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[OmegaSupreme]

So my girlfriend and I have had this discussion a few times over the years. Keep in mind she is almost 13 years younger than me. My argument is that being a geek/nerd guy is sooooo much easier today than in "my day". Finding a girl who was into nerd stuff in the 90's and early 00's felt like finding a unicorn. I'm not saying they didn't exist but they were so much fewer back then. Anime has been consistently on tv for years now. Nerd shows have become mainstream and of much higher quality than when I was young. Cosplay has become a way for attractive girls to make a living and so on.

Her argument is that they were always plentiful but I wasn't aware of them because of gatekeeping. They were not allowed or at least not encouraged to show their love of anime, sci-fi, videogames, etc. I have no doubt this was true for some but is that it? Were we men and society just holding them back?

I think being a geek is so mainstream now that finding a partner with similar interests is shooting fish in a barrel. When I was a younger guy? Pfft. Forget about it. We were still teased about it in my school.

 

[Stouffers]

No.

 

[INC]

My wife was a nerdy geek girl 20 years ago.....or at least had what would be classified as nerdy interests and hobbies

 

[OmegaSupreme]

My wife was a nerdy geek girl 20 years ago.....or at least had what would be classified as nerdy interests and hobbies

Lucky man. I managed to find some like-minded women in my twenties but the teens? Nah.

 

[Stilton Disco]

When we say nerdy interest, we're generally talking highly detailed, technical, fantastical and scientifically grounded interests, which will always skew towards men, being byproducts of masculine traits, but there have and always will be outliers amongst women who share that predilection.

Be that female scientists in the 1800's, women Star Trek fans in the 1960's, or girl gamers today, they might always be the minority by gender, but they'll always exist.

 

[INC]

Lucky man. I managed to find some like-minded women in my twenties but the teens? Nah.

Ya, she's a massive wow fan (Was in one of the top guilds), loves FF games, doesnt like rom coms, rather watch sci fi (star trek) or horror, as a similar view on most things as me, but not afraid to disagree, we have our own gaming rigs, well i have my own room in house for music, gaming and vr

Even into the same music luckily

Loves Stephen King, and twisted shit, but still a size 6-8, and sexy as fuck, 20 years later

Opposite can attract sure, but you 100% need common ground interests a long time relationship

 

[DESTROYA]

I wish.....
No they were not

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Ya, she's a massive wow fan (Was in one of the top guilds), loves FF games, doesnt like rom coms, rather watch sci fi (star trek) or horror, as a similar view on most things as me, but not afraid to disagree, we have our own gaming rigs, well i have my own room in house for music, gaming and vr

Even into the same music luckily

Loves Stephen King, and twisted shit, but still a size 6-8, and sexy as fuck, 20 years later

Opposite can attract sure, but you 100% need common ground interests a long time relationship

Hell yeah man. Sounds awesome. How's her quote game? "get to tha choppa!"

 

[SegaShack]

The "nerd" stuff is the big money maker now. Star Wars, Marvel, etc. I think now people fully embrace these properties while before it was looked down upon.

I think the "nerd" stuff makes more money than "non nerd" stuff, so being nerdy is mainstream. Now its also cool to like video games and be passionate about it as well.

My wife was always into games growing up and agrees that it's now way more acceptable for people to be into these hobbies (regardless of gender).

 

[INC]

Hell yeah man. Sounds awesome. How's her quote game? "get to tha choppa!"

Top draw tbh

Let's put it this way, after watching a film like tenet or another confusing film, she won't say shit watching it, and likes discussing the film after, how the scenes are filmed, music used, thought process etc etc

I think the lamest shit she likes is twilight, but thats about as basic as it gets, and I dont have to watch that shit

 

[OmegaSupreme]

I still maintain that even today girls who genuinely are into comics and not comicbook movies are unicorns. Manga? Sure.

 

[INC]

Now gamer girls are just average players with tits out.......about it

Theres very few genuine gamers girls imo, I like sweet Anita she's funny, but thats because of her tourettes

 

[Trogdor1123]

Nerds of all kinds were less common 20 years ago. People used to compare how fast they could run not how fast their computer is.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Now gamer girls are just average players with tits out.......about it

Theres very few genuine gamers girls imo, I like sweet Anita she's funny, but thats because of her tourettes

Hmmm. I'll check her out. Marz is beautiful but outside of that, she's not terribly compelling to watch. Gab Smolders is alright too.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

They were there.

Its just that now theres a chance the nerd girls may have green hair or have a YT channel doing cosplay to play up the nerd image for clicks.

 

[INC]

They were there.

Its just that now theres a chance the nerd girls may have green hair or have a YT channel doing cosplay to play up the nerd image for clicks.

.......my wife has green hair currently

 

[Hudo]

Tbh, nerdy/geeky girls are kind of a pain most of the times. One would think that a girl that can geek out about Warhammer, Dune, Battletech or video games is awesome... until it isn't.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

.......my wife has green hair currently

My gf has green hair currently lol

 

[cr0w]

They were a thing, definitely...you just didn't have stuff like Twitch or whatever the kids are using these days to really turn it into a trend. I knew a few from IRC channels waaaay back in the 90s and dated a couple back in the early 00s, but they were usually more lumped in with the "goth" craze than anything.

