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Missy and Merri discuss the expectations of being women in geek culture, including the fake geek girl stereotype and performing femininity. There’s no wrong way to be a woman, no matter what culture tells you.
Some links you might enjoy:
Geek Masculinity and the Myth of the Fake Geek Girl
Fake Geek Girl: The Gender Conflict in Nerd Culture
4 replies on “Episode 12 – Geek Femininity”
Friend and I are both in Japanese research. I am focused in education, internationalization, and shifting dynamics of culture and communication through the development of digitalization (especially in youth culture). My friend however spent years on the historical aesthetic culture: clothing/textiles, women historically, etc. She started writing a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of MoaG (Memoirs of a Geisha), providing both history, cultural, and feminist insight. It’s outstanding and is relatable, so I recommend it: http://fuyou-hime.deviantart.com/journal/Chapter-Critique-1-350628369 🙂
Thanks for the link! I remember when I first found out that MoaG was a sack of lies and fetishization and felt personally betrayed by Arthur Golden. It was a mindblowing experience – like, young me was flabbergasted that somebody would write a book as if it were real and have so many blatantly untrue things in it, not in terms of events, but in terms of cultural representation.
That analysis looks great, I look forward to reading more it! I browsed it a bit this morning and found it super interesting, especially the stuff about clothing because that’s something I know absolutely nothing about. Great work on the part of your friend. 🙂
Right? I was super into the imagery of the book when I was younger, but by feeling let down by the truth, I discovered so much more. (and then even more through living there) My friend who was doing the critique (only 14 chapters in and went on hiatus) has taught and shown me so many beautiful resources over the years. If you ever need book recs, let me know! 😀
Same! I re-read it a year or so ago and it was a completely different experience. The imagery is really beautiful, and the writing is pretty, but knowing the truth really changes the way you read it. I re-read it a couple of years ago and my perspective on it was completely different, in part because I’m older and in part because I know more about the world.
I LOVE book recs. I have an endlessly growing list of books to read, but if you ever want to share anything let me know! I’ll throw them on there too. 🙂