Female geeks about their hobbies
Today began "Igromir" - the most important exhibition in Russia in the field of games, comics, cosplay and other popular geek entertainment. There is still the opinion that girls cannot be "real" geeks, but the collapse of prejudice is obvious: nowadays, anyone has the right to do their job. We talked to girls about their favorite geek hobbies: from science fiction to reconstruction - and they told us how and why they were loved, how they changed and whether they faced sexism in the geek community.
cybersport
professional computer games competitions, such as Counter-strike or Starcraft
Being a woman in eSports is more than difficult. Let's start with the fact that eSports itself has just begun to conquer the world, and at the time when I started to play, he took only the first tentative steps. Therefore, in principle, it was rather difficult to explain to someone what you do. It was even harder with the gamers themselves. The fact that the girl was with the guys in one game, did not leave anyone indifferent: someone started asking for pictures, someone even sent "to the kitchen." Over time, the hype slept a little, but the main stereotype still remained: the girls had no place in eSports. But I, like many others, continue to play, because I like it, and this is the most important thing. For quite a long time I played in the women's teams in Counter-Strike 1.6 - it was a great time. The girls and I visited several foreign tournaments, gathered in Moscow for training, went to exhibitions. But the 1.6 era has passed, and I switched to another equally popular game - Dota 2 - and I still play it. Most of all I like the command component: the realization that you are part of one mechanism, which should come to a common goal, gives an additional charge of motivation. Therefore, I play mainly in 5x5 team games. But to create and keep a team is very difficult, especially when it comes to five women. At the moment, just my team is going through a difficult period of lapping to each other, but I am sure that we will cope. Cybersport must and will develop, and I hope that women's cybersport will not be an exception.
Science fiction
The genre of popular literature, which appeared on the wave of the technological revolution, the interest in which has not faded until now
My brother and I were reading fantasy and fantasy with my parents at night as a child. The most vivid memory is the "Favorite" of Cyrus Bulychev. Mostly Soviet (Strugatsky, Bulychev, Lem, Efremov, Nikitin), as it was in the 90s and there was still little foreign fiction. At first, for me there was no difference between our fiction and foreign, but over time, interest in foreign literature took over. The first favorite authors were Robert Heinlein, Harry Harrison, Clifford Symak, Frank Herbert, and Andre Norton, then they got to know Philip Dick and Lois McMaster Bujold. When you read a lot of science fiction, in particular scientific, sooner or later you begin to track what is happening in the field of scientific and technological revolution, and how to compare with what you read, dream about a possible future. Regardless of the literary genre, books can greatly influence the worldview. My light paranoia about conspiracy theories (thanks to the X-files) has grown to universal proportions after reading Heinlein's "Double Star".
Perhaps now my two favorite directions are heroic adventures in space and books that robots are sometimes much more humane than humans themselves. I firmly believe that the development of technology will benefit rather than harm, and that it should not be afraid, but, on the contrary, should promote the ideas of improving the world (and not least of the human body) through technology. Various dentures, implants, nootropics and food substitutes like soylent are our future. It is a pity that I am not smart enough or talented to be actively engaged in these useful and revolutionary developments, but I take a feasible part in the projects of the Russian transhumanist community (one of the projects is the implantation of magnetic implants with practical application) and I try to bring that cherished world where live brave captains of the spacecraft.
Cosplay
Transformation into a fictional character, primarily with the help of a costume
I’ve been in cosplay for quite a while: about five years old, maybe six. I have never done this on a professional level, but over time I realized how much the quality of a suit affects the perception of cosplay as a whole (of course, not only this: recognizable characters are always more popular). I was brought to the cosplay theme by friends from the anime party, then we were all teenagers, we sewed ourselves badly and literally on the knee, but this did not prevent us from getting great pleasure from the process itself. It was much more interesting for me to make costumes for which I needed to turn on the fantasy. For example, cosplay of a certain game class (I had this Gypsy from "Ragnarok Online"), humanization, painted animals (we were doing cosplay on "Happy Tree Friends" and on "Bear Nuts" from the last cosband) sketches. Now I’m already dressing up costumes in a professional studio, I prepare for festivals in advance in order to know for sure that everything will go smoothly. Cosplay is quite expensive and difficult, but the pleasure pays off in full. Even parents are increasingly hinting that it's time for me to go to Comic Con in San Diego - dreams, dreams! At the last comXfest I did Zatanna from DC Comics, and, perhaps, this is my favorite cosplay at the moment. It is important that you like the chosen character (ideally, of course, it would be nice to have a portrait likeness with him), and then it will be easy to get into the role.
