Hot Pink Freak

I’ve seen the “Speak Out With Your Geek Out” program fly around on Twitter & Facebook, but I hadn’t given it much thought. I promote “Read an RPG Book in Public” and “Read a Comic Book in Public” days, but I rarely actually participate. Mostly because I already do these on a regular basis. It never occurs to me that I would be ashamed or embarrassed at how people perceive my nerdiness; this is the key to feeling acceptance within yourself. You can’t control how others feel about your hobby. What you can do, by being confident in yourself and your hobbies, is bring others out of their shell.

This type of thinking isn’t limited just to gaming or comic pursuits. I find it in the beer geek hobby, too. Especially as a woman who enjoys VERY dark beer. I tend to strike up conversations about beer when I’m drinking something which isn’t seen as “normal for a lady”. It happens with my socks, too. Yes, sock collecting is a hobby. If you don’t believe me, check out Sock Dreams. All my favorite socks come from Sock it to Me.

I believe people are attracted to people who appear to be having fun. Whether the stripey socks, my weird glasses, my RPG books or a dark glass of beer, I always look like I am having a good time with the things I love. When you are passionate about something, in this case geek pursuits, it encourages others to explore their passions, too.

When I sat down to read the article Calling all Geeks: Post about Your Hobbies September 12th to the 16th I became excited about the project.

I then read Speak Out with Your Geek Out by Dorkland and In Which We Prepare to Speak Out… by Jess Hartley.

What struck me about it all, was the positive & passionate love for geek pursuits. This kept standing out to me:

SPEAK OUT WITH YOUR GEEK OUT

Sometime during the week of Monday, September 12th to Friday, September 16th post about what geeky hobby you love. Then, tell us why we should try it, too. Leave your fears (and edition wars) at the door. Forget about your latest rant. Tap into that well of positive energy and share in the excitement of all things geek. Let us invite those who would stereotype us to sit at our table and share our interests.

The only thing I would change about this would be the last line about stereotyping. I’d much rather focus on encouraging people to engage. If we are only doing this to do a “IN YOUR FACE” to people who would stereotype people with geek passions, it isn’t very helpful. Yes, I understand the message in the quote above. However, there are many geeks who might attempt to use this as a way of promoting “I’m Geekier Than Thou”. Which is also one of my pet peeves.

I think we SHOULD address the ugly side of geek elitism. But that is for another post.