I’m sure there are some women who fake interest in geeky subjects to fit in with a guy. Just like there are some men that pretend to like opera (or Oprah) in order to get some girl’s attention.

But it isn’t just what you are interested in, but how deep your interest is that defines being a geek. This is something I neglected in my original post. Intensity of interest is at the heart of geekdom. Enjoying Star Trek isn’t really geeky: researching the episodes so you know which ones you’ve only seen three or four times so you can watch them again, studying the Enterprise blueprints and calculating whether there are enough bathrooms or food storage, reading several ‘behind the scenes’ books and actor biographies, arguing the energy requirements of shields versus transporter with other fans, comparing the sizes of the different Enterprises (did you know that the Enterprise in the remake is several times larger than the Enterprise in ST:TOS?): that’s being a geek 😉

It is hard to fake intensity, at least to someone else who is intense. I suppose it is harder, perhaps, to tell the difference between a “newbie” geek and a fake. Maybe that’s part of the problem too, and people worry that the hunt for “fake” geeks will discourage a newbie: unfortunately, there is no solution there.

I could take the position that a ‘real’ geek wouldn’t be discouraged in their true interest by the jeers of others. But there is a difference between being jeered at by a mundane for having a true geek interest, and being jeered at by a supposed geek for “not being geek enough.” I suppose that’s why I’d tend to be supportive of people who have “geeky” interests by default, rather than dismissive.

Just like I try not to say hurtful things to people on the assumption that they will hurt me one day: I save that for when they inevitably demonstrate their deceit 😉