I was lucky - I have never come across festivals with rudeness or inappropriate behavior in my address. I agree, sometimes attention is too much, but it depends only on you how open / attractive / etc. will suit. The gender sign more affects the other: the trug-tenders - cosplayers-guys - are literally extolled in the get-together. Because of the pronounced preponderance towards the girls-cosplayers, the Trug-Tenders find themselves in the price. I had an acquaintance who cosplayed Sebastian from Kuroshitsuji, and with a relatively simple suit, he literally blew up the hall! So it turns out that the cosplay world is overflowing with girls, but it still belongs to the guys. Loving comics, games, cosplay can be regardless of gender, the girl-geek is not a myth, but a reality, and we adore pajama parties with pizza and prefix in the same way as guys do. Most of my friends do not just read comics or gamble: they are able to bypass even guys in this, while remaining nice and well-groomed. No greasy t-shirts, pimples and excess weight - all this is one big stereotype! The current girls-geeks combine their hobbies with a great appearance - and this is perhaps their main advantage.
Anime
Japanese animation, mainly designed for adults
"I hate anime!" - it was possible to hear from me in the seventh grade class. Knowing only the notorious "Pokemon", "Sailor Moon" and "Shaman King", I thought that I was no longer at that age to watch these "cartoons for children" (although, in an amicable way, I generally had little understanding of differences anime from ordinary cartoon. Knew, that Japan and all). One day, while waiting for the Simpsons to be adored by me, I came across the first episode of "Trinity Blood". To say that I was amazed is to say nothing. “Children's cartoon” opened for me absolutely new facets of my own consciousness, which later became building blocks in the foundation of my inner world outlook and how I began to look at the world. So far, I consider this series the best I've ever seen.
Subsequently, it turned out that some of my friends are also passionate about anime, I began to discover new worlds of animated series, the sub-culture of "animeshniks", which Japan loved me. Studying culture, people and language, I began to notice the nuances and techniques used by the creators of anime, manga and run, which allows me to plunge into the depths of the ideas invested in the work. I also loved music, j-rock, in particular, Buck-Tick became my favorite band. Of course, any subculture imposes an imprint on your mind: I started talking about myself as a man, I can’t imagine life without the collection of Japanese paraphernalia (I especially like the brand "Hello Kitty"); I became more open and relaxed, still use some typical anime expressions, began to treat people with non-traditional sexual orientation loyally, and also learned the price of anger and cruelty. Now I study at university, make-up (including working with cosplayers), original cosplay, posing for photographers, regularly perform on stage, and even lead one of the cosplay events — all thanks to anime. More than five years have passed, but the anime and Japan remain in my heart to this day, and my children will definitely grow up on Japanese animated films.
collective term for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games
In my childhood I didn’t spend a single day without a book, I probably didn’t have my computer until about eleven, and I was deprived of television by making love for the same books. For me, video games, comics, books, etc., are simply sources of storytelling - the games are also interactive. As Woody Allen said: "video games, comics, or the introduction to Star Wars alone, not only double the number - they multiply the opportunity to discover a bunch of amazing stories My love for video games began when my father left me during the day with his colleague, who kept a gaming club, where in one huge room there was a pile of televisions and the first PlayStation was attached to each one. So I spent a lot of time in the company of Crash Bandicoot and characters from "Tekken" and "Bloody Roar".
