Gamers and Geeks: Girls enter the boys-only club

It's pretty safe to assume that when most people hear the terms "video gamer" and "geek," they think of boys and men rather than of girls and women. The gaming, comic book, sci-fi and fantasy worlds have all been masculinized and are in many ways exclusionary. This exclusion of women also extends to activities like downloading, pirating and file sharing. I mean, can you really go on a file sharing web site or play a video game without being tantalized by an erotic ad or a sex-pot female character? In my own experience, no.

Many women and girls have been and are active gamers and geeks who like superheroes and Star Wars and dressing up as their favorite Sailor Moon character. But, they remain outsiders in a world where game play and websites objectify and demean females, advertise for porn websites and generally glorify male characters while sexualizing female characters in a way that sends a specific message: this is meant for dudes.

Although the tendency toward violence and aggression is what has often characterized video gaming as something more appropriate for men, women also find the same games fun and engaging, while also enjoying the stories and characters of RPGs. They recognize and celebrate the physical cunning and strength of the female characters they play, and often gain their own sense of strength from playing these characters or creating an avatar.

An issue still facing female gamers is harrassment by male gamers. And though much of the harassment is delivered virtually, during game play, it is still inappropriate. Many female gamers are frustrated and fed up with being asked out on dates during online play, or told they can't be good at video games simply because they are female.

Although women are less represented in terms of the number of lead female characters and of female gaming experts on TV, geeky girls have been pushing their way into the boys-only club in a big way over the past few years.

Thanks to video blogging, web series and social media, female gamers and geeks have been getting their name out there and making valid statements about how technology and sci-fi/fantasy genres are for women, too. Though women are often portrayed as nothing more than sexual objects throughout the gamer and online worlds, these women show that they are more and have just as much valid interest in comic books, superheroes, elves and spellcasters as any man has.

There are several women/groups out there right now who celebrate their love of geekdom and technology, and they are assisting other women in taking a more active role in the gaming community. I especially admire that they are showing girls and women they can still be feminine even if they like Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. And while at times their sexy costumes may feed into the male gamer fantasy, these women ultimately appear to be in charge of their sexuality and proud of who they are.

Team Unicorn

According to their web site:

Representing the idea that 'like unicorns, geek girls aren’t supposed to exist', Team Unicorn is a multi-media production team formed in Los Angeles, California in 2010. Its members are Michele Boyd, Clare Grant, Milynn Sarley, and Rileah Vanderbilt. The group was first created when the four girls came together to create their debut online video, “G33K & G4M3R Girls” in September 2010. Spoofing Katy Perry’s “California Gurls“, the video is filled with geek cultural references and pays tribute to women who love gaming, manga, sci-fi and many other genre related topics.

My only real beef with Team Unicorn is that they are all model-gorgeous, often edging on that line between sexual and sexualized. Nonetheless, they have a great sense of humor about the films, games and books geek girls love.




Felicia Day and "The Guild"
Felicia Day is, hands down, the coolest female on the planet (except for Tina Fey, of course). You can tell how much she actually loves gaming and role-playing, and her interests and talent led her to create one of the most popular web series out there: "The Guild," which was originally financed by fan donations and is now distributed by Xbox Live and sponsored by Sprint. Check out the first episode, it's awesome!

Felicia Day has also been featured on soon-to-be-cult-classic "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," and is the lead character in another web series: "Dragon Age: Redemption."





Feminist Frequency

There are a couple fantastic videos by Anita Sarkeesian about female gamers/geeks. She has her own web site, and is actually writing her thesis about strong women in science fiction and fantasy television. Her site is fantastic for information about anything dealing with feminism and pop culture.



Geek Girl Con

Yes, this year--earlier this month, to be exact--the first Geek Girl Con took place in Seattle. They have a fantastic facts page about the event and why they put it on. Anita Sarkeesian was one of many female panelists/speakers featured at the event.


There are many other people, sites and groups out there supporting the female gamer/geek community. These are just a few I happen to like and relate to.

