Geeks and Girls

As mentioned in a previous post, males are the geekier of the species, but there are plenty of female geeks out there.? Many of whom actually embrace the idea.? I recently talked one of my female friends into joining me at Hero Con, held in Charlotte, NC.? We had a great time, bought some comics (OK, I bought some comics), and met many fascinating people, vendors, writers, and artists.

We were by no means the only women in the place.? There were women on both sides of the tables, those that were selling and those that were buying.? But as my friend and I meandered and perused it became apparent that she was humoring me to a great extent.? After rattling off several comics I was interested in as well as artists I liked, she gamely dug into box after box looking for what might interest me, and though she glanced at a few she thought looked interesting, she wasn’t really into it.

Just about the time a niggling sense of guilt began to fester for making her suffer through my more extreme geekiness, she turns to me and says, “You know, they should have a Girlfriend Room where the girlfriends of geeks can go and eat chocolate and watch chick flicks while their geek boyfriends are here.”

I couldn’t help laughing, but it did spark a conflict of the dichotomy that exists within me.? Even though I was quite happy to dig through boxes and boxes of old comics (harboring a secret desire to organize the ones that weren’t) and check out the various other sundries that can be found at such events, the idea of hanging out in a room with other women, eating chocolate and watching chick flicks also held an appeal.

I looked around at the other women and started to wonder.? How many of them were humoring husbands and boyfriends just to spend time together?? How many would jump at the chance to visit the Girlfriend Room if such a place existed?? None of the guys present seemed to be disinterested or in a hurry, so I assumed none of them had come to humor anyone, but wouldn’t the same apply to some guys?? Would a few of these guys in their Green Lantern and Superman T-shirts be just as torn if offered a Boyfriend Room where they served beer while the latest sports event played on a flat screen?