How I got into the MMORPG can not even remember, but this is a whole period of my life. In the MMORPG, as a rule, the plot is missing, there is only the history of the world in which you are, but the beauty there is in team building. I played mostly Asian: it all started with a small but exciting "Tales of Pirates", where I met people with whom I later wandered from game to game. "Aion", "Perfect World", "Dragon Nest", "Jade Dynasty", "TERA", "Blade & Soul". In the MMORPG, each character has a certain set of skills, therefore, each has its own role: when going to dungeon (raid), each class needs to act at the right time and in a certain way, tactics are drawn up, you need to be able to correctly calculate each skill. I once was a wonderful hilka. MMOs would be more fun if so many people didn’t take the game too seriously (maybe they already slightly confused reality and virtuality) and in some guilds it didn’t turn into work ("If one of you wakes up at four in the morning and misses dungeon, get out of the guild throw out! "- say" Whaaat? ").
Well, the main beauty of MMO for me is character customization. Here, perhaps, stereotypes are appropriate, because it takes a lot of time for me to customize a character in a game (both online and offline). This is me instead of the game "The Sims" - my ones were a bit like aliens. In real life, I always liked the work of the image maker and makeup artist, most likely, this was reflected in the games. Although there, of course, there is no question of taste, the clothes have their own characteristics. So when “Blade & Soul” came out, I really wanted to play it, there the clothes just did not affect the characteristics, but, alas, in this game you cannot adjust the character to fit your parameters, but according to the standard, they look like this.
MTG
"Magic: The Gathering" is one of the most popular collectible card games in the world.
With "Magic" I met more than ten years ago. It is believed that at age 14 such things may be of interest only to boys. But what to do, at that time my favorite movie was Star Wars, and I was just starting the first reading of The Lord of the Rings. The guys at the Nastol club store taught me to play. It was a time when the ink on the cards had a magical, unique smell, the cards themselves cost ten times less than they do now (the collection value of magic cards grows faster over the years than Apple shares), but the amount of pocket money for such entertainment was much less. And then I went to college and forgot about all these "children's games" for a long time. At the end of the two thousandth, when I graduated from high school, in Russia there is a boom of board games. On someone's birthday under the "Colonizers" I talk about "Magic", we go to the Moscow club, I accidentally win a beginner tournament ... And somehow everything spins up by itself - the tournament "Magic" becomes a favorite hobby, I often start to get out European Grand Prix, and this year I will participate in the national team in the World Cup in "Magic" in Nice.
What is MTG through the eyes of a girl? First of all it is a party. Thanks to the game I met a lot of people. Some of them turned into good friends, and with many I just enjoy chatting every time we cross at tournaments or near-game events. Magic players are smart and resourceful guys. Mostly, of course, guys, but girls play too. If you want to participate in tournaments, then be prepared for the fact that no concessions like "surrendered to a beautiful girl" you will not wait. Tournament "Magic" is very similar to professional sports, you will be respected for your ability to play and decency. Biases against girls who do not understand anything in intellectual games, in fact, exist primarily in the minds of these same girls - any newcomer can become a good player with a sufficient sense of purpose.
Comics
not just drawn stories, but one of the most important forms of modern art
I started to get involved in comics in the late 90s; at first it was "ElfQuest", a little later - "Gen 13" and "X-Men". Then they hooked on the fact that in an accessible form raised serious questions: about moral norms, social minorities, belief in tomorrow and, first of all, about equality of people. The funny thing is that our publishing house threw out of the series a number with coming out of the Russian superhero Colossus; apparently, they considered that the Russian people would not understand such an example of equality and acceptance. Despite the fact that I started to get involved in the comics of Marvel, I now mostly read pre-dut DC series and Image uploads, although in fact I have no preferences in terms of publishing. The Marvels are now finishing the excellent Hawkeye series, in general, I would say that of the big two they have stronger series now than DC; but this is my personal opinion, I'm just allergic to "The New 52".
