Don’t Ruin The Party: Racism, Sexism, and Nerddom

Imagine you’re at a big party.  Everyone is there because they have something in common – some people like the same books, some people like the same films, some people just like hanging out with the crowd.  It’s a big, loud, fun time.

Then in the middle of the fun, right as you managed to get the second lampshade off your head*, someone notes that the person next to them is the “wrong race” for their clothes.

Or maybe someone says the party would be better if people of a certain gender weren’t there.

Or someone outright makes a racist/sexist/otherwise boneheadedly bigoted comment.

How would you and your friends react?  Probably pretty harshly.  Everyone was having a great time until some biased ass decided to wave their moron flag high.

Nerd culture is one big party, and frankly, racism and sexism have no place in it.  For that matter they have no place in civilized society.

What unifies us?  What defines us?  Nerds, geeks, otaku, fans, we’re all into things.  We like stuff.  We share stuff.  We think about stuff.  We’re deeply enthusiastic.  We believe in stuff.**

Sift through the parts and pieces of nerddom.  Look at the intricate mechanisms of geek culture.  Take a look at the otaku.  Where in all of this does racism or sexism or really any kind of bigotry have a place.

It doesn’t fit the foundations, which are about what we’re into.

It doesn’t fit what we do and how we express our enthusiasms.

It doesn’t fit the connections we feel or build from our deep passions.

In fact, it’s the very antitheses of what we do and who we are.

Nerddom, geekdom, whatever you call it is about getting into things.  It’s about attachment,  intimacy, and depth.  it is fundamentally intellectual and visceral at the same time.

Racism and sexism shut down the visceral, substituting bias and fear for the connection we feel.  It shuts down the passion of relating and sharing to others – the passion that powers our cons and our clubs and our cosplay groups.

Racism and sexim are also pretty blind freaking stupid, simplistic methods of thought that have no place among people who pride themselves on thinking.  We’re the brainy types, and being a bigot usually shows big chunks of your brain are shut down.

So simply, it has no place among nerd culture.

Besides, I always felt racists, sexists, and their ilk were fundamentally weak.  Lost in primitive, simplistic thought, easily manipulated by others due to their bias, hateful and disconnected.   They bounce around life like angry pinballs, directed by simple stimulus and response.  They can do better.

So can we, by remembering what makes a damn good party.  It means dissuading people from bias.  It means confronting our own (we have them, trust me).  It means making sure we stand together when the bigots decide to stink up the place with their ignorance – and it means helping them out of their own weak state.

Come on.  Let’s make the party worth it.  I’ll get the sake.***

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at http://www.stevensavage.com/.

* I don’t know why it’s the second.  You have to account for your own behavior.
** Apologies to Sokka, but someone me quoting him is probably his fault.
*** I prefer Takara Masamune, thanks.