Season of Sexism #2: The Fake Geek Girl; plus Origins Award Winners, and Red Aegis' designer dream t

[h=3]Season of Sexism #2: The Fake Geek Girl[/h]
The second episode in our Season of Sexism! [See episode 1 here] Over the last few years there's been a particularly obnoxious phenomenon of men accusing women at conventions and the like of being "fake geek girls". This week we (badly) re-enact a couple of famous examples and ask folks at UK Games Expo 2013 what they think of the issue. Note that rants performed in this video are reconstructions of real rants and are performed by an actor. They do not reflect the opinions of EN World, the actor, or any of the interviewees. Next week we take a look at sexism in gaming art! [HI][threadcm]http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?337600-Season-of-Sexism-2-The-Fake-Geek-Girl-plus-Origins-Award-Winners-and-Red-Aegis-designer-dream-team![/threadcm] [/HI]

[video=youtube;vFjeUQgJ8rI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFjeUQgJ8rI[/video]
​

[h=3]EN World News[/h]

• We have our usual collection of articles and new content for you to enjoy!
  • Gamehackery: Living in a Metadata World[HI][threadcm]http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?337571-Gamehackery-Living-in-a-MetaData-World[/threadcm][/HI]
  • Explosions in the Sky: A boardgame review of Hanabi from Abacusspiele [HI][threadcm]http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?337572-Explosions-in-the-Sky-A-review-of-Hanabi-from-Abacusspiele[/threadcm][/HI]
  • 3G: Some Rules Are Better Than Others[HI][threadcm]http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?337591-3G-Some-Rules-Are-Better-Than-Others[/threadcm][/HI]
  • Game Design 114: Flaw Finding [HI][threadcm]http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?337592-Game-Design-114-Flaw-Finding[/threadcm] [/HI]
• The ZEITGEIST hardcover Kickstarter is coming along well - we are approaching our first stretch goal ($5000) which will add lot of art and maps to the hardcover compilation of the adventure path (Pathfinder and D&D 4E). There's one quesiton we've been asked frequently, so we thought we should make a little FAQ:
  • Will the Pathfinder and 4E books be separate? Yep! Separate books! You choose the one you want.

[h=3]RPG News[/h]

• Check out this preview from FFG of Enemies of the Imperium, a supplement for Only War. There's also a FAQ and errata for Only War.
• Matt James is heading up a new game company called Vorpal Games. He's been drafting in some great talent - Brian R James, Ed Greenwood, Erik Scott de Bie, Eytan Bernstein, Mike Schley, Claudio Pozas, Miranda Horner, and Erik Nowak. As I understand it, the angle here is that you don't play a character, you play a dynasty - each game session (of ten) you play a consecutive descendant. The character dies (either in-game or of old age) each session, but the real character - your dynasty - gains skills/powers. The game itself will be called Red Aegis and will be a Kickstarter project opening in July.

[h=3]Community News[/h]

• Game Knight Reviews has reviewed Kobold Press' Midgard Adventures: Beyond the Ghostlight Reef.
• Gaming Tonic talks a bit more about house rules in It's A Rule, Not A Law.
• Kobold Press has a series of articles covering development of their Deep Magic Kickstarter: Crafting the Cover, Meet the Editor/Developer, No More Handwaving.
• Sly Flourish presents the Best D&D 4E Encounter Tricks - in-battle skill challenges, escalating auras, shared lifeforce bosses, and minion generators.
• The Chamber of Mazarbul has an article about hombrewed lasting wounds in 13th Age; plus one about danger vs. lethality in RPGs.

[h=3]Boardgaming & Other News[/h]

• Fantasy Flight Games has previews up for new runners from the upcoming Creation and Control expansion for Android: Netrunner. The three new Shaper identities will soon be featured in a deck building installment. Creation and Control is available for pre-order.
• Triassic Terror is a tactical game from Eagle Games that has players trying to breed herds of dinosaurs and then migrate them across various terrain. Herds will be hunted by T-Rex and velociraptors and have to avoid dangerous terrain features such as volcanoes.
• Critical Failures is a novel about a group of jaded 30-somethings who get sent to the fantasy world of their RPG. Author Robert Bevan says "It's comedy/fantasy. The language is strong and some of the humor is low-brow, but it's been doing pretty well".

[h=3]2013 Origins Award Winners[/h]
The Origins Game Fair took place over the weekend. During the convention, the 2013 Origins Awards winners were announced (these awards are voted for by attendees of the trade show). Congratulations to all the winners!

Best Roleplaying Game
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Basic Games – Margaret Weis Productions

Best Roleplaying Supplement
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Civil War Essentials Edition Event Book – Margaret Weis Productions

Best Board Game
Lords of Waterdeep – Wizards of the Coast

Best Collectible Card Games
Legend of the 5 Rings: Embers of War – AEG

Best Traditional Card Game
Doctor Who the Card Game – Cubicle 7 Entertainment/Treefrog Games

Best Family, Party or Children's Game
Quarriors! Dice Building Game – WizKids

Best Gaming Accessory
Metal Steampunk Dice Set – Q Workshop

Best Miniatures Rules
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Campaign Starter Set – WizKids

Best Historical Miniature Figure/Line
Ancient Greeks - Victrix Ltd

Best Historical Board Games
Samurai Battles – Zvezda

Best Historical Miniature Rules Supplement
Flames of War: Nuts – Battlefront Miniatures

Best Historical Miniature Rules
Flames of War: Open Fire! – Battlefront Miniatures

Best Miniature Figure Line
Marvel HeroClix: Galactic Guardians – WizKids

Best Game-Related Publication
Battletech: Weapons Free – Catalyst Game Labs

Hall of Fame Game Inductees
Munchkin – Steve Jackson Games
Dominion – Rio Grande Games

Hall of Fame Inductees
Lisa Stevens, Paizo Publishing
Loren Coleman, Catalyst Game Labs
​

 

[Matt James]

Thanks for mentioning our project! We can't wait to watch it grow and thrive.

