When I was in Japantown, I spent a lot of time checking out the mall’s enormous selection of Gundam models. I didn’t have any room in my stuffed carry-on suitcase, but that didn’t keep me from window shopping. Lately I’ve been lusting after unusual models, like the Acguy and Z’gok.
At the store with the biggest selection, a group of four guys were standing in front of the wall of Gundams, blocking my view. They didn’t seem to notice me, so I said “excuse me,” in order to get through. That seemed to surprise the tallest of the guys.
“Wait,” he said. “You build Gundams?”
I nodded. As I’ve written before, I built my first Gundam a few years ago and have dabbled in tougher models since. I even wrote a Gundam modeling tutorial for beginners.
“Really. What’s the last model you built?” he asked. It may have just been in my head, but I felt like he didn’t believe me.
Perhaps it was the pressure, but I couldn’t remember the full name of the last model I’d built, an MS-06S Char’s Zaku Real Grade.
“A… Zaku,” I said.
That seemed to make him upset.
“There are a lot of Zaku models,” he pointed out.
“It was the new one, the real grade,” I said. (Real grade is one of the building difficulty levels defined in my tutorial.)
“Those aren’t even hard to build,” he replied.
I was feeling increasingly flustered, so I called over to Steven, who was in another part of the store, and we left together.
I had just been an unwitting recipient of the “geek test,” a pop quiz some fans give to verify the geek cred of people they don’t think belong in their fandom. I was frustrated with myself for playing along.
As I explained on ANNCast, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me. As a woman, I know I’m not alone. It’s the reason I wrote about why I can’t be a hot girl and a nerd at the same time. Even if I feel like I’m blending in at a Magic: The Gathering event, somebody will ask me where my boyfriend is and break the spell. Even though I was there with my fiance, nobody asked him where his girlfriend was.
I hate to admit it, but the whole experience left me wondering, perhaps I should be trying to build more difficult Gundam models. That guy is going to assume that women aren’t good at model building, just because the woman he did meet was an amateur. Like it or not, whenever I choose to indulge in male dominated hobbies, I am an ambassador for my gender.
Have you ever been given the “geek test” by a fellow fan? Did you pass?
Photo by Fiends Ain’t Family on Flickr.
19 Comments.
I think I’ve said this before, but I tend to only question a girl’s “Geek Cred” if she’s calling attention to the fact that she’s a girl and she does something geeky. I think I’ve been surrounded by so many girls who’s knowledge of anime, comics, and video games are so much beyond mine that a girl being a geek about something feels normal to me.
When I found out that you were into Gundam (beyond just Wing), my initial thought was “Oh cool” cause I haven’t really met a girl who was really into Gundam before (like I said, beyond Wing). Then there is when I was hanging out with my cousin the other weekend and she keep going on about how her boyfriend’s friends think its cool that “She’s a girl and she watches Futurama and plays Modern Warfare” I kind of just nodded my head and rolled my eyes a bit when she was like “Yeah, I bet you didn’t think I was such a geeky girl”. My inner thought was “I know a lot of geeky girls… This isn’t out of the norm to me.”
I hope I didn’t get too off topic there. I think what I’m just trying to say, people tend to question things they see as outside their normal perception. I tend to get similar things happen to me when I tell girls that I can sew (who aren’t cosplayers and some who are).
@Patrick, how does she draw attention to being a girl? Does she wear makeup, heels and a dress? Or does she say, “I love games because I’m a grrl gamer!” I don’t think either of those examples would merit a test, though, since everyone’s a geek about something now.
I’m terrible at FPS games, so I’ve never even played Modern Warfare, so power to her! I wonder though, if she’d stop playing if she and the boyfriend broke up. Maybe this is sexist of me, but I’d probably try it if my fiance were on a big MW kick, but since I’m no good at it I wouldn’t continue afterward. That’s how I got into Gundam modeling in the first place. Then again, he learned to knit when I was on a knitting spree. You start to try out the hobbies of the people you spend the most time with.
Wow…
My thoughts turn to the dude who tested you. I really haven’t had many friends who fit the category of a person who would give such a test to a stranger. They are part of nerd/geek/otaku culture, but I only know them by their stereotypes.
I wonder what possesses such a person to test another. Is it to puff him or herself up while pushing another person down? And as you mention, I wonder if your gender and looks contributed to the “test.” Perhaps that person felt, “I can feel superior to a person that I might otherwise be jealous of or who (at least in my mind) would never usually give me the light of day.”