 

[INC]

Tbh, nerdy/geeky girls are kind of a pain most of the times. One would think that a girl that can geek out about Warhammer, Dune, Battletech or video games is awesome... until it isn't.

Warhammer is over the line of acceptable female nerdiness tbh, you might as well date a dude at that point

 

[BigBooper]

Yes, but mostly they were more bookish than video gamey. There's always been women in nerd-dom, but it kind of seemed to explode after Big Bang Theory.

 

[Hudo]

Warhammer is over the line of acceptable female nerdiness tbh, you might as well date a dude at that point

That's true wisdom right here.

 

[DKehoe]

Yes

 

[Perry Simm but in space]

Books, movies, mythology, fantasy: Yes. Video games, comics, Star Wars: No.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Depends on how old. My younger sisters and quite a few of my cousins enjoyed playing videogames. They tolerated "nerdy" stuff. Pokemon was more popular with boys in my area, but plenty of girls got into it too. Arcades had a mix of boys and girls who played there, even as they died out. DDR wasn't only played by boys. Dr. Mario and Tetris were both really popular with girls. My wife and her sister both had Game Boys (my wife still has hers; it's on our shelf). i think it was common back then for girls to be into nerdy /geeky things. This was the age of "girls can play with any boy toys they want".

But around pre-adolescence, pretty much all the girls I knew started to get out of videogames and nerdy stuff in general. It seemed voluntary, or maybe in-group peer pressure.

 

[SegaShack]

Now gamer girls are just average players with tits out.......about it

Theres very few genuine gamers girls imo, I like sweet Anita she's funny, but thats because of her tourettes

Big difference. Youre talking about on the internet vs real life.

A lot of girls grow up playing video games.

My wife had tried doing gaming YT videos a loong time ago when youtube was pretty new, all the perverted comments she got made her delete her account/vids.

So the only female gamers left online are the ones that are able to put on a persona to ignore the crazy comments they get on a daily basis.

I'd also argue that with youtube's monetization, its incredibly rare to find anyone that's genuine (any gender), as everyone is trying to target the algorithm and rack up views.

 

[INC]

Big difference. Youre talking about on the internet vs real life.

Yeh that's very true

 

[Dr_Salt]

No because they couldn't make money out of it.

 

[iconmaster]

I don't know exactly when it became acceptable for girls to be into nerdy things, but the male nerd has no excuse anymore.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

One of my earliest childhood friends was into Dragonlance and anime and Final Fantasy VI. She gave me all of her Dragon Warrior games when her parents decided to sell her NES to get a N64

 

[Soltype]

Yes, and it was better.Since "nerd" culture has been watered down, a lot more people are drinking it. It's harder than ever to find actual enthusiasts in the wild.

 

[poppabk]

I think women used to be afraid of letting their 'nerd' side show because for some reason it was considered unattractive or unfeminine.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Access to media is so much easier and cheaper now. That's helped tons. I use to have to go into Suncoast video in the mall to browse anime and it was just on a shelf or two when I first got into it.

 

[Amory]

Sure, of course they existed. They probably just weren't girls you noticed or were attracted to because they were nerds in the classic sense. There was a chick in my middle school who was completely obsessed with Sailor Moon. She had the backpack, notebooks, 10 different tee shirts, accessories, and whatever else. It was all she'd talk about and she got made fun of a lot.

Being a nerd doesn't mean the same thing as it did 20 years ago. Nowadays everyone's a self proclaimed 'nerd' because stuff like video games, superheroes, sci fi & fantasy novels etc is all very mainstream. You can be cool & feminine and be a nerd at the same time now.

 

[epicnemesis]

Not that I know of, but 20 years ago I was also a nerdy awkward teen who was unable to talk to the two attractive nerds I came across in college.

The first one was like “Woa is that a psp?!?” A few days before it officially released.
To which my reaction was

Second one liked my nerd shirt I had on and got the reference.
To which my reaction was

 

[Raven117]

Yes, they existed. But they were unicorns. To find them, you would never look to the "popular" kids, but instead look to the sciences (like a science club) and drama/theater.

While I was always on the "cool kid" spectrum , I always found I enjoyed my time with the "Weird/nerd" kids the most.

 

[Stilton Disco]

Warhammer is over the line of acceptable female nerdiness tbh, you might as well date a dude at that point

In my experience with most of the 'girls' that play Warhammer, you actually would be.

 

[GAMETA]

When I was 14, around 18 years ago, anime conventions and so on were plentiful if you knew where to look, and there were a lot of females already.

I guess it's become way more mainstream now, but it was always there.

On a side note: The guys looked as disgusting as they do now but the amount of quality pussy has definitively increased.

 

[Lupingosei]

They were a thing, at least in the anime community and some of the were really kinky too. Never had a problem in meeting girls.

Met also some in gaming, but not as many as in the manga / anime circles.

