How Should We Define Geek Culture?

By TDF Pamela On February 1, 2011 · View Comments

In PCMag, Will Greenwald explains that “geek culture isn’t dead. It’s just hidden” behind a huge wall that separates what’s considered geeky from the rest of pop culture. Greenwald makes some very interesting points, many of which I’d agree with, but I see a major problem with his article.

Do geeks really need to draw a line in the sand? And how do we as geek culture in general establish what’s geeky and what’s not?

On one hand, I’m all for the democratization of geek. As a geek girl, I’ve had to deal with people not accepting me as a geek just because I’m female. On top of that, there are some borderline-geek fandoms that I (along with many other geek girls) have a geek-obsessive level of love for. Urban fantasy in particular has punched through Greenwald’s wall, bringing vampires and werewolves into mainstream pop culture. Does that mean that I’m less geeky because I love the Sookie Stackhouse books and True Blood? Nah, I geek out over vampire books (well-written ones) just as much as I geek out over Farscape. And I certainly wouldn’t want to discourage a teen girl who loves vampires from using those fandoms as a gateway to other forms of science fiction and fantasy.

My geeky monitor base.

On the other hand, I definitely can see that wider pop culture has co-opted the term “geek” in ways that diminish what it means for those of us who’ve been geeky far longer than comic book movies have been mainstream popular. Black glasses and ironic, nerdy t-shirts do not a geek make, and it is irritating to see that kind of thing trumpeted as being geek by popular media. Yes, I wear black glasses and have tons of nerdy shirts, but I also watch and read science fiction and have an office full of superhero toys. Does that hipster have a Phoenix toy sitting on his monitor? Probably not, and knowing that makes me feel more geeky.

I’m kind of territorial about my geekiness, but at the same time, I want to be open to other geeks’ interpretation of what geek means. Reading the comments on Greenwald’s article made me feel like I was reading an attempt to define geek in order to exclude others, like making rules so other kids can play in your playhouse. To be a geek, do you absolutely have to be a tabletop RPG gamer? Or quote obscure SF movies? Or be able to build your own computer from scratch?

I do want geek culture to continue to thrive, and I do think that despite popular media’s current love affair with geek, we’re still on the other side of a wall from the mainstream. I’m okay with that. But I also worry that attempts to define what constitutes “geek” will only fragment geek culture. Maybe that’s inevitable, though I hope not. I’m enjoying the surge in popularity in geeky fandoms, and I’ll probably still enjoy those fandoms after the mainstream moves on to something else.

What’s your take? Do you think that geek culture should be open and all-encompassing, allowing anyone who defines as geek to be a part? Or do you think it should tighten its borders, so to speak, and fight against the mainstreaming? Or are you like me, someone who falls somewhere in between those two options?

TDF Pamela

The Discriminating Fangirl, who is more likely to answer to Pamela if you shout it at her, is the proud owner of an MA in English, focusing on children's/young adult literature and popular culture. Because of her ample free time thanks to being gainfully unemployed, she reads voraciously. She also loves geeky movies and tv shows, reads comic books as often as she can buy them, and when she's procrastinating, she enjoys playing video games. She can be contacted at t.d.fangirl @ gmail.com and followed on Twitter at the link below.

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  • http://racialicious.com A Boy Named Art

    Or do you think it should tighten its borders, so to speak, and fight against the mainstreaming?

    I think we should be more proactive in re-defining what the “mainstream” image is of a geek. Step 1: Cancel that minstrel show known as The Big Bang Theory.

  • / TDF Pamela

    Hey now, I love me some Big Bang Theory.

    Edited to add: I’m… uncomfortable with calling Big Bang a minstrel show. It implies that a show that pokes good-natured (IMO) fun at geeks is the equivalent to shows that degraded and dehumanized African-Americans. I can see the point you’re making, even though I don’t agree with it, but I think the comparison just doesn’t work in this case. :\

  • ladyt

    I always thought geek was a state of mind, or a degree of passion for something, fairly well regardless of the topic. Arguably you could be a monumental geek about something entirely mainstream, it sort of depends on how your interest expresses itself and how you set about pursuing it.
    Defining geekdom would mean not just defining it from pop-culture but then also from fandom to an extent as well. Where does the line fall between geek and fangirl? Squeeing about some actor may not be an instant geek association, but the capacity for trivia absorption and merchandise aquisition is well on a par with most types of geekery when pursued far enough.

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  • / TDF Pamela

    Excellent points, LT, and I agree with you. This sort of goes with what I was saying about liking fandoms that aren’t usually thought of as geeky, like urban fantasy. Maybe being a geek is all about the level of obsession with the object/fandom/whatever, although it seems like the object of that level of obsession tends to fall under the umbrella of what people think of as geeky: science fiction/fantasy, computers, science/math…

  • Strangeness Abounds

    Perhaps the reason geek culture is so difficult to pin down and that it never dies is because it is so diverse? A geek who builds computers from scratch might call a geek who enjoys their computer “running the way it should” a sell-out. A geek who believes that subbed anime is the only way to go might call a geek who prefers dubbed anime a “pale fan.” There aren’t that many cultures that are so diverse and with many varying degrees of “intensity.”

  • http://www.visualadjectives.com/blog M. McGriff

    It may be hard to redefine and set parameters for what’s considered a geek. Though a lot of people are surprised to find out how deep my own inner girly geekdom goes, I also don’t see myself as the typical geek. Yes, I love Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, and anything else that has to do with sabers and/or swords, but I’m not as passionate about comics or superheroes. Does that make me less of geek? I think it would be hard to pinpoint what is and what isn’t part of geek culture because it is so diverse.

  • http://comicbooked.com Robb Orr

    Great article. I have been pondering this very question as of late. When a subculture gets co-opted by the mainstream it always interesting to see what will happen next. Thank you for the thoughtful piece.

  • http://tgve.wordpress.com TGvE

    Well, I think the general backlash from the geek community is simply that geek is such an ingrained part of (our) identity, that for the mainstream that has oppressed us for so long to “take it away” from us hurts our notions of self. But we become no morally better than our oppressors if we decide to shut away outsiders who may be curious, and the shutting away lends itself to that anti-female attitude that you talked about earlier since many geek boys DO think of geekdom as male space.

    The usual answer to identity questions like this is that you know who you are, you know who you like, and other people’s opinions are just, like, their opinion, man. I see this being no different.

  • http://www.noisesharkmedia.com sambalam

    I think what’s so great about geek culture is its openness and gradations. Every individual has their own obsessions and dalliances in whatever tickles their fancy at a given moment. And then there are subjects in which we are die hard fans, claiming expertise on a given movie, game, comic book, fandom, etc.

    I personally gravitate towards comic books, movies, cartoons, and I’m a lover of history on top of my insatiable curiosity for pretty much anything I deem interesting. So I think it’s more of a personal definition of geekdom rather than allowing the mainstream to dictate what it is or isn’t. Mainstream media will come and go, but we’ll always be here snarking away.

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