My Fellow Nerds and Nerdettes

[John Wayne]

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/m..._Daughter.html

In short, an article discussing the backlash against a Gizmodo intern who wrote about her dates with a Magic: The Gathering Wolrd Champion (yes, those do exist) by the name of Jon Finkel. Pretty good read over all, and very, very relevant IMHO. Only one thing bugged me about the entire letter - he generalized otaku (superfans of anime, manga, and/or Japanese video games, both in Japan and abroad) as instigators of sexual violence, this is the only nerd sub-group that he does something like this to - but that does not invalidate the rest of his article.

Thoughts?

[Akar]

He's clearly wrong about that. Many Japanese games appear strange to people who haven't played them before. I see no appeal in playing any Japanese games/reading manga/watching anime. This doesn't mean all of them are creepy tentacle rape games. If you're not into Japanese stuff all you hear about it is the creepy stuff. Many of the Japanese games are RPGs like Final Fantasy. There are only handful of games like Rapelay that come out of Japan. But these are the games that get all of the publicity. If you based your opinions off of just hearing about the really weird Japanese hentai you hear of then it's not hard to reach the conclusion he reached.

[Ancient Aliens]

He's clearly wrong about that. Many Japanese games appear strange to people who haven't played them before. I see no appeal in playing any Japanese games/reading manga/watching anime. This doesn't mean all of them are creepy tentacle rape games. If you're not into Japanese stuff all you hear about it is the creepy stuff. Many of the Japanese games are RPGs like Final Fantasy. There are only handful of games like Rapelay that come out of Japan. But these are the games that get all of the publicity. If you based your opinions off of just hearing about the really weird Japanese hentai you hear of then it's not hard to reach the conclusion he reached.

Actually, Japan is pretty ing wierd. In Persona 3, for example (a pretty mainstream Japanese RPG), you can shoot yourself in the head to summon a giant, chariot-riding penis monster. I'm not kidding, and I'm not even going to post the pic here.

[Bellus88]

Is there such thing as a fit athletic nerd?

[Akar]

Is there such thing as a fit athletic nerd?

Nerd can be used to describe anything. You can be a football nerd or a baseball nerd. Nerd doesn't always have to describe a fat middle aged man infront of a computer.

[Col. Tartleton]

Nerd can be used to describe anything. You can be a football nerd or a baseball nerd. Nerd doesn't always have to describe a fat middle aged man infront of a computer.

Yeah Nerd roughly translates to a fanatical follower of something specific. Japanese nerds are Otakus or whatever IIRC.

Geek on the other hand is someone who is good with computers and technology.

Geek is actually complimentary in certain contexts like "wiz" or whatever. Seeing how important computers are nowadays being geeky isn't a big deal its kind of cool. Like hip hop djs would probably consider themselves geeks. Its like being called an "artist". There are bad connotations but it's sort of a compliment...

I have nerdy tendencies but I don't fixate on something in particular. I have lots of different interests which I'm kind of adept in. Whereas I have no geek aptitude at all. I can check my Facebook, use email, use Microsoft Office, and the odd forum. I know that the monitor is the part you monitor and the Hard Drive is the part you measure in Bites and that processors are measured in Hertz. Right? I know that you can get hacked but I have no idea what that entails beside some d bag who dresses like an outcast typing really fast in a dark room listening to obscure underground dubstep.

[Louis Lux]

Is there such thing as a fit athletic nerd?

Me and all my nerd friends are fit and athletic, not to mean that we're particularly good at competitive sports but there are other ways to be athletic.

The gaming gender ratio is something along the lines of 60/40 and the percentage of women gamers has been growing.

[Phier]

The gaming gender ratio is something along the lines of 60/40 and the percentage of women gamers has been growing.

My wife 'games' every day, often more than I do.

Shes not a gamer.

What you play and why you play counts too. I'll use say EvE on line as one of those 'gamers games', out of three thousand players in my alliance, we had ONE actual verified female (lots of female avatars of course). She was grossly fat, semi-incompetent and promoted along simply because she was female. In my entire time of playing there for a few years I only knew one other female (also fat) who was the wife of one of the players. They divorced. Because she got so fat and he was too much of a gentleman to say it.

