Geek girl is a 21st-century term, signifying a gendered subgenre within the modern geek subculture.

History[link]

The return of the word "geek" in the mid-1990s can be traced to the popularization of workplace computing and the Internet and the dot-com bubble of 1995-2000. The early days of the reclaimed use of "geek" were strongly associated with computers and information technology ^[1] and the majority of practitioners were male.^[2] Similarly, in a 1996 study of high school cultures, linguist Mary Bucholtz noted that "nerd status is overwhelmingly associated with males" ^[3] Two studies by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) quantified the gap between men and women in computing and the continuing problems recruiting and retaining female programmers.^[4][5]

As the use of the personal computer grew during the mid-to-late 2000s, the number of women in computing rose proportionately, and networks were created to provide support and connection for self-described "geek girls". GirlGeeks.org ^[6] was created in 1999 to serve as "the source for women in computing",^[7] and in 2005 Girl Geek Dinners was formed to connect women in the information technology (IT) sector.^[8]

The widespread recognition of "geek girls" as a community occurred in summer 2010, when the annual San Diego Comic-Con International included a panel entitled "Geek Girls Exist".^[9] Panelists included StarWars.com journalist Bonnie Burton, singer-songwriter Marian Call, Tekzilla and Qore host Veronica Belmont, and Mythbusters featured host Kari Byron. The panel's popularity^[10] has been credited as a primary mover in solidifying the girl geek concept.

Types of Geek Girls[link]

The term geek girl is in some ways fractured between its technical and cultural uses. The strongest association remains with computing, IT, and engineering. Practicing "geek girls" then include video game executive Jade Raymond, computer scientist and Google vice president Marissa Mayer, social media developer Leah Culver, and engineer Limor Fried of Adafruit industries.

"Geek girl" is also a term applied to women who engage in journalism and media about technology, typically through the Internet rather than traditional print media, such as tech journalist Natali Morris. Perhaps the most well-known variety of the "geek girl" is the gamer, who typically engages in video and/or live role-playing games. In 2007, actress and gamer Felicia Day popularized the archetype through the webseries The Guild and the YouTube viral video (Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar.

Recent developments[link]

In September 2010, the geek girl group Team Unicorn was formed by four "gamer girls", who produced the YouTube video "G33k & G4m3r Girls" as a parody of the song California Gurls by Katy Perry. The video went viral within a week,^[11] but the name of the group was intended to reflect the invisible status of women in the geek subculture: "Geek Girls: Like unicorns, we're not supposed to exist."

In late 2010, the Seattle-based non-profit GeekGirlCon announced that it would hold the first conference devoted to geek girls on October 8–9, 2011.^[12]

In April 2011, the New York Times' television reviewer Ginia Bellefante caused a minor uproar by characterizing the medieval-fantasy series Game of Thrones as "boy fiction" that "no woman alive" would wish to watch.^[13] The review prompted a direct response from GeekGirlCon,^[14] as well as a flurry of discussion from bloggers and other news outlets.^[15]

References[link]

External links[link]

• GeekGirlCon
• Geek Girl Camp: "Empowering Women Through Technology"
• Geek Girls Network
• Geek Girl Dinners
• GirlGeeks.org
• Women Who Tech

Geeks are often associated with an abnormal appreciation for mathematics. Here, the number Pi extends from the logo on a car parked at University of California, Irvine

The word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to be overly intellectual".^[1]

This word comes from English dialect geek, geck: fool, freak; from Low German geck, from Middle Low German. The root geck still survives in Dutch and Afrikaans gek: crazy, as well as some German dialects, and in the Alsatian word Gickeleshut: geek's hat, used in carnivals.^[1]

The word appears in the modern sense of a science, math, or technology enthusiast in Robert Heinlein's 1952 short story "The Year of the Jackpot".

Formerly, in 18th century Austria-Hungary, Gecken were freaks shown by some circuses. In 19th century, in North-America, the term geek referred to a freak in circus side-shows (see also freak show). In some cases, its performance included biting the head off a live chicken. The 1976 edition of the American Heritage Dictionary included only the definition regarding geek shows.

