Brie Larson climbs a rope as Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel.
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Things We Saw Today: Gail Simone Asked Us “Fake Nerd Girls” to Raise Our Hands and We Answered the Call

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Rachel Leishman
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Published: Feb 28, 2019 05:48 pm

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It’s 2019, but we’re still getting trapped in the same old game of “fake nerd girl” questions that women have faced for centuries. Essentially, what happens is that women (or non-binary) folk are faced with criticism that they are being “fake” in their dedicated geek nature.

This is usually determined by a condescending trivia quiz, as though you’re here to impress the head nerdboy inquisitor, or in being advised away from consuming certain media as “not for you.”

It’s most often an attempt to gatekeep access to a fandom or field of work, employed as a test of authenticity. For example: oh, you like Marvel? Do you even read Marvel comics? Which runs exactly and which writers and artists do you claim to like? What was the name of Stan Lee’s dog? You can’t escape this sort of questioning even if you are a woman or non-binary person literally writing for Marvel comics. In that case, the attention and grilling can be even worse. Wash, rinse, and repeat, for innumerable other properties.

For years, we’ve had to defend our nerdery and for years, it’s been frustrating. As comic superstar Gail Simone found out on Twitter today, a lot of us have encountered this. A lot.

A small smattering of the replies:

And on and on and on. The over 1,000 responses to Simone’s tweet proves that quite a few of us have experienced the “are you even a real fan” inquiry, in a wide variety of fields. So the next time you want to accuse someone of being a “fake fan” of something … maybe don’t?

Here are some other stories we saw:

  • The New York Times is asking if Captain Marvel can fix Marvel’s female problems and I laugh and I laugh. (via The New York Times)
  • So Disney … wants us to be on our cellphones while we are in their new Star Wars attraction? (via Entertainment Weekly)
  • The House passed a pretty big gun control bill while in the middle of the Michael Cohen testimony. (via Huffington Post)
  • Selma Blair wants to make fashionable clothing for disabled people and we could not be more here for it. (via Jezebel)

See anything else worth talking about today?

(image: Marvel Entertainment)

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Image of Rachel Leishman
Rachel Leishman
Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.
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