Geek culture, or the death and commodification of - The Monoculture engulfs all

[AWizard]

A month or so late but here's the thread, might as well start with the same question (and answers) and move on from there. So a focus on the female side of it because I'm really curious on how the effect of the mainstreaming of geek culture has affected them compared to their male counterparts, cos I think it's been disastrous for male geeks/outcasts who have been seemingly been funnelled into either trooning out or becoming alt-right reactionaries and potential shooters (or being a shooter and a troon at the same time).

But anything on on the wider scope of geek culture, or what it's become, is also welcome:

Here's a question (that I may repeat for a self-contained thread) for (mainly millennial) femanons, nonas/nonnies, female geeks/nerds/dorks/outcasts and catladies/femcels: Where are you and how are you doing?

Cos like, geek culture becoming mainstream (and other more significant reasons) really fucked up male geeks/outcasts to the point where a large number of them are either trooning out or turning into alt-right reactionaries and potential shooters. I don't really know what happened to their female counterparts, I don't know if it had a similar effect or if it was a non-issue and was actually positive for them. I doubt "Chad" has a harem of "low social status" girls and I don't know if they're just as housebound as their male counterparts.

Context: From the unfuckable hate nerds article thread, which went in the direction you'd expect it to go here. I'm curious, has the gentrification of geekdom (and the internet), the gamification of relationships and atomisation affected female geeks/outcasts in the same way? Again, mainly asking millennials, since the internet seems to be, in a way, void of older people.

 

[AWizard]

And speaking of the wider scope of geek culture:

I'd dig that. I was talking last night with my fiance about how fucking INVASIVE gaming culture has become. Shit like Frebreeze crossing over with Fortnite.
Used to make sense, Doritos with Call of Duty, Mountain Dew with Halo. Even super gay shit like MTG and Cheez-Its partnering last month.
But jesus fuck, every other ad is about "it's so fucking cool to be a gamer, now you can buy these period diapers so you can always GAME ON. Too busy killing that boss to do dishes? don't worry, Dawn has got you. Get Geico, so you can game safely.
"

Reminded me of this Dunkey video:

Mortgage companies sponsoring gaming.

(I went to the Studio Ghilbi Symphony Concert earlier this week, and two things came to mind. One, just how much of my city has become gentrified and flooded with hipsters (and yuppies) and two, how it's not too disimilar to what's happened to geek culture.

It was a strangely composed audience, it's Studio Ghibli, a family-orientated animation studio and yet most of the audience was young, childless, hipster couples and groups. I'm probably looking too deeply into it, since the tickets were relatively expensive and it started at 7.00pm and finished 10.00pm.)

 

[Anonitolia]

no clue how a thread like this didn't exist already, good topic for discussion and good on you for making it op

Spoiler: an answer from a non-millennial in an attempt to provoke actual millennial responses

since you wanted an answer for that question, i'll answer even though I'm not of the generation to kick things off

Where are you and how are you doing?

Cos like, geek culture becoming mainstream (and other more significant reasons) really fucked up male geeks/outcasts to the point where a large number of them are either trooning out or turning into alt-right reactionaries and potential shooters. I don't really know what happened to their female counterparts, I don't know if it had a similar effect or if it was a non-issue and was actually positive for them. I doubt "Chad" has a harem of "low social status" girls and I don't know if they're just as housebound as their male counterparts.

gonna be honest, I feel like I've been robbed
I've always had a genuine and strong interest in geek shit, but so much of it is basically untouchable now

tried to set up a local dnd session (as dm)? swarmed with troons in an instant
attempt local vidya hangouts instead? most of the attendees either haven't bathed in a solid week + won't shut up about left-wing politics (either because they're the devil or god in disguise), or they're both of those and constantly complaining if the game being played isn't one of three shooters or smash bros

the worst part is always how you're treated- the troons try to be so delicate with you until you step out of line once (usually on accident), at which point they get either aggressive or bitchy very fast and then they either never calm down or switch between being super calm and super mad really really quickly
and the stereotype of smelly nerdy dudes being creepsters has not gone away with this gentrification, when it's really the only part that should've gone in the first place

it's gotten to the point where if someone brings up anything I have a genuine interest I see it as a red flag and stay the fuck away because none of these people are remotely sane in the slightest
that's of course resulted in me slowly losing interest in those hobbies because it's really fucking hard to interact with or follow this stuff when everything about it except the actual product makes you wretch in disgust
but hey, at least there's still singleplayer stuff to indulge in most of the time so I'm not completely detached

I can't speak to the experience of other women who get out more for obvious reasons, but my main social hobbies being infested with parasites and freaks (not even the kinds of freaks you can get along with) has definitely led to me being much more of a shut-in

that aside: good luck with the thread, I'll be watching it
the oversaturation of this shit has made me exhausted of something I could've loved
can't stand the gaming oversaturation especially. I want to buy a fucking car not hear about how cool it'd look like with Razer accessories on it.

