Maggs - The fangirls guide to the galaxy : a handbook for geek girls

Copyright 2015 by Sam Maggs

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Number: 2014909460

eBook ISBN: 978-1-59474-790-8
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-59474-789-2

Designed by Andie Reid
Illustrations by Kelly Bastow
Production management by John J. McGurk

Quirk Books
215 Church Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
quirkbooks.com

v3.1

INTRODUCTION
One of Us! One of Us!

CHAPTER ONE
Its Good to Be a Geek

CHAPTER TWO
[Fandom Intensifies]: Geek Girls Online

CHAPTER THREE
Geronimo! How to Survive Conventions

CHAPTER FOUR
Aim to Misbehave: Geek Girl Feminism

More often than not, people hit me with that word in a derogatory way. They use it to make me feel devalued, unintelligent, and immature. And you know what? They couldnt be more wrong.

Being a fangirl is the best thing thats ever happened to me . My geekiness has made me friends all over the world, women who continue to be the most intelligent, well-spoken, and wonderful people I know. Fandom has given me a voice to advocate for the things Im passionate about. And being a geek girl is constantly excitingno one else gets more invested in the things they love. New video game? Freak out for months in advance over the cover art! Waiting for a new season of Sherlock ? Create an endless number of GIFs to ease your pain! Angry about the way they posed Black Widow on that new poster? She-Hulk smash the patriarchy! Whats more, regardless of their particular fandom, geek girls are devoted to supporting women in media, constantly pushing an agenda of acceptance, diversity, and fair representation. Oh, and we manage to do all this while containing our squees. Mostly.

We know what were into, we love hard, and were okay with it. But we dont have it easy.

Far too often, fangirls are made to feel marginalized and unwelcome in the nerd community. Women are ostracized from online gaming, called out as fake, accused of being desperate for attention, harassed while cosplaying, and, worst of all, forced into silence. Some dude nerds dont like that were invading their space and have become obsessed with gatekeeping, deciding who counts as a real fan and who doesnt. Youre not a true fan if you only like the Marvel movies; you cant be in the anime community unless you speak fluent Japanese; youre not allowed to dress up as Ms. Marvel unless youve read every Ms. Marvel comic, ever . I once had a comic-book-store employee refuse to help me unless I could name everyone who had ever been a member of the Avengers. Do you know how many superheroes that is? Its a lot . Do you think he ever asked that of a guy in the shop? Im gonna go with nah, son, because you know that never happened.

But you know whats really crazy about all that? More and more, nerdy audiences are made up of literal Bat-tons of fangirls. (Because, spoiler alert: basically half of all fans of anything are ladies.) According to a 2014 survey by the Entertainment Software Association, female gamers age 18 and up make up 36% of the gaming population, compared to just 17% for boys age 17 and under, and in recent years over half the social media discussions at San Diego Comic-Con were generated from accounts run by geek girls. The Syfy channel gets huge ratings with women ages 1834, thanks in part to lady-driven and LGBT-friendly shows like Lost Girl, Continuum, Bitten , and Haven . Women are becoming the driving force behind geek culture, and we shouldnt be relegated to the sidelines.

Knowing that we could basically make our own army, bust down the elitist gatekeepers, and establish our own glorious kingdom (queendom?) of lady-nerds honestly makes me wonder why the hell we havent done that yet. Were getting better at itwere taking up more and more space online, were fighting back against the trolls, and were refusing to be silent. Merriam-Webster even added fangirl to the dictionary. Were fully legit now.

But despite all the articles online about being an awesome nerd-girl, the great feminist Tumblr posts about Sailor Moon , and bands like the Doubleclicks receiving worldwide attention, something was still missing: an actual printed book that says, Being a geek girl is the best thing ever and here are all the ways you can do more nerdy things that are awesome and dont ever apologize for it because you are the best person out there and Im so proud of you and youre beautiful.

Until now. So here, ladies, is The Fangirls Guide to the Galaxy . I hope in this book you can find some new ideas for your next Star Wars premiere party, figure out how to make your IRL bestie the newest member of SuperWhoLock, finally brave your first-ever convention in full cosplay, learn how to start an awesome blog devoted to your craziest ship, and develop the wittiest retort to anyone who ever dares accuse you of being a Fake Geek Girl.

And then you can get back to your Lord of the Rings marathon (extended edition, obviously). I promise.

PAUSE GAME

Attention, humans! Although this book is called The Fan girl s Guide to the Galaxy , you dont have to be someone who identifies as female to enjoy it! If you consider yourself a fan[girl], then this book is for you. (And even if you dont yet, take a looksee through these pages anyways . You might find yourself becoming a convert.) One of us! One of us!

Every fangirl is different. Her very identity as a fangirl is predicated on the fandom that gives her all the feels. But even within fandoms, it would be crazy to assume that I could describe each and every fangirl with accuracy. One fangirls OTP is anothers NOTP; one fangirl likes the reboot and another loves the original. We are all v. v. special and unique, and I love that, so much.

But some fandoms are so popular, they wear their shared squees with pride, and its almost guaranteed that youre a member of at least one of them. Here are the huge-tastic-est fandoms on the Internet, along with their defining characteristics and advice on how to become one (because we all know it can be daunting to embark upon a new quest).