The girl gamer is a myth.

[chriscase]

My wife 'games' every day, often more than I do.

Shes not a gamer.

What you play and why you play counts too. I'll use say EvE on line as one of those 'gamers games', out of three thousand players in my alliance, we had ONE actual verified female (lots of female avatars of course). She was grossly fat, semi-incompetent and promoted along simply because she was female. In my entire time of playing there for a few years I only knew one other female (also fat) who was the wife of one of the players. They divorced. Because she got so fat and he was too much of a gentleman to say it.

The girl gamer is a myth.

Do I detect the characteristic odor of a Scotsman?

Define "gamer" = "person who plays games".

"Video gamer" = "person who plays video games".

Now, was that so hard?

If you want to make up another term that means "competent" or "hardcore" gamer, be my guest. However, note that both of those qualifiers import a lot more complexity - possibly subjectivity - than the simple characterization of "gamer".

[Phier]

Do I detect the characteristic odor of a Scotsman?

Define "gamer" = "person who plays games".

"Video gamer" = "person who plays video games".

Now, was that so hard?

If you want to make up another term that means "competent" or "hardcore" gamer, be my guest. However, note that both of those qualifiers import a lot more complexity - possibly subjectivity - than the simple characterization of "gamer".

Calling my wife a 'gamer' for playing word games with a couple of friends, and pop cap games and then putting that on equal footing to an MMO addict or COD4 player is a rather poor categorization.

I think we all know here what we mean by 'gamer'.

For example, I am addicted to caffeine. If I don't get it I get a head ache. I don't feel good without it. I take more of it because I feel I need to and I don't want to deal with the let down. I am therefore a drug addict literally. Yet if you call someone a drug addict to implies something far different.

Most women do not like the kinds of games most men like. Its a sex difference thing. Men desperately, especially while young, want to destigmatize their gaming as nerdy and one way to do that is have women playing, then its social! This is where the lie of the girl gamer comes in, because when these guys log onto WoW or whatever their game of choice it, its still a susagefest even if you guild has 3 women in it, and one is a kick ass raid leader.

[Yosemite]

that woman is dumb

she wanted too much to fit in the mold

[Manco]

I didn't bother reading it all, but there is a lot of rampant sexism within the geek/nerd world.
And there's a lot of ing hypocrisy from male nerds who like to picture themselves as the "Nice Guy" while at the same time lashing out at every female friend they have for not sleeping with them, usually cowardly behind their backs.

[In3x]

I didn't bother reading it all, but there is a lot of rampant sexism within the geek/nerd world.
And there's a lot of ing hypocrisy from male nerds who like to picture themselves as the "Nice Guy" while at the same time lashing out at every female friend they have for not sleeping with them, usually cowardly behind their backs.

This

[Bellus88]

Well I don't like debate on this. I respect nerds for what they bring for the world but they have problems to, when you get so stuck up about your intellectual accomplishments, thats why stereotype wise, jocks hate them.

Im not gonna lie, Im half Italian, I half felt wanted by women all my life but I have never really tried. The first date of my life I felt like this guy, Im not gonna get into details and I am not trolling here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ_M2xKlkws

I felt like him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UwDDO6QExo

Watch this, Im not one to watch reality tv but these show obviously have more class then that Pathetic Jersey shore which has

There was one guy I could really relate to on that show, he was bullied in high school and now he is a jock, I was a jock in high school, Im just not interested in most sports, I covered up my muscles wearing "gangster" clothes. It was mostly lean muscle mass. I need to get back in shape, I use the gym a lot but I got suspended from University, lets just say Im a Geek who did not try in school. 8 month suspension, does not matter for me I have my own place now. Work full time and join army reserves. I was banned from the Relationship forum, Ill stay on the ban, they just don't remember that I was supposed to be unbanned. I was suspended from university because I got a doctors note and put a return date on it because he put none. Very strict Uni in Canada, one of the top.

[chriscase]

I didn't know Magic was still such a big deal. I'd think this sort of thing is more prevalent with MMO and other immersive games.

