Being really frakkin' geeky is in - Stan Lee is responsible for approximately half of the summer blockbusters this year (again), Glee is at Comic Con, and The Big Bang Theory a) exists and b) won a Golden Globe. Also? Game of Thrones.
I don't have to tell you how exciting this all is for a card-carrying geek such as myself. Unlike Patton Oswalt, I'm all for the mainstreaming of geek culture. I think we can all agree that the more movies about Hobbits that Peter Jackson is given the budget (and Ian McKellan) to make, the better. But, despite the fact that our entertainment and media industries are currently standing on the shoulders - and milking the wallets - of my community, they've overlooked something important. Not to get all James T. Kirk about it, but this whole "geek" Enterprise sucks for women.
Historically, "geeks" have not been considered a particularly female-friendly group, the Simpsons "comic book guy" being held up as the desexualized, unpleasant, unsociable, always male icon. Since then, this image of a "geek" has been rehabilitated. He's still awkward, but now he's young. He's clever. He stars in action films. He's Indiana Jones's son. See: Shia LaBeouf, Justin Long, Michael Cera, and every other skinny, white dude that looks like Shia LaBeouf, Justin Long, and Michael Cera.
The situation reminds me a lot of the recent discussion about the significance of "Bridesmaids'" success. Mainstream comedies tend to target men assuming women will follow, because men are considered to be the neutral perspective. And though everyone insists on being surprised every time, when something is targeted explicitly at women, we flock to it, whether or not it's complete crap. Beggars can't be choosers, after all.
Yet, geek women's demands for attention, spaces, and products from the mainstream - not at all new - are beginning to finally be heard. What has been a vibrant, active, subculture with its own prominent voices, celebrities, groups, and events, is showing potential to go as mainstream as male geek culture. The first cracks within the media stronghold might be seen in the success of almost-feminist geek commentary such as io9 by Gawker and the emergence of The Mary Sue by Abrams media. Then there's AOL's own awesome Comics Alliance , a website that was developed and run by a woman and currently stands as the #1 comics site in the US.
However, this is not enough. And while I can't believe I have to beg giant corporations to give me more opportunities to spend my money on movie tickets, DVDs, action figures, and collector's items, here goes: My demands from the television and movie industries, or any industry that caters to the cult followings and camp of geekdom, are as follows.
Of course, there is nothing I've said here that can't be said for race, sexual orientation, or any other identity that faces erasure or indeed, exclusion, in society and even within geek culture itself. Geeks are diverse like every community. But it is patently ridiculous to pretend that women don't read comics. That women don't like sci fi. That women don't want to play with lightsabers and swords. That the role of women in the genre is as decoration in a gold, metal bikini.
And, to anyone who anyone that thinks that targeting girls and women within the sci fi and fantasy genres won't be successful or profitable, I have one word for you: Twilight.
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Long story short, being a geek isn't about catering to gender. It's about the creation of good art, enjoyable entertainment, and pride in enjoying something more fully than most others do. And this article's slant ignores many of the female contributors to geekdom.
Someone previously stated that the majority of gamers are women over the age of 25. Women also attend comic conventions, watch anime, write fanfic, and create amazing works of art.
Women are not included simply to be eye-candy. And it's equally true that sometimes men are given roles simply because of their physical beauty (hayden christensen, tom cruise, keanu reeves anyone?) despite their lack of talent/ability.
Someone stated that "girls will read/watchÂ/buy 'boy' stuff, but boys won't read/watchÂ/buy 'girl' stuff," to which i will outright disagree. The majority of viewers for "My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic" are males over the age of 25. Lauren Faust created a show that is not popular because it's for girls. It's popular because it's good.
Twilight, on the other hand, while popular is not necessarily good. If anything, that line was more damaging to the author's stance than any other statement in the article. Especially since Twilight is rife with emotional abuse, abandonment and codependency issues, teen pregnancy, and some of the worst plot ever to have hit printed page.
Entire shows are built around geeky women: Emily Deschanel in Bones, Felicia Day in The Guild, hell - the female characters are the focal point of most the X-Men films.
Had this article been written 10 years ago, I might agree. But women are widely praised for not only their contributions to, but their participation in geek culture these days.
EG: the writers for latest couple of seasons of Doctor Who speaks for it's bloody self (I love Stephen Moffat as a writer, but feminist he ain't)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_doctor_who_episodes
... or BSG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battlestar_galactica_episodes#Season_1_.282004.E2.80.932005.29
In the interests of being fair and balanced - Supernatural is a saving grace (though there are still more men on staff than women - and given that we can still count this as successful female representation, that's an indicator in itself of the state of the problem.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_supernatural_episodes
And of course, it's not enough to say that there is female representation in the staff or on the screen - but it's also important to think about what kind of messages these programmes are presenting women.
Of course, there are plenty of great female role models in geek culture - but the exceptions don't disprove the rule.