I’d like to think that I’d take that opportunity to engage the guy in conversation. Why does he like Gundam modeling? Does it really matter if one does a more difficult model than an easier one? Why?
Of course, really, I’d probably be like you and leave the situation altogether.
On another note, I really enjoyed your contributions to the ANN podcast. While I only listened to a portion of it (I just no longer have the patience to listen to long audio files), I learned a lot. Awesome work!
@Charles, of course you have the perfect response- turn it on him! In a perfect world, I would have answered each of his questions with another question, directed toward himself. People love to talk about themselves- if I didn’t, I wouldn’t blog!
But yeah, I got nervous and left. It’s always much later when you think of the perfect action to take.
Thanks for checking out the podcast! I only listened to a little of it myself- still get nervous hearing my own voice.
I get “tested” all the time. People see me, and feel the need to either rant about their “accomplishments,” or try to see if I’m really a “fan.”
Usually, I just mess with them. I get a kick out of kids (literally, under 21 and eager to prove themselves) trying to find cracks in my “spiel,” or trying to prove that I’m not “like them.” I follow their line of questioning, never letting on more than they want to know. And then, at the end, I deliver to them something so out in left field that they tend to stare dumbfounded at me. At which point I smile and tell them “I’ve been doing this since I was 12.”
I hate when people feel the need to challenge someone’s “cred.” All it does is weaken the community, and prove how insecure some fans can be. The fact that I made a conscious effort to avoid the “dork hierarchy” back in HS and early college speaks to how much I detest it.
@Charles, I never even thought about that sort of testing! I think some of those people might be trying to assert that they’re on the same level as you so you’ll approve of them. I realize now that I sometimes do that when I’m writing a profile piece- I’ll occasionally pop in a bit of trivia I’ve read about my interview subject, so they realize I did my homework and will give me better stuff to work with. I always feel better about interviews where the reporter knows a bit about me. But that’s just one part of the testing you mean.
I think you’re right that it touches on insecurity. I think that guy in the store had a problem with me building Gundams for the same reason some male gamers have a problem with Mass Effect 3 allowing you to skip combat and have gay sex. They were here FIRST. Now that games are no longer targeted at just them, some may find it frustrating.
I respect anyone who has the patience to build a Gundam model kit at all, let alone repaint and decorate one like in the above picture.
Didn’t know that off-the-wall suits like Acguy and Z’Gok were sold as Master Grades!
I’m hoping none of those guys who were questioning you worked at the store. If you want sales, don’t hire people with Comic Book Guy-level social skills for customer service.
@Joseph, nope, none of these guys were employees. They were college students if I had to guess.
They make ALL KINDS of models these days, but until I can build something tougher than HG, I won’t be buying very many of them. I just wish they’d make Windmill Gundam- I’d buy two! One to make normally and one to customize.
Ah…unfortunately yes, I know this feeling all too well, also being female and a “geek.”
Far more than “geek tests” I’ve been administered my fair share of “sports tests” as well. I used to be a sportswriter and nothing irked me more than hearing, “Wow…you really do know your sports, especially for a girl!” The fact that I was expected to take statements such as these as compliments was equally annoying.
As an aside, I remember that ANN’s Brian Hanson wrote something describing a situation in which he reverse-administered a geek test to a girl who was attempting to provoke him into a conversation regarding manga. He bested her by mentioning Doraemon, if I remember correctly, but later admitted that this may have been her (albeit misguided) way of trying to impress him. Perhaps, in addition to potentially wanting to make himself feel superior to you, this was this guy’s (again, misguided) attempt at impressing you.
I think that “geek testing” is an unfortunate occurrence that isn’t necessarily limited to gender; however, you’re exactly right in that, if one is female, they become an ambassador for their sex, whether they mean to or not. I don’t think that you should feel badly for possibly giving that guy a bad impression of girls who may/may not build Gundams. Although we are unwitting ambassadors, it’s impossible to be on point every day, all day, and ridiculous for anyone to expect that of themselves. That being said, I too have beaten myself up over situations like these. Here’s to hoping that, in your next inevitable encounter, you blow them out of the water with your intelligence!
Best of luck! I recently began following you and am completely kicking myself for not having done so sooner.
I’m sorry. That sounds like an awful experience.
I think you’re a great fan. :)
I find it really interesting that some strange guy would do such a rude thing to you based solely on your sex and looks. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this (as a young woman, too) since I’ve lived in small towns my whole life and the people there are either close knit, or a college type of town where diversity is the norm. Usually when I bump into someone with similar interests as mine I end up knowing more about anime than him or her, but that’s not something I ever bring up on my own or brag about. I might notice some item like a phone strap or another type of logo and say something positive, but trying to prove yourself better is just silly.
