Drop gender for a moment. Are “non-geeks” worthy of scorn, should they choose to enter the holy grounds of a hotel hosting a con or some other holding of geekdom? Now we’re just talking some very simple ingroup/outgroup stuff. Say you want to be a skinhead, so you buy some Fred Perry, the right boots, clippers, your crucie tattoo, and show up at the show, try to pal around with the regulars. Depending on the area, you… you stand a good chance of being physically beaten. You will certainly not be accepted. They will dislike your rushed, inauthentic attempt to enter an insular subculture. Even if they like you, they might feel that you need an initiation that involves physical violence. Oh, and I forget that I have to keep saying this, but “race” is not a major part of trad skin, so don’t get confused and default to the WP/Neo Nazi stereotype that people are still holding. Separate people. Why did I mention this subculture? Because they are VERY clearly defined. They’re all about being who they are, and all about NOT being who they aren’t. If society happens to cease misunderstanding, misrepresenting and ostracizing them, they will literally dry up and blow away, leaving behind an empty set of boots and braces and the scent of guinness; gone to the great football grounds in the sky.
Geek, though. Probably should be a little bit more open and accepting than that. Should it be so open as to be undefined? Probably not THAT open. I’d say the geekometer (installed at all entrances/exits) should really only flash “intruder alert” if someone attempts to enter without a sense of fervent passion or enthusiam for SOME subject, preferably but not necessarily a subject which is or has been considered uncool by the majority of society. I might go as far as saying that the more popular the subject, the deeper your understanding and interest in it must be to qualify. A “baseball” geek better know WAY TOO MUCH about baseball; a “Sci-Fi” geek can ride on tradition and get by with a dilettante’s quiver of factoids. Everyone can’t be called a geek, or else we need to throw out the word as meaningless (might be worth doing). Liking something doesn’t count. You have to like something to the point where you sacrifice for it. You can sacrifice money, social acceptance, the blank canvas of your uninked body, or a hefty chunk of free time… or anything, as long as you PAID in some currency to show that your love is real. This does not have to be proven and often cannot, but it is something that you will know in your heart of hearts and something that will show itself in time. Credentials do not tell the whole story; I am way too shy and lack the organizational/financial ability to plan a simple-to-everyone-else weekend trip. So, I have never been to a “Con”. Asking someone to show their creds is a hostile move.
Is this gatekeeping silly in a sense? Sure. Just like fraternity hazing, and n00b-shaming, and first-day pranks at a job… but it does serve a purpose for the community. It is ritual. Like it or not, if you form an ingroup, an outgroup forms in the negative space around your artwork. The more strongly defined one is, the more the other is visible in contrast. (See Hokusai: the great wave off Kanagawa). Geek is a pretty lightly sketched, albeit complex pattern, especially now with the popularity of fantasy, horror and sci-fi in the media. Some people here want it to be more clearly delineated. So; are geek-defining, ingroup-forming, outsider-witchhunting and/or gatekeeping good? Partially. It’s very simple. It comes down to quantity vs. quality; quality as defined by presence and strength of passion. Personally, I am not so quick to line up my crosshairs. So some ten-year-old bought a pacman T-shirt, without ever having played Pac-Man in the arcade, or in the awful 2600 conversion. It does not hurt me or diminish my love for old video games. Kind of like how gays marrying each other did NOT destroy my marriage (I did that, myself, heterosexually). So I think that a certain amount of gatekeeping is inevitable, and if done with a wise heart and kind words, can improve a culture. Outsiders can be threats, but they can also be viewed as a vast flock of potential converts, each teeming with potential yield. You like resource-gathering submechanics in RTS titles, right? You like recruiting new members to your party? But, they should be Quality. You do not want to waste your time with loafers, or the dissolute. Balance is all. We risk turning away the golden dragons in the guise of old men should we apply rules too fervently and too often. CERTAINLY we should not be trying to cull half of the human population, based on chromosomal structure. CERTAINLY we should stop alienating people by tug-of-warring them. There is and will be a certain amount of “wow, girls. Let’s be happy that they are even here!”, but that is an archaic reaction. They have been there a long time. They are not novel. They are fellow. They need face no additional challenges based on gender, but they should not be exempt from the minimal, informal, non-invasive policing of the culture as is necessary to ensure a healthy population.
Kelly, and Joe… I decree that you have committed crimes against geekdom; crimes of overreaching, crimes of arrogance. I accept that your motivation was based on love for your culture, but it was a love that became twisted and exclusionary; it was a conditional love. Return to your caves, and remain there for five and twenty days, thinking on your transgressions. When you return, you will be tested. If your vision of geekdom has evolved to become one where gender is not a factor and the heart is guarded without jealousy, you will be welcomed back into the fold and the flames that were snuffed will burn again.