 

[delericho]

I'm pretty sure the "fake geek girl" thing comes from the same place as the old cliche of the guy in the pub who gets shot down by an attractive woman and therefore tells his mates that she's a lesbian. Or, indeed, the nice guys/jerks dichotomy.

It's about salving wounded pride - it's not that you're unattractive, it's that she's not attracted to men, or she's only attracted to bastards, or she's a fake. As long as there's something external to blame, it saves you from facing some unpalatable truth.

And just as there is such a thing as a lesbian (though the woman in the pub in the first paragraph almost certainly wasn't one), there probably is such a thing as a "fake geek girl". Indeed, saying that shouldn't even be all that controversial - it's not exactly news that some (generally young) women sometimes pretend to be something they're not for the attention. (As, indeed, do men.)

But saying they exist is not the same as saying they're common - they're not. And it certainly doesn't make it any less offensive to describe someone as a "fake" because she doesn't welcome your advances. Or to deploy your oh-so-clever "fake geek girl test".

(Hell, it's probably offensive to assume that a woman at a convention would be open to being hit on at all. I daresay that in many cases she'd much rather be left alone to enjoy the convention. Having, very occasionally, been the target of unwanted attention, I'm quite aware that it's actually not as much fun as you might think.)

And I think that's why there's plenty of noise about "fake geek girls" and almost none about "fake geek guys" - it's being driven by heterosexual males. They're not attracted to geek guys, fake or otherwise, so they don't much care. Which is unfair, and sexist, and offensive, but there it is. Sorry; men suck sometimes.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The fake game girl thing is also an outgrowth of the fact that the geeks have won. When I was in high school in the 1980s, the girls I swooned for wouldn't have been caught dead reading a vampire novel (which would have meant Anne Rice at that point) or a giant series of fantasy novels (the Wheel of Time, most likely) and would be baffled if they thought anyone their age still cared about superheroes.

But today, those same girls, now women, watch and discuss every episode of True Blood and Game of Thrones and go with their girlfriends to drool over Captain America and Thor. (In my case, my wife prefers Iron Man's smart ass commentary.)

Whenever you have any group suddenly expand in size -- in this case, geek culture going mainstream -- there are always members of the earlier members of said groups trying to push some or all of the newbies back out. This happens with interest groups, political groups, cultural groups and so on. Given the nature of some of these OG geeks, it's wrapped up in sexism this time, possibly because telling a handsome guy with good posture and fashion sense that he's not a real geek raises the spectre of long-ago school yard fights for some of these would-be badasses, and it's easier for them to yell at women instead.

 

[Umbran]

Whenever you have any group suddenly expand in size -- in this case, geek culture going mainstream -- there are always members of the earlier members of said groups trying to push some or all of the newbies back out.

You don't even need that growth in size. Drawing lines between Us and Them has been happening in fandom (and everywhere else) forever. For RPG-relevant examples: every time you see someone frown upon someone else's playstyle, and very attempt to classify an edition as "not D&D" is basically just an attempt to draw a line between the true, loyal, hardcore fan of X, and everyone else who isn't. This part of it is by no means gender-specific.

Humans have this basic urge to try make themselves look better up by tearing others down, and an arrogance that the speaker is an authority that gets to pass judgement on the worthiness of others. Kind of pathetic, but common, I'm afraid.

On top of that is the basic sexist assumption that whether she's a geek is linked to her being a girl.

The most ugly bit is not just sexist, but sexist entitlement - that the guy "deserves" to have a girl, and to degrade, shun, label, and shame the girl if she doesn't give over. The basic assumption is that her existence is primarily about her relationship to the man.

 

[darjr]

congrats to all the origin award winners! Especially to the Hall of Fame winners!

 

[NewJeffCT]

I've never heard of the "fake" geek girl before, but I can definitely say it's true about a woman in gaming gets a lot of attention, be they real geeks or fake.

Also agree with Whizbang - when I went to college in the mid 80s, there was an RPG/D&D club on campus. There were maybe 100 gamers, if not a bit more than that, and I only remember seeing one female. Nowadays, it's a rare gaming table I'm at that doesn't have at least one woman (heck, my FLGS has been running Lair Assaults with a woman as DM), and I'm guessing if there is still an RPG/D&D club on that campus, it's probably 20-30% women. Still a minority, but definitely a lot more.

And, Game of Thrones has certainly helped. Whenever I post on Facebook or a non-gaming forum about GoT, most of the respondents are female, which surprises me since it's a dark and brutal world where women are often relegated to second class status. (True Blood & Twilight as well, but I've never read the books or watched the show/movies)

 

[Spryte]

Sadly, I'm not surprised by this video - though it's great to see so many people denouncing the fake geek girl concept. I think there are a lot of things at play in this though, not just one factor, and it's built on a variety of stereotypes. "All smart girls look like geeks" and "fighting is only for boys" to name a couple. Part of it probably stems from a sense of propriety, in that traditionally gaming was for guys, and now they have to deal with the "girl factor" - and heaven forbid if the female is actually better than they are. Of course there actually are a select few out there who play the part of geek girl to get the attention, and that certainly doesn't help anything! What I think a lot of the people tossing around that name don't realize is that being a female at a male dominated convention can be unnerving as it is. The last thing most of us want is additional attention based on our gender - save that for when we dominate at the game!

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Looking forward to Red Aegis!

 

[Alan Shutko]

This is absolute cheating. Bringing in a bunch of UK geeks with their damn sexy accents to support ANYTHING is a terribly underhanded ruse.