Although often considered as a pejorative, the term is also often used self-referentially without malice or as a source of pride - an example is the 'Geek Squad' of the Best Buy company.

Definitions[link]

The definition of geek has changed considerably over time, and there is no longer a definitive meaning. The terms nerd, gimp, dweeb, dork, spod and gump have similar meanings as geek, but many choose to identify different connotations among these terms, although the differences are disputed. In a 2007 interview on The Colbert Report, Richard Clarke said the difference between nerds and geeks is "geeks get it done."^[2] Julie Smith defined a geek as "a bright young man turned inward, poorly socialized, who felt so little kinship with his own planet that he routinely traveled to the ones invented by his favorite authors, who thought of that secret, dreamy place his computer took him to as cyberspace—somewhere exciting, a place more real than his own life, a land he could conquer, not a drab teenager's room in his parents' house."^[3]

Other definitions include:

• A derogatory reference to a person obsessed with intellectual pursuits for their own sake, who is also deficient in most other human attributes so as to impair the person's smooth operation within society.
• A person who is interested in technology, especially computing and new media. Geeks are adept with computers, and use the term hacker in a positive way, though not all are hackers themselves.
• A person who relates academic subjects to the real world outside of academic studies; for example, using multivariate calculus to determine how they should correctly optimize the dimensions of a pan to bake a cake.
• A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one who passionately pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not mainstream social acceptance.
• A person with a devotion to something in a way that places him or her outside the mainstream. This could be due to the intensity, depth, or subject of their interest. This definition is very broad but because many of these interests have mainstream endorsement and acceptance, the inclusion of some genres as "geeky" is heavily debated. Persons have been labeled as or chosen to identify as physics geeks, mathematics geeks, engineering geeks, sci-fi geeks, computer geeks, various science geeks, movie and film geeks (cinephile), comic book geeks, theater geeks, history geeks, music geeks,^{[citation needed]} sport geeks,^{[citation needed]} art geeks, philosophy geeks, literature geeks, historical reenactment geeks, video game geeks, and roleplay geeks.
• A more recent school of thought^[who?] sees nerd as being a derogatory phrase, while geek is simply a description. It is taken to be someone who is an enthusiast, often in things outside of the mainstream spectrum. It may also describe immersion in a particular mainstream interest to an extreme that is beyond normalcy (e.g. sports geek)^{[citation needed]}. Of note is that in this definition, there is no reference to being socially inept in the slightest.^{[citation needed]}

Reclamation and self-identification[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Although being described as a geek tends to be an insult, the term has recently become more complimentary, or even a badge of honor, within particular fields. This is particularly evident in the technical disciplines, where the term is now often a compliment, denoting extraordinary skill. Geek Pride Day has been observed on May 25 in Spain since 2006 (May 25 being the world premiere date of Star Wars and also Towel Day). The holiday promotes the right to be nerdy or geeky, and to express it in public without shame. A new convention, Geek.Kon, has sprung up in Madison, Wisconsin with a purpose to celebrate all things geek. The website BoardGameGeek is an online community of boardgamers who identify themselves as geeks at game conventions; they call their website "The Geek," for short. Technical support services such as Geek Squad use the term geek to signify helpful technical abilities. In recent history, some geeks have cultivated a geek culture, such as geek humor and obscure references on t-shirts. The so-called geek chic trend is a deliberate affectation of geek or nerd traits as a fashion statement. Nonetheless, the derogatory definition of geeks remains that of a person engrossed in his area of interest at the cost of social skills, personal hygiene, and status.

There has been criticism over the widespread appropriation of the terms "geek" and "nerd" as self descriptors, especially by individuals who would have most likely not been described as such under the traditional stereotype. Along with efforts to de-emphasize the negative social aspects, in recent years there have been arguments for de-emphasizing the necessity for having noticeably exceptional levels of intelligence or technical aptitude. This has resulted in the desire to redefine the term geek rather as any person who pursues a passionate interest in anything regardless of genre, is creative, and individualistic. Arguments against the revisionist definitions, however, state that it is not only unnecessary, but it completely contradicts the traditional accepted definition of the terms which distinctly refer to persons who are noticeably above average intelligence, usually more adept in technically demanding fields, and socially awkward or alienated to some degree.