And besides, I for one do not judge any of my entertainment based on someones gender, I thought we moved beyond that. I judge it based on if it is good.
So please, embrace what is going on now and stop building up these straw man arguements.
And do not take this post as anti-woman in the geek genre, I am celebrating it. I just want some realistic perspective here.
Let's reverse things for a moment here.
Would you be pleased if 90% of what you saw in comic books were females while males were occasionally brought in, mostly as sidekicks. These males would also have outfits consisting of maybe a pair of pants here, this one in shorts, this other one has a shirt, but it's fishnet, this one is just a speedo, some boots and an odd looking leather harness thing.
Now these men are sometimes strong, but the strong ones don't have relationships, they're kind of bitchy towards women and demand doing things on their own. They get to be the heros.
The sidekicks are super sweet, do whatever the heros say, sometimes a bit snarky, but mostly follow what they're told and everybody likes them.
Sound like something you'd like to read?
I hate looking too far into things and ending up over-analyzing them. However, when I can find two female heros I can relate to then there's a problem.
Besides, what's the downfall of making some more chicks being bad ass and not just cold bitches? Girls buy more of those comics, industry makes more money. no harm no foul.
And again, I will always enjoy something that is well written and done intelligently no matter the race/gender/etc... of the creator.
And they succeed not because they're directed AT women, but because they are high quality products that everyone can enjoy. Girl geeks are interested in the same things that guys are: great stories,characters, gameplay, and art)
So don't speak for me (or women, please) when you say "when something is targeted explicitly at women, we flock to it, whether or not it's complete crap." I see quality movies that interest me, even if they don't mention shoes at all. I don't want to bond with some token female hire just because we both have periods. Whining about not enough girl stuff just makes confused executives give us shows like Wonder Woman, where instead of focusing on a good story with good characters, we get a crappy but estrogen-appealing show about a "successful corporate executive and a modern woman trying to balance all of the elements of her extraordinary life." Bleh. I'll take story over boobs any day.
Thanks for the excellent array of links as well, they shall be added.
Geek movies aren't popular among movie goers because there's a rising interest in science and sequential art. Sure, occasionally there’s enough crossover that a movie or show can widen the audience, but how many people only read A Game of Thrones because it was on TV? Take a look at the bestseller list, where it recently reappeared because so many viewers are just now interested. How many comic fans loved X-Men 3? Almost none, because it was unfaithful to the spirit of the books, but it grossed more than the faithful versions by far. Why? Because the wider audience is drawn to action movies more than the characters they'd never heard of before the first movie. Geeks aren't what's making these movies a success, it's the fact that so many people have never come across these ideas before, they're considered "fresh," and because these properties have enough side-market to appeal to non-geeks.
And for the love of God, how is Glee geeky? Because some of its characters aren't cheerleaders or football players?
"Card-carrying geek"? I don't think so.
We like it before it was mainstream. The fact that its mainstream now completely defies what it is to be a geek. Liking Harry Potter movies doesn't make you a geek. Dressing up like Harry Potter doesn't make you a geek. That's an Otaku. Writing Harry Potter fan fiction doesn't make you a geek. Being able to recite spells and knowing what the name of Dumbledore's brother makes you a geek.
By the way, otaku is Japanese for geek.
So we're ignoring the failures of the television adaptations of Wonder Woman, Witchblade, Birds of Prey, etc.? So we're going to pretend that Smallville wasn't created specifically for women? It lasted 10 years on air.
Do you really think girls watch the Twilight movies because of Kristen Stewart?
Poor, poor JK Rowling. Nobody is paying attention to her.
I guess the women in Avatar were just window dressing? What a bomb that was. I know it didn't bring in Ghost World type dollars, but still pretty successful.
Anime is dominated by female characters (albeit objectified), but in the western world Anime fandom is made up of mostly girls. Go figure.
Basically your article is fallacious and highlights an inequity that just doesn't exist the way you posit it. Women fans are not being ignored. Women creators are not being ignored. In fact they are dominating the bookstores, boxoffices, DVD sales and more. We need to get past gender score-keeping.
Women deserve quality writing (where the WW pilot, Witchblade, and Birds of Prey all failed), AND stories that are are told from our perspective. Good examples of writing and stories that speak to women are such shows like Xena: Warrior Princess & Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Oh, and Veronica Mars.
Part of the reason girls AND women have enjoyed Twilight so much is because it's a story driven by a woman's perspective, as criticized as it is.
You don't see the discrepancy because, as the author said, you are considered the neutral perspective. Avatar was a male's perspective of this foreign land. Smallville was a man's journey. And if you think men didn't watch Smallville, you are sorely mistaken.
Women don't just sit back and say, "Thank you for writing us crap tv shows. We'll watch ANYTHING as long as it has female main characters!"
No. We deserve better. We deserve stories driven by us that don't relegate us to a pair of tits and thighs.