At a villa in Geneva during the summer of 1816, a group of friends, including the infamous George Gordon Noel Byron (that's Lord Byron to we plebeians), got together to pass the time with the time honored tradition of telling ghost stories. Apparently even in 1816, before Jason"the-hockey-mask-wearer" became a thing, scaring the bejesus out of your friends still held its irresistible charm.

The telling of such stories gave Lord Byron a great idea – an impromptu contest. Each member of the party was to write an original horror story, and who ever came up with the best story received Bragging Rights for Life™.

Were he blessed with the gift of foresight, he might not have been so confident about his chances. For you see, an underdog would rise like a phoenix and sweep in to take the title as best horror story-teller, perhaps of all time, right out from under Byron's nose. At 18 years of age, and filled to the brink with enough imagination to spare, Mary Shelley penned the early version of her novel "Frankenstein" specifically for this little contest of Byron's.

You might have heard of "Frankenstein"? You know, that story widely considered the first true science fiction novel? Yes, that "Frankenstein".

Yet Shelley's contribution was only the beginning of a long and rich history of women having a profound influence in science fiction and fantasy circles, making the more recent habit of questioning their credibility, along with the demeaning title of 'fake fangirls', both ridiculous and unilaterally uninformed.

Fast forward to 1968, when an internationally beloved franchise was about to have its plugs pulled prematurely.

When Star Trek first hit television in 1966 it had the distinction of being the first television program that attempted to bring respectability to science fiction with its use of allegorical storytelling, and for the most part it was pretty well embraced. That just wasn't enough for the network that owned it at the time, NBC. Star Trek, you see, was a bit too costly to make (yes, Styrofoam rocks and all – hey at the time Star Trek was the forerunner for special effects!), and the ratings just weren't what the network would have liked to keep the show going for a third season. Thus they were pretty dead-set on dropping it like a hot potato… which would have been a crime against humanity but I digress. Thankfully, while most Trekkies wallowed in looming cancellation despair, a lone heroine rose to take NBC's threat as a personal challenge.

Enter Betty JoAnne Trimble stage left.

In an act that would have made Captain Kirk, himself, beam with rebellious pride, Mrs. Trimble (that's Ms. Trekkie if you're Klingon) started a letter writing campaign to save her beloved Trek. As a direct result of her efforts, Star Trek returned for a third season. Four spin-off series and 12 (soon to be 13) movies later, it is safe to say that Betty Jo thoroughly earned the title of Fan Queen. (It's important to add that Star Trek, having completed three seasons, gave it enough episodes to be bought for syndication and it was the reruns of the show that allowed it to thrive decades after the last episode had filmed.)

Furthering that thought, have you ever stopped to ponder how fan conventions, as we know them today, came about? Interestingly enough Star Trek and its female fans are directly responsible for this one as well. Joan Winston, Sondra Marshak, and Jacqueline Lichtenberg were all a part of a committee that successfully organized the first Star Trek convention, indeed the first convention of its kind in any genre, and documented the process for posterity in their book "Star Trek Lives!". In fact, Joan Winston was the one responsible for getting the series creator Gene Roddenberry to make an appearance at said convention. Another score for girl-power!

So, to recap, we've covered the first true science fiction novel (written by a woman), the first show of geek fan devotion in the form of a successful letter writing campaign to save a science fiction television series from cancellation (started by a woman) and the first fannish convention whose model is still used today (as organized by women), but just in case you are somehow still remaining dubious over the female contribution to geek culture let me throw another name out there, just to bring the point on home.

Perhaps you've heard of this little known franchise, perhaps not, that goes by the name of Star Wars? Well guess what? The second film of the franchise "Empire Strikes Back" (episode five) – widely considered the best of the series – was first penned by… *drum roll please*…Leigh Brackett. Sadly, she died of cancer before the film could be completed, but the first draft of the script was hers and hers alone (rewrites were done by Lawrence Kasdan). Which is why, and rightfully so, she shares in the writing credit for that film.

Now I've covered only highlights here. I haven't gone into Ellen Ripley or Sarah Connor or Xena or Buffy Summers, aka fictional female characters who kick some major booty and developed quite the following in and of themselves, but I think I've made my point without needing to delve into that rather formidable arsenal.

History has shown that women belong and continue to contribute to science fiction and fantasy circles just as surely as their Y-chromosome carrying counterparts, marking the term 'fake fangirl' as fiction in and of itself.