Posers

I heard it in reference to the whole fangirl/ poser debate. So let me get this straight, more women are showing interest in geek culture, reading comics, watching geek culture movies, and dressing in sexy outfits at cons, and what does the geek (troll) community do?  Criticize them for not liking it enough.  Chastise them for only showing a passing interest and discourage them from developing a real appreciation for it by making "real fans" look like tools.

Old man time, let me tell you how things were in my day.  I remember my first comic book convention, Heroescon sometime in the late 80s.  It was A LOT smaller than it is now, but at the time I felt overwhelmed.  Buying everything I could (which wasn't nearly everything I wanted) and just generally soaking in what was to be the culture of my life, my people, my passion, and cementing the goal of where I wanted to be and what I wanted to be doing. 
But there was something I noticed, that I didn't care for.  I was the youngest person in the room (or at least it felt like it).  A room full of older white guys; who all loved comics like I loved comics, but there was no diversity.  Hell, they probably thought I was a poser.  It didn't discourage my love for comics, but it made it feel a little more isolating to be a comic geek.
In the years since then, comic culture has exploded in all directions.  Go to Heroescon now (or a large show in your area) and what you will see is nothing like my first show.  There are younger people, tiny kids, all races, women of all ages in much greater numbers.  And that is on both sides of the table, artists and fans. 

It makes me feel like that community that I became a part of is sharing its passion on such a scale that the people in that room (I think it was 1987) couldn't imagine. 
I hope they feel like I do, that this is great.  That all of these different people with different tastes, and different levels of enthusiasm would be part of this subculture.  More people are getting interested because they are seeing what we saw all along, that this is cool stuff.  And we can agree on stuff we like, and disagree about stuff we just don't like(yeah, I'm looking at you Manga) and its all good.  We don't all have to be the same kind of Geek to be a part.

So to all those who feel the need to separate the real fans from the posers, I think you are missing an opportunity.

And if it ever comes to pass that someone walks up to me at a convention, wearing a costume of one of my characters, but you tell me that "well, I just like the costume" or "I haven't read it. " I will  still be thrilled that you took the time to do it and picked my character; and you will get SO MUCH free stuff.