 

[Sperghetti]

I'm gonna be honest, I'm not really sure because "geeky girl interests" involves two distinct categories: There's the ones that we typically think of as being male-dominated, but have always had women around in them to some degree, like video games, sci-fi/fantasy, tabletop gaming, etc. And those are the ones that have really had the gentrification problem.

Then there's the ones where the fandom/hobby is almost entirely women like fanfiction writing, musical theatre, certain historical stuff, etc. (For example, the kind of person who is really into Les Miserables or super excited about being a librarian is almost always female.) Those types of things don't seem to have been as forced into the mainstream as stuff like gaming or comic books have, and I don't think they have suffered the influx of "people who wouldn't have been caught dead doing this 20 years ago", so I think most of their problems can be chalked up to generational differences. (I actually found a really interesting little string of comments about this several years back, on Reddit of all places.)

attempt local vidya hangouts instead? most of the attendees either haven't bathed in a solid week + won't shut up about left-wing politics (either because they're the devil or god in disguise), or they're both of those and constantly complaining if the game being played isn't one of three shooters or smash bros

That's the thing -- because being a nerd wasn’t a status symbol, you still definitely had the former (smelly weirdos), but didn’t usually have the latter because most people were there because they were genuinely interested in the subject at hand. Now it’s like everything has this flood of people who’ve never left the newbie fan stage where they’re only familiar with the most basic elements of it, but believe they’re the biggest fans ever.

the oversaturation of this shit has made me exhausted of something I could've loved

As an old person, that's what I find most depressing about it. "Geek culture" used to be an alternative/parallel sphere to mainstream pop culture and entertainment that would cross over with it sometimes. Now it is mainstream pop culture, and there is no real alternative.

 

[OrionBalls]

I think having a tabletop group where half of us are women is nice. The "mainstreaming" of gaming has made D&D more fun, for me. It is a little weird seeing so many men in dresses in the comic shop, but at least no one in there is leering and questioning me on "how hardcore" I am, anymore.

 

[seri0us]

I think having a tabletop group where half of us are women is nice. The "mainstreaming" of gaming has made D&D more fun, for me. It is a little weird seeing so many men in dresses in the comic shop, but at least no one in there is leering and questioning me on "how hardcore" I am, anymore.

Just don't go to the bathroom while you're at the comic shop.

 

[BallsMcLongDong]

gonna be honest, I feel like I've been robbed
I've always had a genuine and strong interest in geek shit, but so much of it is basically untouchable now

Try not to feel like you've been robbed. Growing up in geek culture prior to it being cool means you were probably one of the smelly autists. I was. But you grew up and like anyone else, learned to bathe and talk to girls. It's sort of a toss up. In a way, it's probably for the best what happened. When I was growing up, people like me got the shit beat out of them for being really into DnD, anime, video games, goth shit, etc... And as a result, the communities were absurdly tight knit. That led to great friendships, but also a lot of excusing acting like a faggot, since your group was so small, you couldn't stand to lose it calling out all their various disgustery.
It's really jarring seeing the people that used to try to dunk my head in toilets dressing in the clothes or talking about the things I used to get dunked for wearing or liking.
I used to believe this was good, no more people getting fucked with for their interests, but as I get older, I realize how important gatekeeping things is to keep the thing pure. Or at least interesting. Too many cooks spoil the broth, and not enough cooks and a bunch of twitter addicts telling you what to add leads to no broth getting made at all.

As an old person, that's what I find most depressing about it. "Geek culture" used to be an alternative/parallel sphere to mainstream pop culture and entertainment that would cross over with it sometimes. Now it is mainstream pop culture, and there is no real alternative.

The alternative has become the normal, and the normal the alternative.
"Fuck you, Xad. I'm cutting my hair short and I'm gonna wear a suit! You can't stop me from getting a job at the grocery store!"
It really is wild how things have flipped. I'm judging and bullying people for liking the things I got judged and bullied for.

 

[Whatevermancer]

What even is "geek culture"? Cause as far as I'm concerned, it's consumerism, except you need to consume the right kind of product(i.e. sci-fi, fantasy, animation, etc.)

 

[AWizard]

so I think most of their problems can be chalked up to generational differences.

I don't know, I think it's because geek culture is more socially/financially valuable now that it is of interest to normalfags, as well as being easily accessible. Geek stuff has been around for a long time but it's only now that it's being picked up by the mainstream in this way. Sure there may have a few hurdles into certain niches of geekdom but if you were actually interested in the niche you would make the effort.

