A Wall of Text on the Relationship between Feminism and Nerd Culture

One of the hallmark features of "nerd culture" is an unquestioning capitulation to women which explains how social justice meme complexes extensively run rampant in traditional nerd spaces.

A lot of us who might style ourselves "nerds" ended up retreating to whatever our soup du jour hobby is because it's the lens we needed to see the world the way everyone else does normally. This used to be VERY socially unacceptable. So there's a dual reality to the "nerd" experience and both stem from innate ostracization. I've written about some of this here (http://scpantera.blogspot.com/2014/11/my-thoughts-on-gamergate-over-last-few.html).

On one hand we're reclusive, protective, and suspicious that anyone new who comes in has a less-than-pure agenda--and this is virtually always backed up by experience because there ARE people who do this, a lot of them even especially now that nerd culture is mainstream. If we're going to use feminism as our frame of reference, this is every new-girl-who-broke-up-my-WoW-guild story.

On the other hand--also in my experience--people in nerd spaces are often very (even irrationally) accepting of outside interest. If I find someone who I think genuinely shares my interests I don't care who or what they are, we can get along and play vidya together. I don't care if you're black, jewish, disabled, racist, whatever. And that's an absurdly progressive statement that "progressives" HATE on a macro level because when we say this we're saying we don't care about identity politics--their beloved hammer and sickle.

Feminists love to use the latter to subjugate the former. In some ways it's understandable, because there's a fair amount of unwarranted hostility to women (but also to everybody perceived as an outsider) that come into nerd spaces. Feminists abuse men's preferences for women, which tend to be super-juvenile in nerd spaces.

To nerd males, women are like dragons; they're unusual, exotic, powerful, sometimes-ultra-destructive, sometimes-total-bros, and yes there's an element of sex appeal there. So when feminists come in say,

"all you males are all the problem, you're all sexist borderline rapists who hate women and only want them for their vaginas"

instead of our default response being,

"that's fucking ridiculous, you're acting like a dick, get out"

it's,

"maybe we ARE the problem, maybe I AM a borderline rapist and I just don't even know it, I guess I better be super-extra nice to this kind lady who risked life and limb to bring me this torch of wisdom, never question anything she or her buddies say, and do everything they want because I don't want anyone to think I'm a bad guy".

This point is made in significantly more extensive detail here: http://slatestarcodex.com/2015/01/01/untitled/

And so the Cult of Social Justice taps into the gold mine of recruitment that is nerd culture.

So what can we do about it? Nothing really, short of adapting. There's a new generation of nerds who are going to fall for this same bait being born every second, even sparing the point that "nerddom" is now full mainstream--where the Church of the Patriarchy-Is-Real reigns supreme.

I'd say it's important for free speech and artistic freedoms to be protected because the Great Wall against Their march is that there is always going to be a market for ideas and art and nerd pursuits that don't conform to progressive tastes. I believe that this is the comforting inevitability that stands in opposite to their own crushing, apparent inevitability.

I think it's important to keep that in mind if you're someone who find themselves discouraged that everything you love is being stamped out. They literally can't win until they've snuffed out every flame of individuality--and even if you're the last one left they won't have won until you're dead.

Frankly, it's this confidence that makes it pretty easy for me to not be on Twitter shitposting about SJWs 24/7. I can appreciate that there's people out there keeping the fight alive but kind of feel sad for people who have made that their everything. Especially when people let their anger get misdirected at things that really aren't important. Especially when there's so many cool video games to play now.