Geek Girls come in all shapes and sizes!
Helenna Santos Levy: Gorgeous, Geeky, and an Actress!
Recently I read a blog post by Helenna Santos Levy titled It’s Good To Be A Geek Girl . I always love to hear from my fellow geekettes about their descent into geek girl culture. What really drew my attention was that her story was pretty similar to mine. Sure, I’m not a super gorgeous actress, but I am a girl who had never really figured out where my love for those things nerd fit in until later in life.
I was raised on a small ranch about 15 miles west of Whitehall, Montana – a community that pretty much epitomizes the words ‘small town.’ I grew up riding horses, mucking stalls, feeding chickens, and fencing pastures. My summers were full of outdoor adventures and…science fiction, fantasy, and video games. I have an odd appreciation for action movies that feature women in leather and a serious habit of daydreaming about dragons and shinobi. All of these things were mostly done in the hours where I found myself in solitude. Living smack dab in the middle of national forest gives you A LOT of solitude, and I had plenty of time to cultivate my nerdy past times!
Where I grew up outside Whitehall, Montana in Deerlodge National Forest
Taken from my stepdad’s website
Because I was part of a community that didn’t hold the same appreciation as I did for such things, I felt alone in my interests. To me, geeky girls were the awkward kids with weird t-shirts, braces, and not a lot of interest in training a horse to saddle and old farm trucks. I did not fit into that world at all (barring the awkward part). I thought I was antisocial, but now I know that I simply hadn’t found my people yet.
Then I discovered anime forums and realized how many manga/anime fans were girls…and from there a whole world of possibilities opened up to me. I realized Lord of the Rings and Alias had as many female fanatics as males, we just don’t stick out as much in popular culture. Well now I see us, and we freaking rock!!! I’ve a got a blog dedicated to letting my Geek Girl flag fly, and I couldn’t be happier! Sure I still love the rodeo and my horse is still the prettiest thing in all the land, but my country and my geek aren’t mutually exclusive.
See, prettiest horse EVAAAA!!!!
Being a country geek girl is actually a lot of fun! I spent last weekend visiting my parents’ Montana ranch. I rode my horse, helped feed the livestock, and hung out with my mom and stepdad’s huge dog Ryder. Then I went home and tried out my cosplay for Comic-Con and watched anime. I mean, both of those things are fun on their own, but put it all together? That is one awesome weekend!
Cowboy hats and cosplay…
Helenna Santos Levy’s love of acting and awesome fashion sense doesn’t make her any more or less of a geek – both are a part of her. Geek is like the hub of a giant pinwheel – its spokes connect us all despite background, political interests, fashion sense, or any other number of things. We all have many spokes that define us, but the one that means zombies, shoot ‘em up movies, comics and anime bind us together, and I love it!
The GeekGirl community is one of the few where I’ve seen such an open acceptance of all different types of women from backgrounds that vary from urban city dwellers to actresses to Montana country girls. Things like what we wear, who our parents are, and where we work or went to school just don’t matter. What we care about is the fate of Winterfell, Dr. Who, the best, most bloody anime to come out recently, and what to do in case the Zombie Apocalypse descends upon us in a mess of fire and blood.
So let your geek out, ladies, and be proud! I would love to hear the story of any other coming of geek moments out there in the comment section below!