In Japan they were always a thing dated a cosplayer there, also a girl with an uniform / military thing.

 

[Goro Majima]

Yeah they were typically in the punk and goth scene though.

Games like Final Fantasy had universal gender appeal but not many girls made JRPGs their identity or anything.

I'd also argue that there was a lot of rejection of the "preppy" stereotype from the 80s in the 90s and especially into the late 90s - so really a better question might be were there geeky girls 30 years ago? Late Gen X and early Millenials were deep into that "buck the gender norms" attitude with women particularly ( although homosexuality and male femininity were harshly ridiculed to my recollection).

It's not like girls in the year 2000 would have been endlessly mocked for playing video games casually considering how popular the Wii and DS would be just a few short years later.

 

[AJUMP23]

Yes there were nerdy and geeky girls 20 years ago. I dated them.

 

[6502]

In my experience (at least around my uk town) being a nerd / geek was not anywhere near as socially acceptable as it is today. In fact, it was absolutely not outside of being a "boffin" at your job or providing people IT support. For men or women.

I knew women who would admit to seeing star trek when on tv or later on enjoyed the battlestar remake (that was when it was starting to become a fad imo); few would play anything beyond Mario Kart let alone own a console themselves, odd one who actually did some programing html. These were the closest thing to geeks I knew and they were not traits / activities they admitted to / promoted regardless of age.

Post big bang, wii, mobile phones / social media, geek culture is now far more prevalent and accepted online / in media. This filters through to people being more tech savvy and now "getting their geek on" etc when undertaking tech tasks or enjoying "nerd" shows / games.

Not meeting as many self proclaimed "geeks / nerds" as "bi-sexual women" I did 15 years ago. It is a similar fad imo, I am glad people can enjoy these things and have communities etc but it will hit its peak and not be so prevalent outside of instagram. Once socially accepted and celebrated people will get board and move on to the next trendy label.

 

[Excess]

The "nerd" stuff is the big money maker now. Star Wars, Marvel, etc. I think now people fully embrace these properties while before it was looked down upon.

I think the "nerd" stuff makes more money than "non nerd" stuff, so being nerdy is mainstream. Now its also cool to like video games and be passionate about it as well.

My wife was always into games growing up and agrees that it's now way more acceptable for people to be into these hobbies (regardless of gender).

Star Wars always made a ton of money, so I actually attribute it to the paradigm shift in technology. The rock stars of today are the programmers, developers, tech CEOs, etc. It's like a real-life revenge of the nerds, because now we all use technology, whether that's in the form of your smartphone or social media. The people who know and understand these tools have greater value in our society. As a result, these nerdy-inclined people just so happen to also enjoy sci-fi, video games and comic books, thus allowing them to project these interests to the mainstream.

Think about it. The very fact that Elon Musk tweets about anime has made it somewhat acceptable to enjoy.

Having said that, I also feel no shame in telling a woman I'm kind of a nerd or geeky guy, and conversely, I've heard women tell me they're into nerdy or geeky guys. But 20 years ago? It was never acceptable to admit this.

 

[Lunarorbit]

Not really. That's when I graduated hs and while there were nerdy girls around it isn't like today. They weren't playing video games or d&d.

 

[Sejan]

Yes, but also no. There have obviously been girls and women that have been interested in nerdy things like computers, sci fi, and fantasy as long as there have been nerdy things. Unfortunately, the early 2000s and before were a difficult time to be nerdy for anyone regardless of gender. Watch any 80s and 90s TV show and all the nerds/geeks will always be shown in the worst possible light. Even the "cool" nerds like Screech in Saved by the Bell were mostly used as punching bags for jokes. They were only ever allowed to join the "cool" kids because of the benevolent acceptance of that one one cool guy such as Zack in Saved by the Bell.

On the rare chance that a girl nerd was even shown on TV, great steps were taken to ensure that she was as unattractive and unacceptable as possible. She would likely be some combination of fat, poorly dressed, and showing poor hygeine. She certainly had the worst possible glasses and unkempt hair. It was made abundantly clear that she didn't have any friends (outside of the nerdy boys). I'd imagine it did a lot to chase away any girls from the nerdy interests they might have had. At the very least, it strongly encouraged those girls to keep it a secret that they wouldn't dare share with most people.

All this is to say that few people were even willing to admit publically that they were geeky. I remember a friend of mine was a huge Star Wars fan in 3rd grade. By 6th grade he wouldn't even admit to me that he had ever even watched it in the first place. Thankfully, by the time I was growing up the social stigma of geekiness was lessening for boys, but that same stigma of being a geek meant that few girls were willing to admit their guilty pleasures.

 

[Valonquar]

No. And cons were all dudes

 

[bender]

If you count teezzy 's hand adorned with lipstick, googly eyes painted on by marker and a miniature wig, then yes.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

I can fully admit to being socially awkward back then. I probably didn't see them in part because I was busy walking with my head down hoping not to be noticed.

 

[dorkimoe]

Yes. They were theater kids

 

[down 2 orth]

Nerdy is infinitely better than geeky, and there's a big difference.