know them to be, or more accepting first wave nerds who helped me through that awful experience. (Shout-out to my husband, the ApolloCon crew, Phoebe Kitanidis, and Courtney Stoker!) At GeekGirlCon, like many others, I felt like FINALLY here are my people: accepting, joyous, smart and vibrant geeks who are going to be the future of nerdom. We care about issues, we want to make things better, we question what media we’re fed and we want to show the world how awesome being a nerd is instead of closeting our community away! GeekGirlCon has become the exception to the rule of geeks who turn the tables on what they consider to not be “true fans” and have created a safe place where we can get down to brass tacks about how to change fandom.

So obviously not everyone I’ve met up to this point has been awful, but some communities definitely are not open to criticism.  You can love something but still see problems with it.  One of the lovely ladies on the Feminism, Race and Geek Culture panel summed it up: “We critique because we enjoy these things. The people who complain the hardest care the most.” -Regina Buenaobra of The Border House blog. We see problems and criticize BECAUSE we love our individual fandoms so much and we have high standards.  That’s not a bad thing! In her closing words for the panel Regina summed it up SO well, “Within your communities, keep bringing up these issues.”

GeekGirlCon definitely felt like the start of something amazing, I hope we can take it farther next year.  There’s a lot of potential in what I heard over the weekend, let’s wield it and show the rest of the geek world that women will lead the crusade for a better nerdom!  (Here’s where you cheer and go grab your feminist broadswords.  I’ll meet you on the battlefield next year!)

Make sure you check out the GeekGirlCon website and twitter for news of next year. People are still tweeting the hashtag #geekgirlcon to share their experiences. Believe you me, you DO NOT want to miss out on next year.

Logo credit: GeekGirlCon website.