Geek chic[link]

"Geek chic" refers to the embracing of stereotypically "geek" characteristics including black-rimmed glasses, T-shirts with geek in-jokes, and more technically complex accessories.

There are multiple interpretations of the term "geek chic", with heavy black-rimmed glasses being the sole defining trait as far as the press is concerned. Wearing them is sufficiently notable to have celebrities like David Beckham,^[4] Justin Timberlake^[5] and Myleene Klass^[6] being reported as "trying geek chic". David Tennant, the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, has also described the look of his bespectacled character as having "a bit of geek chic".^[7]

To geeks themselves, the term is used for "reclaiming the geek identity as something not only meaningful, but also stylish."^[8] - for this usage, more than mere spectacle frames are required, and so the term has a wider remit, being applied to home furnishings^[9] and objects as well as oufits. In this usage, the term "geek chic" can even be used as a positive contrast to the somewhat more negative term "geeky".^[10]

Geek chic is not to be confused with preppie fashion, which is more widely associated with a conservative image rather than geek culture. Instead, much of the geek chic image borrows from various alternative youth fashions such as goth, hippie, and bohemian among others,^{[citation needed]} but t-shirts with geeky in-jokes seem to originate from the geeks themselves, with shirt designers who tailor to geeks offering rewards for the best ideas.^[11][12]

See also[link]

• Anorak and Boffin, British slang for "geek"
• Akiba-kei and Otaku, Japanese slang for "geek"
• Autodidactism
• Behavior
• Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
• Hacker (computer security)
• Dissocial personality disorder
• Enthusiast
• Hacker (term)
• Geek Code
• Geek girl
• Geekcorps
• Nerd
• Norm (sociology)
• Social anxiety
• Technosexual
• Robert Lanham, author of The Hipster Handbook
• Girl Geek Dinners

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up geek in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (November 2009)

Lisa Germano
Lisa Germano performing, December 2007
Background information
Birth name	Lisa Ruth Germano
Born	(1958-06-27) June 27, 1958 (age 53) Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
Genres	Alternative rock, dream pop, folk rock
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter, Graphic artist
Instruments	Violin, guitar, accordion, piano, vocals
Labels	4AD/Warner Bros. Records, Capitol Records, Major Bill Records, Thirsty Ear Recordings, Output Recordings, Young God
Associated acts	OP8, John Mellencamp, Eels, Yann Tiersen, Iggy Pop, David Bowie
Website	lisagermano.com

Lisa Germano (born June 27, 1958) is an American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has released seven albums featuring her often-hushed vocal style, confessional lyrics, and distinctive violin. Her 1994 album Geek the Girl received widespread critical acclaim, including being featured as a top album of the 1990s by the music magazine Spin. She is also known as a guest performer and/or session musician on over sixty records by a variety of artists, including John Mellencamp, Simple Minds, David Bowie, Yann Tiersen, Neil Finn, Sheryl Crow, Iggy Pop, Jewel and Eels.

Biography[link]

Lisa Ruth Germano was one of six children born into an Italian-American Catholic family in Mishawaka, Indiana. Her parents encouraged their children to learn instruments from an early age. Germano's first attempt at writing music was a 15-minute opera for the piano written at age 7. Later she took up the violin, the instrument that led her to a career in music.

She became a member of John Mellencamp's band during the recording of his 1987 album The Lonesome Jubilee, and continued to work and tour with him for the following seven years. During this time, she also toured and recorded with bands such as Simple Minds and the Indigo Girls, which prompted her to pursue her own music.

Germano issued her first solo album, the lo-fi On the Way Down From the Moon Palace, in 1991 on her own label, Major Bill Records. Without major distribution and promotion, sales were low, but the album helped bring Germano to the attention of Capitol Records, with whom she signed in 1992. Her major-label debut, Happiness, was released in July 1993, but just prior to its release, a personnel shake-up had occurred at Capitol, which resulted in the departure of most of her benefactors at the label. Once it became clear to her that the album was not going to receive the level of promotion that she had expected, Germano lobbied successfully to have the rights to the album returned to her, and later that year, she signed with the influential British independent label 4AD Records, who, at that time, had a manufacturing and distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records in the US.