On the model note, I know next to nothing about figures and models. I’m also pretty ignorant about Gundam in general, but I really like the one you have as the topic image :)
Having met a wide variety of Gundam fans from all sorts of places, I believe you’ve encountered the particularly elitist type of Gundam fan. Since Gundam is a huge franchise and different people like different parts of it for different reasons, some people form cliques about their specific niche (say, a pro-Zeon UC fan) to form an “us versus them” mindset. If you’re not like them, then you’re looked down upon.
Had I been in your place, I would have rebuffed them, as I wouldn’t be able to stand such behavior… but good move on your part. The conversation would have gotten you nowhere, as that person probably had this fixed idea of you and nothing you’d say would change his mind about it. Please don’t change any of your model-building habits due to such elitism!
I do feel the need to get a glimpse of a fellow Gundam fan’s likes and dislikes, if only to avoid stepping on one’s toes (I’m open-minded about Gundam, but I do have some opinions that may be controversial). However, the “geek test” is a very condescending way of doing it. What makes a person think he/she could rattle quiz questions on someone they’ve just met? “You have to know these things before I’ll want to talk to you about something we both love anyway.” I don’t like it one bit.
I prefer honest, tactful dialogue where I ask questions and share my own experiences with the franchise/fandom in a positive manner. But that might be a luxury of mine, since my tastes with Gundam are wide, and I’m a very tolerant person.
I don’t like geek tests. They tend to be mean and unfair, because people are going to want to test you on very specific or obscure information that you don’t *have* to know in order to be a fan of something. It’s like, oh, well, you don’t remember the exact model of this mech you built, among the hundreds of others? Too bad, guess you aren’t really a fan.
They can go eff themselves with that logic. Most of the time, they just want to dismiss you for being a girl (or whatever else) and invading on their macho geek territory, wasting your time – and more importantly, making you flustered over their bigoted attitude.
Granted, sometimes I’ve run into the “geek test” as a way of being hit on. If they’re going soft on you and asking more generic questions, they’re either trying to get on your good side or, and it happens, they’re simply easy-going fans.
I’m not going to say that it’s always the case, but any kind of “cred test” to me is just never worth the while. People do it because they have already judged you, and it’s not fair.
Sorry for the double post. I also agree with Charles above who mentioned that it weakens the community and shows how insecure people are about themselves when they dump cred tests on other people. 100% agreed!
I can understand how the average gunpla fan wants to be specific about models and bla bla – they’re notorious for it. Dumping cred tests on people who show interest in it does more harm than good, though.
I’m given the geek test all of the time. I constantly fail. I want to be into too many things without enough time for all of it.
The condescending looks and comments hurt at first, but I eventually forget about it and skip about on my merry way.
I’ve never noticed that (I mean fan tests), the events that I go, people don’t usually socialize with new people (you just stick with your friends and that’s it) maybe the point is that you’re trying to be part of group, you don’t already know. Have you ever been through one of these experiences and at the end you ended up as part of the group?
Sometimes I end up giving people geek tests without realising it. Sometimes, people give me geek tests and I fail miserably because I only touch the surface of certain fandoms. It’s a bad thing, these ‘geek tests’. It’s like you can’t legitimately be a fan of a show, comic book or movie if you don’t pass. Hope you don’t get these kinds of experiences again.
I’m not saying geek tests are right, but I do kind of understand why some geeks do it. When I was growing up, I got a lot of flack (physical and verbal abuse) for liking the things I liked. Now all the things I liked are now popular and cool, and so I sometimes ask myself “So was all my pain for nothing?”
I covered some of this a while ago on my blog:
http://geekink.co.za/2012/03/27/before-it-was-cool/
I`ve never had any geek tests done to me based on my gender. No, the geek tests come because many geeks dislike that I can talk about sports and fashion as easily as anime and science, and many fellow geeks seem to feel that I`m not enough of an outcast to be allowed to join the community. It`s rather funny, because I`ve gotten the same response from the artist and theater communities, as well as some members of ‘mainstream culture’. Who`s to determine what`s normal and what isn`t if we are all different humans with similar experiences? So when people from any of these groups try to harass me for not being ‘good enough’ for them, I just feel a little pity that they are so insecure with their narrow view of the world. And then I walk away, because in DC there is always someone who thinks your culture is cooler than theirs. (No matter what their, or your, culture or ethnicity is!)