Gatekeepers of the Bandwagon

"Ugh.  How dare these newcomers like the same thing that I like!!!"  -_-

So I saw the above meme on the interwebs the other day and immediately thought, "SO EFFIN' WHAT?!"  God forbid someone new wants to get into the same things you're into.  

I'm probably gonna catch crap-ton of hate for this, but there's something in the geek/nerd community (Yes, there's a difference between the two.  Now that we've established that, I'm going to turn right around and use the terms interchangeably for the rest of this article 'cause it's Friday, I got a job, and I got ish to do) that really needs to cease and desist.  What I'm referring to is gate-keeping.  Gate-keeping is when people take it upon themselves to decide or attempt to control who gets access or belongs to something.  In the geek world, this is when long-time geeks try to set this ridiculously high standard for geekdom, turning their noses up and scoffing at anyone who does not meet their requirements.

To a degree, I get it.  I regretfully admit that I used to think like this.  Especially when it comes to my Transformers (Don'tcha just love how geeks like to take ownership of things?  As if a fandom belongs to us).  I'd get annoyed when someone claimed to be a TF fan, but couldn't name any TFs other than Optimus Prime, Megatron, or Bumblebee (Michael Bay's Bumblebee, at that).  I can't recall ever rudely calling anyone out, but I didn't consider anyone a real fan if they didn't respect the TFs that I grew up with, which were from the original mid-'80s cartoon.  

I've grown and matured in my geekery since then.  I may still be slightly disappointed when a fellow TF fan only really knows about one or two mainstream characters or only likes the new stuff, but instead of casting that person off and alienating them, I see it as us having common ground.  I also see it as an opportunity to introduce them to the rest of the TF universe.  And if they are comfortable where they are and don't particularly care to broaden their horizons, so be it.  They get to "fan" the way they want to fan.  I won't impose my standard of TF fandom on someone else.  I don't get to dismiss them for not being a "real fan" if they choose not to dig deeper in their fandom.

What I'm seeing from many geeks is the age-old case of forgetting where you came from.  A lot of geeks so easily forget that they were not always certified experts in the fandoms they enjoy.  They forget that we all started somewhere.  If you feel the way that the maker of the meme above does, ask yourself:  What if someone applied that same standard to you when you first became a fan?  What if someone stood at the imaginary gate and nerd-checked you?  How would you feel?  Would you still be here?  "IDGAF.  I'd say F 'em and keep it moving!", you might say.  Well, good for you, but you still don't get a pass to do it to someone else.  

See, what many of my fellow geeks fail to realize is, they don't get to decide what being a fan looks like for someone else.  Being a fan of something is, basically, liking that something.  Plain and simple.  Anything beyond that is up to that individual person.  That person hasn't been a fan as long as you?  So what?  Still a fan.  That person doesn't know the character front, back, and sideways like you do?  Doesn't matter.  Still a fan.  That person just now became a fan because of some movie that recently came out that probably only got it 50% correct at best?  Guess what?  Still a fan.  I'm not saying you're not allowed to be annoyed by these things.  You're well within your rights to, and like I said, I too feel annoyed by it at times.  But said annoyance does not give us the right dictate whether or not someone else gets to enjoy something.  No one needs approval from anyone else before claiming any fandom.

Seriously, y'all...  Stop thinking that your "hard work" at being a fan makes you more worthy of a fandom.  The fact that you've spent more time and money on a fandom doesn't make you better or make them "fake".  And even if they are fake, please tell me how them being "fake" directly affects you.  Is it causing you pain?  Does it prevent you from being a fan?  Is it really that much more harder out here for a geek because someone new who, according to you, doesn't know jack squat about "your" fandom, is claiming to be a fan?  Some of you act like you're getting paid to keep the gate and expose the "bandwagon" fans.  Newsflash, y'all...  The creators of whatever you like actually want new fans, and they definitely have no intentions of paying you to enforce all newcomers to jump through narrow, flaming hoops before they can call themselves fans.  

Speaking of "fake fans", I'm going to close out with a slight but very necessary tangent.  To all my male geeks, fanboys, geek guys, heck, even some of the fangirls out there...  

STOP NERD-CHECKING WOMEN JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE WOMEN!!!  

"But there are sooooooooo many fake nerd girls out there who are doing this just for attention!!!" you might say.  Well, first of all, I'm not saying I don't think they exist, but I seriously doubt they're as rampant as some would have us believe.  Even if there really is an abundance of "fake nerd girls", again, I say "...And?!"  The world will indeed go on if we don't expose every fake nerd girl out there.  I guarantee that no one will die as a result of giving these ladies the attention they are supposedly desperate for.  Again, I challenge anyone to convince me that some hot, fake nerd girls are really messin' up the game for you.  Truth be told, the concept of a "fake nerd girl" only exists because of the shullbit geek standards I've been ranting against for the past seven paragraphs.  Oh, and here's a thought...  Maybe, juuuuuuust maybe, some ladies really do genuinely like the things they "claim" to like.  It's not impossible.  In fact, it happens much more often than you think.  It's also very possible for a woman to both be attractive (even super model level attractive) and be a fan of whatever it is you are also a fan of.  And if you wanna get technical, there's plenty of research out there that shows that the ratio of male to female geeks is nowhere near as lopsided as many dudes would like to think, and the ratio is growing more and more even every year.  Guys, it's time for many of you to get over it and realize that we men do not own geekery.  It's not just for us, and we don't get to police who's allowed to be in this space and who doesn't.  Stop trying to "make geekery great again" with your "no girls allowed" signs.

Aiight, rant = over.  Fellow geeks, all I'm saying is it doesn't benefit anyone for us to be so noninclusive when it comes to "our" fandoms.  Geek out the way you want to geek out, and let others have the freedom to do the same without judgement.