It’s OK to Be a Geek, But Not a Feminist?
Jessica covered the rise of girl geeks for Newsweek back in 2008, prompted, in part, by the growing popularity of the Girl Geek Dinners. At the time, Jess wrote that young, tech savvy women were embracing the “geek” label for themselves—and, in turn, redefining it. The women she talked to didn’t use the word “feminism”—if anything, they embraced the label “geek”—but they never disparaged it, either.
Our view is that it’s pointless to force the label “feminism” onto people who’d rather not identify with it; what’s important is that we believe in what it stands for. But it’s nevertheless discouraging to hear young, smart, female leaders publicly misuse the term. Which brings us to a BBC story about the London girl geek dinners last week, a “classic case of feminism in action,” the author writes, despite the group being wary of the term. “In a sense, [the dinners are] feminist [in that they] aspire to a lot of the same ideals,” says the geek organizer, “but I don’t want it to be seen as ‘feminist’ as this can be seen as something marginal or negative.” We may not agree, but we can respect that. But then, this:
We’re not trying to be radical or disruptive, but to show that women have a place in technology.
And… there it is. Feminists: radical and disruptive. Will we ever learn?
