There are a lot of things that are happening in the geek community right now that are generating a high level of separatism and animosity in the one social group that I felt had a pretty high standard of acceptance and generosity previously. 

There has been all of this talk about  hot girls pandering to the nerd community and it has reached a level that now dictates that no girl that could be quantified as being attractive in any way has a place within said community. 

(Image courtesy of The Internet. A shining example of this nerd elitism based upon appearance.)

I have a friend named Molly McIsaacs who is a wonderful geek—she is kind, hilarious, has a deep and unyielding love for unicorns, comic books, anime, cosplay…and she happens to be gorgeous. She was anonymously attacked about her appearance because the way she dresses apparently doesn’t fit into this previously unknown and continuously unquantifiable “geek dress code”. (As an aside, Molly is also doing a give-away for an adorable cat purse on her blog The Geeky Peacock. She is rad and I highly suggest following her!)

What I remember about being a giant geek is acceptance and an overwhelming number of hugs at any given moment. I remember long arguments over which Doctor is best Doctor, becoming immersed in anything from Tekken to Persona to Mass Effect (or anything in between), laughing ridiculously hard when a group of friends and I decide to design an instance that completely encompasses the poem “The Jabberwocky” from “Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There” by Lewis Carroll, and clinging to my friends through the most emotional moments in anime history (at least as told by me). It was a thing that was inclusive, even despite the fact that we all have a tendency to be a little bit competitive. There is always going to be drama, and there is always going to be an argument that gets a little out of hand, but what I don’t understand is why people want to draw giant red lines on the ground and put a rift in this wonderful internet/con/life space. 

Look at the history of fantasy and science-fiction. Look at the stories of so many self-proclaimed geeks out there. Look at comic books, video games, anime, table-top gaming, EVERYTHING. We are the underdogs. We rose to the top of the world because what we are doing is actually really awesome, and despite the fact that all of these things have continuously been attacked by individuals, the media, academic communities, etc. as being illegitimate, we press forward because we know there is a place for us. We made that place. And I am going to be so disappointed if we successfully destroy that space for ourselves. 

(Source: maloriebrooke)