4AD founder/president Ivo Watts-Russell was a big fan of Germano's work, and took an unusually active role in her first releases for the label, remixing some of the tracks from Happiness with John Fryer, who had produced and/or engineered several other of the label's acts and had been involved in Watts-Russell's This Mortal Coil project. In early 1994, 4AD issued a limited-edition EP, Inconsiderate Bitch, which contained five of the remixed tracks; and in April of that year, Happiness was reissued in a radically different form. The new version had very different artwork, and the songs, some of which were remixed, had been completely resequenced (two tracks, including her cover of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", were omitted, and replaced by two others that had been recorded around the same time, including "Destroy the Flower"). Her third album, Geek the Girl, was also released later in 1994. The album earned Germano the most praise she'd yet received from the press, becoming a critical favorite and a noted album from the 1990s. Much attention was given to the track "...A Psychopath," which contains audio taken from an actual 911 emergency phone call placed by a woman who was being terrorized by an intruder in her home. In 1995, Germano contributed the song "The Mirror Is Gone" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Bothered produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Her next album, Excerpts From a Love Circus, arrived in 1996, and received a fair amount of acclaim in publications ranging from music related magazines including Spin and Rolling Stone. Earlier that same year, Watts-Russell approached all of 4AD's artists with the idea that each act would find another artist or band to collaborate with on three songs, and the resulting recordings would be released by the label as a monthly series of EPs. Germano chose to work with the Tucson-based rock band Giant Sand, but after their tracks had been recorded, 4AD decided that the series would be unfeasible, and scrapped the idea. Germano and the members of Giant Sand liked the results and enjoyed collaborating, and despite the labels' lack of interest in the recordings, recorded a studio album of new material together in less than a week. The managers for Germano and Giant Sand worked together and struck a deal with Thirsty Ear Recordings to release the album as a one-off project under the name OP8, and the album, Slush, was released in February 1997. In April 1997, 4AD began servicing "I Love a Snot" (remixed by Tchad Blake) to radio and retail in America, but sales of the album remained static at best. Another Germano collaboration of sorts was released later that year, when another Excerpts From a Love Circus track, "Lovesick", was remixed by drum & bass producer The Underdog (aka Trevor Jackson, later of Playgroup), and released as a single on his Output Recordings label.

Sales began to sag noticeably with the release of Slide (produced by Tchad Blake) in July 1998. 4AD's distribution deal with Warner Bros. had come to an end, returning the label to its independent status; for Germano, that meant that Slide received less promotion, since her label no longer had Warner Bros.' resources to draw upon. That summer, just before the album's release, she was invited to join The Smashing Pumpkins (whose fourth album, Adore, was released just weeks before Slide) on tour as backing vocalist. Initially, she turned them down, but Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan convinced her that her role would be somewhat collaborative in nature, and she agreed to the tour. She joined the band in Chicago for four weeks of rehearsals in preparation for a four-month tour, but then, the night before the tour was to begin, she was dismissed by Corgan (via their tour manager) with no explanation, and the Pumpkins embarked on the tour without her. That fall, intent on resuming the promotion of Slide, she went out on tour, first opening up for Eels, and then later headlining smaller clubs; but while on tour, she was notified by 4AD that they were dropping her from the roster. By the end of 1998, she announced that she was done with the music business, and dispensed with her management.

