As Hollywood and other media outlets have been known to do for the past several years, guy geeks have had their day in the pop culture sun with films,books,websites and TV shows dedicated to celebrating their quirky outsider status.
Author Leslie Simon wants the ladies in these circles to get their fair share of the conversation and the first steps to that are detailed in her new book,Geek Girls Unite.
She starts off with identifying several types of girl geeks with a chapter devoted to each of the more well known ones such as Fangirl,Film,Music and Literary,with lists of influences,icons and a quiz to determine which type of girl geek you may be. Leslie herself is a self proclaimed Music Geek while I'm more of a bookworm but I scored well enough in other areas to hang with most of the geek gal crowd:
Of course,there are more geek sub genres cropping up every day and room is made for those burgeoning indie girl outlets. The highlighted girl geek sections also talk about the history of females who paved the way for modern geek gals,from big names such as Gloria Steinem and Jane Austen to those known only to a select few,like Doris Self.
Doris was one of most unlikely video game champions of the 1980s,becoming such a top scorer at Q*Bert that she made the Guinness Book of World Records back in 2007. She even received recognition for her achievements in the gamer documentary King of Kong,proving that at any age,one can be a geek girl at heart:
Present day prominent geek chicks are showcased,both real and fictional. From Enid of Ghost World to Serena Williams,these ladies are the ones to watch out for,if you're not familiar with them already.
Also included are "frenemies"(those who claim geek status but are just posing or just don't get it),recommended viewing and reading and quotes of encouragement from famous and everyday geek gals out there. You can choose your own mentor to follow but it doesn't hurt to note the ones making huge strides for others to walk in like Felicia Day, J.K. Rowling,Bjork or Tina Fey:
This is Leslie Simon's third pop culture guide book,the first two being Wish You Were Here(about the music scene)and Everybody Hurts(a look at emo culture). While I haven't read those two,Geek Girls Unite seems to be similar in style with it's fun and friendly approach to the subject.
This book serves well both as an introduction to the geek girl world and a decent overlook of the current cultural landscape. Packed with humor,insight and charming illustrations by Nan Lawson,Geek Girls Unite is a long awaited battle cry that will hopefully lead to more discussion and attention from all sides of the social spectrum.
The book is now on sale at a bookseller near you and should be a great stocking stuffer for the geek gals on your holiday shopping list. I do recommend it as well as the main message of Geek Girls Unite ,which is to openly embrace your geeky love of what ever floats your boat and not to let others rain on your personal pop culture parade. That's a standard worth holding high,if you ask me:
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