Female Character Tropes: Manic Pixie Dream Girl leads to new stereotype

Confession: I love Zooey Deschanel, Kirsten Dunst, Kate Winslet and Natalie Portman. What do these women have in common? They have all filled the role of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl...and I ate it up every step of the way. But what, exactly, is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl?

It is a character trope: a common theme or device which, in this case, is a set of common behaviors embodied by female characters.

As I entered my teens the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope was exploding in movies, mostly due to the growing popularity of indie films. Characters like Garden State's Sam (Portman) and Elizabethtown's Claire (Dunst) were fun, spontaneous and quirky. They were beautiful in a not-so-unobtainable way and boys were so enamored they would just drop everything for this girl. I, too, was in awe of them--I thought that maybe I could be spontaneous and think deep thoughts about random things and have it all mean something more in a very impressing way that would get nerdy, sensitive guys to like me.

I was wrong. The problem? Those characters are one-dimensional. What else do they have going on besides having all the free time in the world to participate in outlandish hobbies and make up quirky-cool things to say? Not that much, really. Sam (Portman, Garden State) basically lived at home taking care of small rodents and took on Zack Braff's character like some sort of psychology project and Claire (Dunst, Elizabethtown) may have been a flight attendant, but she hardly ever went to work and only served to help Orlando Bloom out of his depression by being a fantastic talker who pretends to take snapshots with her invisible camera. For a teenager, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is appealing because of the fact she is fun, funny, and weird in a way that is outside of the usual normative female gender role. However, she is still a trope used most often as a prop to advance a male character forward in developing his sense of identity and purpose--she, on the other hand, remains the same: child-like.

These days, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl has morphed. I feel like a new trope stemming from it is being born...The Manic Pixie Nerd Girl.

A Manic Pixie Nerd Girl is not only quirky and adorable, but even more childlike in thought and demeanor. She is a male nerd's wet dream--literally. Not only does she read graphic novels, comics and loves Lord of the Rings, but she also plays video games and swears like a sailor (while maintaining her childlike innocence, of course). What makes her even worse for women trying to emulate her is her wardrobe, which is a veritable cache of vintage gold: colorful cardigans, full skirts, vintage tees, pearls, thick-rimmed glasses and shoes as quirky as her personality.

The prime example of this newly-updated Manic Pixie is Zooey Deschanel's character, Jess, in the fall series "New Girl." Though I work most nights when the new hit shows are aired and do not own a DVR, I've finally gotten around to watching "New Girl" on my computer.



The character of Jess is everything I described a Manic Pixie Nerd Girl to be. In fact, her character's childishness extends so far as to warrant her three male roommates policing her behavior like she is a 5 year old. In the pilot episode we see Jess getting told to shave her legs, told what to wear and told how to act. While this is all done for the sake of the show as a comedy, it still reflects a general patriarchal attitude that women are clueless and need help functioning in their daily lives.

The main reason I separate the Manic Pixie Nerd Girl from the Dream Girl is that the Dream Girl is one who often aids a male character on an emotional or transformative journey, whereas the Nerd Girl appears to be the one being guided rather than the one doing the guiding.

Take two of Deschanel's characters: Summer, of "500 Days of Summer," and Jess, of "New Girl." Summer embodies the Manic Pixie Dream Girl because she is smart, quirky, fun and youthful which are characteristics that help the film's main character, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), realize those same characteristics within himself and grow as person. Her character of Jess, however, has many of the same characterstics but is noticeably more empty-headed and "weird" and does not appear to be helping her male roommates change. Instead, it seems that it is the roommates who have the influence over her, and whether or not that leads to her character developing further as a person is yet unknown but I see it as doubtful.

Another example of the Manic Pixie Nerd Girl, I would argue, is Juno (Ellen Page). She is a female character very much into comics, cartoons, sarcasm, and general outside-the-box behavior. She too seems to have less transformative power over others than a Dream Girl would.

No matter what the female trope is, it is important to realize them for what they are: generally stereotypical representations of women that do not fully reflect the wide range of female personalities, ambitions and interests.