If I read this article at 15, while trying to figure out who I was and what it was I liked to do, I would have felt implicated by Brown’s critique of “fake geek girls”. But girls who are identifying with “geek” interests, while they might not be skilled masters, are not necessarily posers. There are myriad problems with this characterization, and its an insult to women’s intelligence.

Pretentious females who have labeled themselves as a “geek girl” figured out that guys will pay a lot of attention to them if they proclaim they are reading comics or playing video games.

The assumption that woman act only out of desire to attract men as opposed to self-interest is insulting. In the same breath she calls these women pretentious, then touts her own ‘geek’ credentials, proving she is above the pack.

I just feel like this article totally misses the point.

Being a geek isn’t something you so much decide to do, but realize you are after the fact.

Oh really? I decided I wanted to learn how to silkscreen when I was 15, took a class, and thought I was pretty great. Now, seven years later, I am actually pretty good at it. But I decided I thought it was cool, and pursued that goal.

At one point or another I’ve decided I wanted to read more comics, understand finance, become a hula hoop dance, learn to swing dance, become a street artist, make video games, learn an instrument, create type faces, draft patterns and hundreds of other things. Only a couple stuck, but I've decided I was interested in these things. Obsession only blooms if we put ourselves in a situation where it can. I’m sure I over enthusiastically proclaimed I would be the next Bansky more than once, but I don’t believe this makes me a contemptible person.

In short, I do believe that we decide what we are going to pursue in life. It’s not as though true geeks black out, then wake up in a pile of comic books, confused but enlightened.

Woman are socialized to be catty and in the world of nerd culture, I have often found refuge from that. My girlfriends lend me Dykes to Watch out For, come over to sew, and teach me all sorts of amazing things. I work for a fashion magazine where no drama has ever broken out. We pursue shared obsessions, and treat each other with respect. We teach each other about obsessions that don’t overlap without pretention.

If, in passing, you encounter a woman with a vague interest in your particular realm of geekdom, please do not insult her. Lend her your favourite comics. Show her how to paint with watercolours. Maybe she will never get deeply into it. Maybe you will plant the seed of a life long obsession.