Even then, I began to look closely at various artists, I remember how I completely fell in love with the art of the brothers Adam and Andy Kubert. I get a lot of pleasure not only from a good story, but also from a pleasant visual component, I like to discover new illustrators for myself - you can get as much pleasure from Kevin Uad or Phil Noto as you go to the Tretyakov Gallery. Before, I even posted small notes about artists who make comics, on this basis I met Alice Bogorovskaya. On the part of geek boys, of course, there is a condescending attitude, but this is usually either very young people whose hormones play pranks, or quickly passes when a person realizes that you are really fidgeting with the topic. In the admin GeekArt never had a negative attitude towards girls, the guys from "Pokagronki", as far as I know, also always had a positive attitude; I'm not talking about the guys from the comic book stores ("Chuck and Geek", "28th", "Comics Est '") are, in principle, the sweetest people. More often than with negative, one can meet with the prejudice that “there are no girls on the Internet,” which is, on the one hand, funny, but on the other, it bores pretty quickly.
Board games
games that are calculated by a group of people often include a field and a few items
I find it hard to remember how it happened that I love board games. It seems they were in my life always. In childhood - the obligatory "Monopoly" and children's nastolki about treasure hunting and adventure, in which we were cut with my friend, who lived a couple of floors below. Then came the "Munchkin" - the best game for a small company: simple, reckless and very funny, full of betrayals, intrigue and deception. At some point, my husband and I just started to collect everything that seemed interesting to us, so in our home collection we have “Small World” (funny and cute fantasy game dedicated to fighting species for territory), the dramatic “Shadow over Camelot”, "Ghost Stories" (a beautiful story about the four Taoists and their desperate struggle with the evil dead) and many others. But I, as a big fan of cooperative games, most of all love the classic adventure "Arkham Horror", in which you need to work together to defend the city of Arkham from cultists, vampires and other lovecrafty evil, and to fight the Ancients. We spent so many hours behind Arkham and even once organized a themed New Year: instead of eating salads and drinking champagne, we staged a party against Cthulhu until six in the morning.
Now I play less than a few years ago, and definitely less than I would have liked. But the more joy brings me every time when I manage to get together and once again arrange a long (or quick) party to one of my favorite boards. В конце концов, что может сравниться с удовольствием, которое испытываешь, когда из-за твоей нерасторопности в финальной фазе "Аркхэма" просыпается Азатот - и время, пространство и все сущее оказываются уничтожены!
Реконструкция
воссоздание определенного исторического периода, например, при помощи ролевых игр
Средневековье в представлении большинства людей предстает в двух обличьях: это темные времена, распри и раздоры, реки крови, войны, антисанитария или же образ прекрасной дамы и рыцаря, оберегающего ее честь, красочные пиры и балы. Но любой человек склонен к романтизму и стремится видеть хорошие стороны явлений. My Middle Ages began with the desire to shoot straight with a bow, which grew into a fascination with medieval dances, costume and medieval style performances. Together with our colleagues (we currently have the Amberton Castle art group), we strive both to reproduce the romantic era of the Middle Ages in our information age, adding memories of the concepts of knightly honor, valor, accomplishment of feats for the sake of winning the heart of a beautiful lady, and to introduce people to this era (in particular, we have opened the radiant section).
We don’t observe binding precisely to a particular city, country, and epoch: we strive to reproduce the life of the era of Western Europe (England, Germany, France) of the XII-XIV centuries; We try to cover different aspects of the life of a medieval city dweller. First of all, this costume design (as sources are engravings, the Manesa Code can be called the most significant source), also this is a reproduction of leisure activities of that time, medieval games, dances; cooking according to medieval recipes, the organization of tournaments (both horseback and simply knight competitions) and much more. I can say that girls in reconstruction can be engaged as a purely feminine matter such as cooking, sewing costumes, archery (which is not a man’s work), and can fight with weapons in their hands. At the tournaments, a women's section is specially introduced, in which ladies wear armor and fight with steel weapons or participate in soft weapon tournaments (tyambary). Everyone comes to reconstruction for their own reasons, and I believe that the fascination with historical reconstruction provides an opportunity for self-realization, as well as cultural enrichment - you cannot try to portray a particular era and not know the historical context of events.