I mean, it's not so much general differences so much as material differences. It's become more "accepted" because starting a family and owning your own home is so much more expensive than just extending your childhood.

I used to believe this was good, no more people getting fucked with for their interests, but as I get older, I realize how important gatekeeping things is to keep the thing pure.

I refer you to my previous post:

...........In the past I feel like geek fandoms provided a level of community, both offline and online, that many oddballs may not have had otherwise, meeting "your people" so to speak. Right now, with no gatekeepers, lower barriers of entry and commitment (for instance, getting new anime in the old days by trading tapes in anime clubs), youtube and wikias, means that anybody with enough clout can come in take over your community and/or suck the life out of it.

The alternative has become the normal, and the normal the alternative.

The alternative is part of the normal. The monoculture consumes all.

 

[BallsMcLongDong]

What even is "geek culture"? Cause as far as I'm concerned, it's consumerism, except you need to consume the right kind of product(i.e. sci-fi, fantasy, animation, etc.)

To that degree, could we argue any culture whatsoever is consumption? Sure, there are the creators of music, art, literature, slang, traditions. But for them to become culture, they have to be consumed and acted out, remembered, recreated en masse by a group of people.

 

[teriyakiburns]

The alternative has become the normal, and the normal the alternative.
"Fuck you, Xad. I'm cutting my hair short and I'm gonna wear a suit! You can't stop me from getting a job at the grocery store!"
It really is wild how things have flipped. I'm judging and bullying people for liking the things I got judged and bullied for.

Huey Lewis was a prophet.

 

[AWizard]

Huey Lewis was a prophet.

As in "Hip to be Square"?

 

[teriyakiburns]

As in "Hip to be Square"?

It sure is.

 

[CEO of Pickles]

Huey Lewis was a prophet.

The commodification just seems like a result of companies deciding to do whatever they can to ensure their product has a better chance at success, and they just figured it was to manipulate the market.

Why let customers decide if they want X when you can spend a truckload more to funding websites that writes reviews on products like X and have that website write positive things about X? Every IP will have a wiki and you will like it! Don't just make super hero movies, turn in into an industry that will too big to fail so you can make super hero movies ad nauseam without catastrophic drops.

 

[OrionBalls]

When I was growing up, people like me got the shit beat out of them for being really into DnD, anime, video games, goth shit, etc...

Those kids should have learned how to run faster. They can't beat you if they can't catch you.

 

[Kalsarikännit]

I’m gonna copy over a response I gave to a similar question in the consoomer thread:

I think why theater kids specifically are getting the blame is because, while there were always TMI autistic nerds trying to drag normies into listening to their rants about their Special Interests, the norm used to be that nerds knew they were nerds, and kept their nerd shit under the table because they knew it was niche.

Where theater kids come in is when you have nerds, then give them the idea that they should take up performative acting. Now, in their mind every social interaction has become a rehearsal to hone their acting skills, and they’re still nerds, so they now not only seek out people to interact with, but talk to them about nerd shit because that’s the main thing they know about. Give these people money to do this, and enough of a platform, and you get what you have today.

This was in the context of people ruining nerd interests with consumerism, but I will point out that the same act of deliberately exposing normies to, and informing them about nerdy shit is what lead this kind of gentrification to start gaining ground. Nerds didn’t used to evangelize because they knew their nerd shit could get their asses beat.

 

[8mm Cunningham]

It seems trivial, but the website ThinkGeek used to actually be cool, until they got bought by Gamestop (I think) and turned into a millenial-sharper-image. Makes me sad to see that little niche destroyed.

 

[AWizard]

I think why theater kids specifically are getting the blame is because, while there were always TMI autistic nerds trying to drag normies into listening to their rants about their Special Interests, the norm used to be that nerds knew they were nerds, and kept their nerd shit under the table because they knew it was niche.

Where theater kids come in is when you have nerds, then give them the idea that they should take up performative acting. Now, in their mind every social interaction has become a rehearsal to hone their acting skills, and they’re still nerds, so they now not only seek out people to interact with, but talk to them about nerd shit because that’s the main thing they know about. Give these people money to do this, and enough of a platform, and you get what you have today.

This was in the context of people ruining nerd interests with consumerism, but I will point out that the same act of deliberately exposing normies to, and informing them about nerdy shit is what lead this kind of gentrification to start gaining ground. Nerds didn’t used to evangelize because they knew their nerd shit could get their asses beat.

I don't know, nerds were always trying to get more people into the hobbies. It wasn't until geek came into vogue that normalfags suddenly took a major liking to it.