Germano moved to Hollywood, and began working at an independent bookstore. Songwriting, however, remained an integral part of her life, and she kept connected musically by collaborating with other artists, such as Yann Tiersen, David Bowie, Neil Finn, and Joey Waronker, on various projects. She returned to her solo career in 2002 with a flurry of releases. Independently, she released two compilations of songs from her back catalog: Concentrated is a selection of "greatest hits" with a few oddities (such as the Underdog remix of "Lovesick"); Rare, Unusual or Just Bad Songs, however, is composed entirely of rarities (like "Breathe Acrost Texas", which was omitted from the reissue of Happiness) and tracks that had never been available before, and each copy came with an insert painted by Germano herself. Later that year, she began gathering songs she had been writing and recording (mostly by herself at home) over the previous two years, and sent CDs of these tracks to a few labels and various friends in the music industry; the first to respond was her longtime acquaintance, producer/label executive Tony Berg. After the relative success of the ARTISTdirect family of music-related websites, co-founder and then-CEO Marc Geiger decided to start an actual record label, leading to the creation of the Ineffable imprint with Berg in 2002, with Germano as the label's first signing. Her sixth album, Lullaby for Liquid Pig, released in April 2003, features performances by guitarist Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths, currently of Modest Mouse), Neil Finn, and Wendy Melvoin. As before, the album met with critical acclaim, but the label itself was not successful enough for its owners, who shut it down shortly thereafter.

In 2006, Germano was invited by former Swans leader Michael Gira to join the roster of his label, Young God Records. Young God released her sixth solo album, In the Maybe World, in July of that year, and then reissued Lullaby for Liquid Pig in June 2007 with a bonus disc of unreleased live recordings and demos.

Discography[link]

Solo releases[link]

• On the Way Down From the Moon Palace - Major Bill Records, 1991
• Happiness (CD) - Capitol Records, 1993/4AD Records, 1994
• Inconsiderate Bitch (EP) - 4AD, 1994
• Geek the Girl (CD) - 4AD, 1994
• Excerpts From a Love Circus (CD) - 4AD, 1996
• Slush (with OP8) - Thirsty Ear Recordings, 1997
• Slide (CD) - 4AD, 1998
• Concentrated (CD) - self-released, 2002
• Rare, Unusual or Just Bad Songs (CD) - self released, 2002
• Lullaby for Liquid Pig (CD) - Ineffable/ARTISTdirect, 2003
• In the Maybe World (CD) - Young God Records - 2006
• Magic Neighbor (CD) - Young God Records - 2009 ^[1]
• No Elephants (CD) - Young God Records - 2012

Germano released many singles in the 1990s, most all have music videos as well.

1993 - You Make Me Want To Wear Dresses

1994 - Puppet (Radio Promo Only)

1995 - Cry Wolf

1996 - Small Heads

1997 - I Love A Snot

1997 - Lovesick

1997 - Sand (With OP8)

Guest appearances[link]

• The Lonesome Jubilee - John Mellencamp (1987)
• Big Daddy - John Mellencamp (1989)
• Nomads Indians Saints - Indigo Girls (1990)
• 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration - Bob Dylan (1993)
• Beside You - Iggy Pop (1993)
• In Flight - Linda Perry (1996)
• Time and Love: The Music of Laura Nyro - Various Artists (1997)
• The Globe Sessions - Sheryl Crow (1998)
• Electro-Shock Blues - eels (1998)
• Oh, What a Beautiful Morning - eels (2000)
• Shootenanny! - eels (2003)
• 7 Worlds Collide - Neil Finn (2001)
• Small Town City - Michael B. White (2001)
• L'Absente - Yann Tiersen (2001)
• Anna - Anna Waronker (2002)
• Heathen - David Bowie (2002)
• 0304 - Jewel (2003)
• Strong Currents - Hector Zazou (2003)
• "From a Shell" - from Underworld (soundtrack) (2003)
• Impossible Dream - Patty Griffin (2004)
• Want - Michael Brook (2006)
• Columbus Day film soundtrack - Michael A. Levine (2008)
• Magic - from The Bigtop (soundtrack) (2008)
• Familial - Philip Selway (2010)

Covered[link]

• Slide - by Adem "Takes"(2008)
• If I Think of Love - by LD & the New Criticism, AMORAL CERTITUDES (Acuarela, 2007)
• "Reptile" by El Nino, Galaxy Class (Ignition, 1999)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lisa Germano

• LisaGermano.com - official site
• Guillotine Love (archived fan site with guitar tabs)
• Lisa Germano at Young God Records
• Lisa Germano at 4AD
• Lisa Germano at Scaruffi.com
• Russian-language fan site