If you've been on the Internet in the last five or so years, you've seen your fair share of memes. They're everywhere, and they can be pervasive. One that has definitely made the rounds is the Fake Geek Girl meme. If you haven't seen it, here's essentially what it looks like.

Now, I can't help but feel bad for this girl whose image has been co-opted and transformed into a tool to ridicule girls who show a passing interest in something that has for years been seen as a "guy thing." Without getting into the absurdity that is gendering pastimes, it's safe to say that liking genres like science fiction and fantasy, reading comic books and enjoying playing video games are not solely male pursuits. In the United States, the ratio for female to male gamers is 47 : 53. That kind of ratio is showing the world that playing video games is not something that guys do, it's something that everyone does. So why do girls get harassed for playing video games? Why do girls get harassed for liking things?

There is a strange mentality that girls liking things is not the same as guys liking things that exists in the world today. And that is what being a geek is. The definition of a geek is "a person who has excessive enthusiasm for and some expertise about a specialized subject or activity." (A nerd, in contrast, is defined as this: "an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit." But they're used in the same contexts. Semantics.) There is nothing in that definition that says a geek has to be male. So why is there a gatekeeping mentality to men when it comes to girls who like stereotypically geeky things?

Girls aren't allowed to be casual lovers of something. If you like Star Wars (which I wrote about last week here, and how it is for everyone, not just guys), and you're a girl, you better know what color Luke's underwear is in "The Empire Strikes Back" because God forbid you just casually like something. With geeky and nerdy things, guys are afforded a certain level of luxury. They're supposed to like sci-fi, and video games, and action movies. They're the target audience in a way that girls so rarely are. That's why movies like "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" is so great, because it has a female lead who kicks major butt yet is allowed to grow in the same way any male character is. And it's awesome! And I'm sure that so many girls are going to want to cosplay as her (creating her costume and dressing as her to go to a convention). But when girls cosplay, it is them being fake and wanting male attention. I can promise that girl isn't spending hundreds of dollars on something she doesn't like. Cosplay is a pretty expensive hobby if you don't actually like the subject matter and are only there to prey on guys who, apparently, don't even believe you could like something stereotypically geeky.

When did liking something become wrong? When did having encyclopedic knowledge of a subject become a requisite to enjoy something?

I'm going to leave you with this awesome video by Angelina, who posts videos to the YouTube channel ALBinwonderland. This video, while a few years old, still rings true today. Don't police what girls like. Don't tell girls that they are fake for liking what they like, and that they have no place in a part of culture that is rapidly becoming more mainstream. Can a girl say that she likes Marvel while only having seen the movies? Absolutely. Can you say that you are a fan of Star Wars when you've only seen Episode VII? Absolutely. Can we stop telling girls that what they enjoy and who they are isn't valid? I hope so.

"There is no such thing as fake geek girls. There are only girls who are at different varying levels of falling in love with something that society generically considers to fall under the nerd culture category. We all started somewhere, and elitists are elitists whether they are wearing thick-framed, prescription glasses, or Gucci suits." - ALB