Just another label

So the NY Times wrote a review of the new fantasy series Game of Thrones basically saying that the romance scenes are the only things that a woman would enjoy watching in this "boy fiction." Then a whole pack o' geek girls went on the attack, saying how offended they are and that females like sci-fi and fantasy, too. I see their point, I do. I also think the opinion (yes, it's just an opinion, and now they've successfully driven traffic to their site with this) is one that we've been subjected to for as long as we've had female parts and had our young minds blown by PK Dick or Anne McCaffrey. From the first time I rolled a D&D character to play after school, it was assumed that I would play once or twice and then go hang out at the mall. I was gradually accepted because I was an imaginative player and knew the rules (and because I didn't have much else of a social life, girly outcast that I was). Yes, females have had a tougher time integrating into the geeky ranks, but we exist, and we can't be anything else. I'm not surprised that people who aren't in this sphere of influence don't understand that. They never did. They always thought we were weird and then promptly forgot about us because we weren't like them. It doesn't offend me because it's the same crap we've ignored since we could swing a cardboard tube and make swooshing light saber noises. I'm not one to get flustered by some clueless person's opinion. There are much more important things to get upset out. Do something to make some real positive change. If feeding the homeless is too mainstream for you, organize support to keep your local library open in a time of cutbacks. Life's too short to continue to be worried about labels, even if they're self-imposed and worn proudly.