Although I think the original "strikeout" questions are very interesting, in that they specifically point out a person whose lifestyle aims at legitimizing his obsessive gaming habit. A person who likes to game but strives to maintain balance with other life activities such as work, school, or a social life outside of gaming will not strikeout. A person who has converted gaming to the entirety of work and social life is almost guaranteed to be a piss-poor lover, boyfriend, or husband unless he manages to figure out how to strike a different balance. And particularly when one looks at someone who has put so much work into legitimizing his obsession, that has to shape up as a nearly impossible task.

[John Wayne]

Weird doesn't equal rapist, usually.

[Phier]

I skimmed and kinda 'mehed' it.

Geekdom will always be a mans world because quite frankly we like it and are good at it. Look at this website for a good example of the real sex ratio out there. Most 'girl gamers' are sort of like (women who hang out with homosexual men (I removed the term lest someone get pissy)) in a way, sort of hanging onto the community because they have nothing better to do. Of course there are some but lets be real, its a small %.

Geeks will always have a good % of losers, who do badly with women and therefore hate women. On the other hand every geek I know was married by 30 (or at least heading in that direction with someone), so geeks do eventually catch on.

Moral of the story, don't date anyone who obsesses over their hobby. Be it gaming, or fishing, or even if its making money. In the end it won't end well.

[chriscase]

I skimmed and kinda 'mehed' it.

Geekdom will always be a mans world because quite frankly we like it and are good at it. Look at this website for a good example of the real sex ratio out there. Most 'girl gamers' are sort of like (women who hang out with homosexual men (I removed the term lest someone get pissy)) in a way, sort of hanging onto the community because they have nothing better to do. Of course there are some but lets be real, its a small %.

Geeks will always have a good % of losers, who do badly with women and therefore hate women. On the other hand every geek I know was married by 30 (or at least heading in that direction with someone), so geeks do eventually catch on.

Moral of the story, don't date anyone who obsesses over their hobby. Be it gaming, or fishing, or even if its making money. In the end it won't end well.

What strikes me as tragicomic about the article that started all the fuss is that here we have someone whose defenses appear to be disproportionately directed at a particular type of guy - an obsessive gamer, but very likely are altogether absent in relation to some other, equally toxic guys. She's liable go head-over-heels for a musician or artist and end up just as (if not more) miserable as Jon Finkel would have made her.

According to her, Finkel took her to a play about Jefferey Dahmer on their first date. Does she really need any more justification to dismiss him? Sheesh, I wonder about someone who would even sit through that first date.

[Yosemite]

What strikes me as tragicomic about the article that started all the fuss is that here we have someone whose defenses appear to be disproportionately directed at a particular type of guy - an obsessive gamer, but very likely are altogether absent in relation to some other, equally toxic guys. She's liable go head-over-heels for a musician or artist and end up just as (if not more) miserable as Jon Finkel would have made her.

According to her, Finkel took her to a play about Jefferey Dahmer on their first date. Does she really need any more justification to dismiss him? Sheesh, I wonder about someone who would even sit through that first date.

the thing is that she didn't know that this person had won a lot of money in those "gaming" competitions

if she knew, she'd be all over him

[oighear_dubh]

I skimmed and kinda 'mehed' it.

Geekdom will always be a mans world because quite frankly we like it and are good at it. Look at this website for a good example of the real sex ratio out there. Most 'girl gamers' are sort of like (women who hang out with homosexual men (I removed the term lest someone get pissy)) in a way, sort of hanging onto the community because they have nothing better to do. Of course there are some but lets be real, its a small %.

I wouldn't go as far as to say geekdom is a man's world.. not at all. The vast majority of my girlfriends (and my wife) have been geeks in one fashion or another, whether its gaming, lesser known sports, books, natural sciences, etc. I suppose it depends completely on how you define 'geek'. If you consider someone who devotes most of their time and energy into a singular thing, then there are many geeks in this world, and they are definitely not all male. I consider myself a geek because I devote most of my time to scientific research, and to a much lesser extent, gaming. I know many females that would be considered a geek as well, using that classification. And those gaming girls I do know don't hang out with homosexual men, though I have no idea what that has to do with anything.

These forums are definitely not an indication of the real sex ratio out there. Forum users are a small percentage of the gaming population, and an even smaller percentage of the total population. A much larger sample size is needed to accurately predict the sex ratio of gaming males and females.