bethanie's Journal: The Female Geek: Where does she fit in?

It has been one of the defining questions of my life so far (when I have time to consider things like defining questions -- most of the time I'm too busy with things like grocery shopping and doing laundry and the like) to wonder where I fit into the Realm of Geekdom.

I recently sent the following set of questions to a friend of mine (one of those remarkable Renaissance Geeks!):

What I've always wondered is where I (and other females like me) fall into the whole geek scheme. I've never been good enough at math or the inner workings of computers (although I did learn some SQL when I thought I wanted to be an Oracle DBA once) to really qualify as a geek. So am I just a groupie, a wanna-be? But to have nabbed myself a true gen-u-wine geek, I obviously must possess a level of intelligence that provides the requisite stimulation. Where does the liberal arts, multi-lingual, not-so-hard-core, female counterpart to the geek fit into the picture? When I resolve the answer to this riddle, my mind will be at peace.

His response was (J -- I will edit this to paraphrase if you like):

You asked where someone like you fits into the geek girl universe, well, I would say that you have a few attributes that qualify you (if memory serves...).

1. You're not ashamed of your intelligence.
2. You're not a slave to society.
3. You (I think this is safe to say) have a kernel of neediness, which most or all geeks share (including me)...
4. You are genuinely interested if not outright knowlegeable about geekly topics.
5. You have a feminine, uplifting aura without intimidation.
6. To top it all off, you are wildly enthusiastic about sex. (At least, that's how I remember it...)

Now, I'm not sure that all of his criteria are exactly geek-specific, #3 and #6 in particular. I think that everyone is needy. And the people who aren't deserve to die alone. As far as the sex part, well, I think that's just the good ole' "evolutionary mandate" (his term -- a great one, so I'll borrow it) at work. :-)

So I want to hear from everyone who's reading this, especially the girls! Where do we fit into Geekdom? If we acknowledge that we, too, are geeks, but perhaps do not possess the technical prowess of our male counterparts ('though the females on Slashdot probably do...), then what other characteristics qualify us?

Another definition of geek thread...

[shadowspark]

I think KshGoddess [slashdot.org] had some of it right in her definition of geekdom in this JE [slashdot.org]. Unfortunately I think she is undergoing family challenges at the moment so I don't think she's been online much.

Thanks for the link

[bethanie]

I read through her entry, and agree with most of the elements that comprise a geek. But I also think that the technical elements make it too exclusionary.

There must, I contend, be room for the non-technical geek. I think you'd find that there are a considerable number of women who would appropriately claim the status of "geek" with the exception of the technical aspects of it. That's where the Liberal Arts Geek [slashdot.org] comes in.

And that's not to say that the L.A. Geeks are all women -- they may also be men who j

It's about HOW to understand. . .

[D+iz+a+n+k+Meister]

I don't think "geekiness" really has anything to do with pride in one's intelligence or one's view about their relationship with society. I think being a geek has to do with a desire/compulsion to understand things in a very particular way--and that way usually requires intelligence. I'm not sure how to define that particular way, but I think it's best described as meticulous, as in "extremely or excessively concerned with details." Now, I don't mean that negatively, or that the obsession with details pe